U P F R O N T

TV Watch: "Chasing the Sun"
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In last week's newsletter, we mentioned the new PBS series, "Chasing the Sun," which debuted on Monday, July 2, in most U.S. TV markets. Having seen the first installment, I can highly recommend the series to anyone who flies.

In these days when air travel is more likely to be associated with rage than with romance, "Chasing the Sun" will at the very least put flying into its rich historical context, and might even restore some long-lost glamour to the grind-at-32,000-feet.

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O N S I T E

FrequentFlier Forum Topics
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As always, there's plenty of activity on the Forum.

There are numerous threads about various tactics to qualify for the AA 20/20 promotion. Henry has a suggestion for earning 500 ClickMiles for a $5.50 purchase (ends July 5). Harry is looking for ways to add enough SkyMiles to the 92,750 he already has to earn a free ticket on Singapore Air. And much more...

Do you have questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!

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M I L E S & P O I N T S

Comair Lures Back Customers with Miles
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After a 3-month service disruption caused by striking pilots, Comair is back in business. And (as we predicted they would), they are using mileage bonuses to regain lost customers.

SkyMiles members will earn triple miles for qualifying Comair flights booked between June 28 and July 31, 2001, and flown by July 31, 2001. SkyMiles members will receive triple the actual miles flown or 1,500 miles for each segment flown, whichever is greater. Customers with reservations for travel on Comair during the SkyMiles bonus promotional period that were booked prior to June 28, 2001 will also qualify for this bonus.

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Diners Offers Bounty for New Members
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Diners Club's Member-Get-A-Member program offers 10,000 Club Rewards points to any cardmember whose referral acquires a Diners Club Personal Card by Oct. 31. That's 4,000 bonus points in addition to the standard 6,000 Club Rewards points awarded for each cardmember referral. (In Diners' program, $1 earns 2 Club Rewards points, which can be redeemed for 1 frequent flyer mile. So the 10,000 points are worth 5,000 airline miles.)

The program also rewards new cardmembers with up to 12,000 frequent flyer miles (2,000 per month during the first 12 months of membership).

Current cardmembers can log on here to obtain a Member-Get-A-Member sponsor code.

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Delta Discounts DFW Award Flights
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Between now and Aug. 31, 2001, SkyMiles members can request award tickets between Dallas and 11 other cities for 15,000 miles, instead of the normal 25,000.

The 15,000-mile reduced SkySaver award is valid for flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and El Paso, Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, New York (LaGuardia), Raleigh-Durham, Phoenix, Savannah, Santa Ana, (Orange Co. Airport), Tucson, and Washington, D.C. (Reagan National).

Travel must be completed by Aug. 31.

Alaska: Fly 12, Get 1 Free
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Members of Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan who complete 12 flight segments within or between Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona and British Columbia between June 21 and Sep. 21, 2001, can earn 20,000 bonus miles, enough for a free domestic Saver award ticket. Here's the deal:

  Fly:                        Earn:
  ---                         ----
  Fly 2 segments..............2,000 Bonus Miles
  Plus 2 more segments.......+3,000 additional Bonus Miles
  Plus 4 more segments.......+6,000 additional Bonus Miles
  Plus 4 more segments.......+9,000 additional Bonus Miles
  --------------------        ----------------------------
  SUM: 12 segments...........20,000 Bonus Miles

You must register prior to the first qualifying flight, either by sending an e-mail with your Mileage Plan account number to sumsumsummertime@alaskaair.com, or by calling 1-800-654-5669 and asking for the "Sum-Sum-Summertime Bonus Mile Offer."

Routes to and within the state of Alaska and Mexico do not qualify. Nor do flights operated by Horizon Air.

10,000 Bonus Miles for Hawaii Packages
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Book a qualifying Continental Airlines Vacations Hawaii package of 5 or more days and earn 10,000 OnePass bonus miles.

Offer applies to packages of 5 nights or more, with travel from Houston to Honolulu booked by Aug. 15 and completed by Sep. 3, 2001. Participating hotels:

- Honolulu: Aston Waikiki Beach Tower, Aston Waikiki Sunset, Outrigger Reef, Outrigger Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian, Sheraton Moana Surfrider, Sheraton Princess Kailani, Sheraton Waikiki
- Kona: Outrigger Waikoloa Beach
- Maui: Aston Kaanapali Shores, Mahana at Kaanapali, Outrigger Wailea Resort

Miles are also valid when using OnePass reward tickets on Continental Airlines.

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Hilton Adds New HHonors Airline Partner
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Hilton HHonors has added Alitalia, Italy's leading airline, to its roster of more than 55 airline partners.

Effective immediately, HHonors members will earn 600 miles through MilleMiglia, Alitalia's frequent flyer program, for every qualifying stay at participating Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites hotels.

In addition to MilleMiglia miles, members can simultaneously earn hotel points through HHonors' DoubleDip feature, which allows members to earn both miles and points for every qualifying stay.

76/Circle K Charges Earn Triple AWA Miles
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Through Sep. 15, 2001, America West FlightFund members can use their FlightFund Visa cards to earn triple miles for credit card purchases at 76 gas stations and Circle K convenience stores nationwide.

Cardholders have been receiving double miles for FlightFund Visa card purchases at 76/Circle K stores since May 2000. After Sep. 15, through Dec. 31, 2001, the bonus-mile offer reverts to double miles.

NW Bonus for MSP-Tulsa Flights
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WorldPerks members can earn up to 2,000 bonus miles roundtrip on Northwest's new service between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Tulsa, Okla. between July 8 and Sep. 30, 2001.

Register for the promotion prior to travel but no later than Sep. 15, 2001. Call 1-888-955-7878 and enter registration number 4446* or visit http://www.nwa.com/offers/msptul.

MilePoint Adds Hotwire to Partner Roster
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MilePoint members can now convert 500 miles from participating airline partners into a $10 voucher for use at discount travel distributor Hotwire.

Offer is limited to 1 voucher per MilePoint member.

S T E A L S & D E A L S

Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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This week's hot deals from SmarterLiving.com...

Fare War on Domestic and International Travel
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Most U.S. airlines are offering sale fares on domestic and international travel, with up to 20% savings for online purchase. Book tickets by Sunday, July 8.

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Florida Sale Fares Starting at $78 R/T
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Southwest Airlines is offering sale fares for travel between cities throughout the U.S. and destinations in Florida, starting at $78 round-trip for travel between Aug. 13 and Sep. 30.

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S W E E P S T A K E S & F R E E B I E S

The Travel Biz Quiz
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Here's a giveaway that requires a bit of work to enter. You'll have to answer 9 travel-related questions, after which your name will be entered for the drawing.

The prize: 2 round trip business-class tickets from the U.S. to South Africa on South African Airways. Enter by Oct. 1, 2001.

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[Other sweeps & freebies are listed at http://frequentflier.com/sweeps.htm.]

R E A D E R R A N T S & R A V E S

UA Ticketing
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A thought for the Crier...did any other users of United Connection software feel as badly as I did when I got the letter this week entitled "important news" (note: not "exciting", as past announcements touted) saying that UAL was discontinuing the use of their software on 7/20? This forces us to use, what is in my opinion, their considerably LESS useful ual.com website. I have found U-Conn to be faster, more user-friendly, and overall a better piece of technology than ual.com, which relies heavily on the web browser.

I am, to say the least, disappointed. As it stands, I have no intention of migrating to ual.com, until they can at least match the performance and features of the U-Conn software. These would include:

* Being able to hold seats without purchase for 24 hours
* Being able to quickly get seat assignments
* Hold a profile complete with discount numbers for hotel and car programs
* Find the same low fares the software could
* Price open jaw trips as if it were a round trip.

One example of that last point was when I booked a trip from IAD-SAN and PHX-IAD. The exact same flights were $392 with the software, and $1650 on ual.com.

If others out there feel like me, I don't need the 3000 bonus miles the first time I use it, nor do I particularly covet the 500 bonus miles per segment. I was using the softrware at a less generous 250 miles per segment, due to it's convenience. With half a million miles in my account, it hardly is a perk. I intend on using other websites, such as expedia or biztravel or thetrip, thereby requiring UAL to pay commissions (albeit small), and will need to make more frequent calls to their customer service folks to check on upgrades, etc, thereby increasing the phone queue and their manpower costs, and, unfortunately, inconvenincing other travellers. I can't imagine this is what they had in mind, but overall, it seems poorly thought out.

I understand they want to focus their efforts on IMPROVING the ual.com website, but it seems that by switching before it really is an equal, that the inconvenience to loyal users is not worth it.

Bring on the best suited website to my 70,000 miles per year!

- Curt

Until next week...