Issue #104  --  July 27, 2000

<< O N S I T E >>

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

Jim wants to know about car rental awards. John is looking for a credit card which earns miles and allows balance transfers from other cards. Christopher shares his positive experiences with Holiday Inn. And Leo is compiling stats on program service centers.

Do you have questions? Answers? Comments? Concerns? Post them to the Forum!

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The FrequentFlier Forum:
http://frequentflier.com/cgi-local/index.cgi

<< M I L E S >>

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United Adds BWIA Flights for Mileage Accrual, Awards
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The latest move in the partnership dance among the airlines pairs United with BWIA.

United has received government approval to launch a bilateral alliance with BWIA West Indies Airways which will expand United's presence in the Caribbean by providing code-share service to Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago. Effective immediately, the United-BWIA alliance will also provide customers with 1-stop check-in service and starting September 9, allow Mileage Plus members to accrue and redeem frequent flyer miles on BWIA-operated flights.

The new code-sharing service is scheduled to become available for sale on August 5, 2000, with operations beginning September 9, 2000. United's two letter carrier code "UA" will be placed on BWIA's nonstop flights from Washington-Dulles, New York-JFK and Miami to Antigua, Barbados and Port of Spain. Eventually, the UA code will be displayed on BWIA connecting flights to Tobago.

BWIA is based in Piarco, Trinidad, and operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800's, Boeing MD83's, Lockheed L1011's and DeHaviland Dash 8-300Q's on their BWee Express inter-island product. BWIA serves 4 North American cities (Miami, Washington D.C., New York-JFK and Toronto), London, 9 Caribbean destinations (Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Antigua, St. Maarten, and Jamaica), and 2 South American destinations (Caracas, Venezuela and Georgetown, Guyana).

>> More <<
o United
o BWIA

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Earn Northwest Miles for E-Trades
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WorldPerks members and new E*TRADE customers can now earn up to 50,000 bonus miles per year for opening an E*TRADE account and investing through the Destination E*TRADE website.

WorldPerks miles will be awarded to each Northwest Airlines customer that opens an E*TRADE account based on the initial type of investment. Five thousand bonus miles will be awarded for a $1,000 deposit, 10,000 bonus miles will be awarded for a $10,000 deposit and 25,000 bonus miles will be awarded for a $50,000 deposit. Current E*TRADE account holders who refer up to 5 friends to open an E*TRADE account can earn an additional 5,000 miles per referral. In addition, E*TRADE and Northwest promise to announce more programs throughout the year that will give E*TRADE and Northwest customers the opportunity to earn up to 50,000 bonus miles per year.

In addition to the new Northwest tie-up, E*TRADE maintains partnerships with United, Delta, Hilton, Marriott, Yahoo!, and America Online.

>> More <<
o E*TRADE
o Northwest

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US Airways Adds Thrifty to Partner Lineup
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Thrifty Car Rental becomes the newest partner in the US Airways Dividend Miles program on August 1.

Dividend Miles members will earn 250 Dividend Miles on qualifying worldwide car rentals with Thrifty. Miles can be earned even when there is no US Airways flight associated with the rental.

To promote the new partnership, a special triple bonus -- 750 miles -- per qualifying rental will be offered from August 1 through November 15, 2000.

To receive triple miles, rentals must be picked up during the promotional period and at airport locations only. Rentals must be at least 2 rental days in duration, and customers must show their Dividend Miles card at the time of rental.

Dividend Miles members can also earn 250 miles when they park 3 times in a 1-year period using the same Thrifty airport parking location in the U.S.

>> More <<
o Thrifty
o US Airways

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Special Offers for Marriott Rewards Members
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Marriott is offering Rewards members reduced rates and special packages for summer travel at selected Marriott locations in California, Atlanta, Florida, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Among the special offers:

* A weekend in Florida for as little as $39 per night
* 10% savings on all-inclusive vacations to Aruba, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Costa Rica
* 10% off the Two-for-Breakfast rate at 3 California resorts
* Weekend accommodations and activities in Atlanta starting at $80 per night
* Up to 35% savings at 7 Florida hotels and resorts

Most offers are available through September, and restrictions do apply. Complete details can be found online (link below) or in the Marriott Rewards Summer 2000 newsletter.

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Marriott

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WebMiles Adds Avis, Other Accrual Partners
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WebMiles this week announced its first offline partner, Avis Rent A Car.

Beginning August 15, Avis will offer 50 WebMiles rewards per day for qualifying car rentals at more than 1,000 Avis rental locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Other new WebMiles partners include Brylane Home, Buy.com, Dell.com, eBags.com, Enews, Eve.com, arden.com, Grandparents Toy Connection, HardwareStreet.com, IBaby, JC Penny, KBKids.com, MarthaStewart.com, Nordstroms.com, Ifloor.com, Echo.com, Perfumania.com, Pets.com, ToysRus.com, and VarsityBooks.com.

In total, there are now more than 60 places to shop online and earn WebMiles rewards.

>> More <<
WebMiles

<< S T E A L S & D E A L S >>

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Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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Two hot deals from SmarterLiving.com...

>> 5% Discount on Travel to/from California

Receive a five percent discount on travel to/from any California city America West serves. Purchase tickets online by 9 p.m. PDT on Sunday, July 30.

For more details, go here.

>> Germany Sale Starts at $598 R/T

Travel to Germany is on sale from US Airways and Delta, with round-trip fares starting at $598. Purchase tickets by Friday, July 28 for US Airways and Monday, July 31 for Delta.

For more details, go here.

<< I N D U S T R Y U P D A T E >>

If you're a traveler--or, for that matter, involved in any way whatsoever with the travel industry--you've probably heard rumblings about the new crop of travel-distribution websites currently in development. And if you haven't yet, you will, because they have gotten the attention of Congress, the DOJ, consumer advocates, travel agency trade groups, etc.

I had already started drafting an article summarizing the situation when I came upon the following piece by Bill Carroll, reprinted here with permission.

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Orbitz and Hotwire Will Help Airlines Lose Money
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By Bill Carroll, PhoCusWright, Inc.

It's difficult enough to imagine how the major airlines will succeed with their unified Web travel site, Orbitz. Now, they've created a Priceline look-alike that may contain the seeds of Orbitz's own destruction.

In the interim, both efforts and their spin-offs will, at best, be entertaining and, at worst, a waste of time and money. The major obstacles Orbitz and Hotwire face should temper the hype and anxiety surrounding their potential threat. Consider a few of the major ones:

>> Where's the beef?

It is hard to imagine that there is a worthwhile economic return for the airlines considering the cost of making Orbitz and Hotwire successful. The airlines will profit from the difference between current distribution costs ("capped commissions" plus Global Distribution System fees) and the cost of providing a distribution mechanism (integrating disparate systems, building and maintaining a mini-Travelocity.com, Expedia and Priceline).

To achieve success will require a me-too brand investment to shift share from entrenched online agencies, emerging brick-and-click agencies, Priceline and the airlines' own branded sites. All of this will take a significant marketing and advertising spend. A wildly successful effort might generate a 10-15% share of the US$13 billion in estimated 2001 online airline booking revenue -- or less than $2 billion. (Don't forget, much of the share will be taken from the airlines' own Web sites.)

Considering an average commission of about 4%, that translates into an annual return (saved commissions and fees) of $80 million, at best. Compare that with the cost to build the enabling mechanism and to create a me-too online travel brand, plus an "airline-owned" Priceline.

Imagine the board meetings at Orbitz and Hotwire to decide how to carve up their profit bonanzas. Better still, imagine a billion dollar airline stockholders' meeting where the CEO must explain how Hotwire and Orbitz really benefit the core business!

>> Strange bedfellows

Participating airlines are unlikely to cooperate in marketing the Orbitz site and integrating the systems needed to make it and Hotline work. Airlines are very aggressive competitors and highly distrustful of one another. They spend the better part of a day trying to steal one another's market share. Now they will cooperate to integrate different and complicated distribution and yield management systems!

An even more bizarre twist: Orbitz will compete with each of the airline members' branded sites, while Hotwire further commoditizes airline seats.

For airline executives to cooperatively and successfully make Orbitz and Hotwire work would be like Israel and the PLO agreeing on a common flag and currency. It's possible, but very unlikely.

>> "A cartel by any other name would smell as..."

If the airlines do succeed in generating an acceptable return from Orbitz and/or Hotwire, it will be because they were actually able to cooperate and effectively reduce competitors' share of the market. That should certainly attract Department of Justice attention, despite documented assurances of fair play from Orbitz founders and the separate, non-airline board participation at Hotwire. Success itself may force the Department of Justice to act. If not, the increasing clamor of presumed harmed market players will. This is a classic "damned if you do and damned if you don't" scenario for Orbitz and Hotwire executives.

Either way, the efforts are damned!

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Bill Carroll is a senior consultant with PhoCusWright, Inc. Sherman, CT USA +1 860 350-4084

<< B U S I N E S S T R A V E L T I P S >>

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Getting to and from the Airport
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The following is part of a continuing series of business travel tips from Chris McGinnis's "The Unofficial Business Traveler's Pocket Guide--165 Tips Even the Best Business Travelers May Not Know."

>> By Bus or Van
Superior Shuttle's trademark blue-and-yellow buses service 16 major airports across the United States and will provide transportation from home to airport or from airport to home, office, or hotel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week--all at a reasonable price., Call 800-258-3826 to make reservations, or visit them on-line at www.supershuttle.com.

Also, the blue Airporter (or similar) vans operating in many major cities take passengers wherever they want to go in specific areas, for a fraction of what a cab would cost. The downside is that you must sometimes wait while other passengers are picked up or dropped off. Ask about these services at the airport ground transportation desk.

Privately operated shuttle bus services, like the Carey Airport Express, Olympia Trails, or Gray Line bus services from the New York City airports, off an excellent alternative to high-priced cabs.

Going from airport to city by municipally operated bus is really not a viable option for most business travelers. However, if you are a hard-core penny pincher, inquire at the airport ground transportation counter.

Chris McGinnis
Travel Skills Group
http://www.travelskills.com

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

None this week.

<< F R E Q U E N T F L I E R F U N N I E S >>

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True (Funny) Travel Stories
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Reported comments to a reservations agent...

"When my last flight was delayed, the captain instructed the flight attendants to give everyone a free drink. I was underage at the time, so they wouldn't serve me. Can I get my free drink on this flight? If not, the money will be OK."

[FrequentFlier Funnies are true stories told by pilots, reservations agents and other travel industry professionals, from William Joric's "Air Sick Humor." The book can be purchased at the FrequentFlier Bookstore at http://frequentflier.com/ffp-books.htm]

<< S I T E 2 S E E >>

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AirDisaster.com
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If you are obsessing about the Concorde tragedy, there's a website which will more than satisfy your craving for all things crash-related--AirDisaster.com.

Their version of "This Day in History" runs as follows: "11 years ago today, on July 27, 1989, a Korean Airlines DC-10-30 crashed short of the runway at Tripoli, Lybia while landing in fog. 75 of the 200 passengers and crew aboard, along with 6 on the ground, were killed."

While this may seem morbid to some, the site has a serious purpose--to a) provide a resource for timely updates on breaking aviation-safety related stories, b) provide a central location for retrieval of information dealing with aviation accidents past and present, and c) provide a forum for the public to express their opinions on the topics covered on this site.

To those ends, AirDisaster.com features crash photos and video files, an accident database, eye witness reports, NTSB findings, and more.

[Thanks to regular reader Jackie for recommending this website.]

>> More <<
AirDisaster.com

Until next week...