Issue #6 -- August 1, 1998
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American-US Airways "Stage 1"
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US Airways Dividend Miles members and American Airlines AAdvantage members will be able to claim awards for travel on both airlines beginning August 1 as the initial stage of their newly formed marketing relationship.
In addition, American's Admirals Club members and US Airways Club members will enjoy reciprocal access to each other's clubs, also beginning August 1. American Airlines has 47 Admirals Clubs throughout its system, including Latin America, Europe and Japan, and US Airways operates 26 clubs throughout the United States.
Although no date has yet been set, American Airlines and US Airways will introduce the next stage of their marketing relationship in the near future, enabling Dividend Miles members and AAdvantage members who belong to both programs to combine miles when claiming travel awards on either airline. This is what many frequent flyers have been hoping and clamoring for: the ability to combine miles from two programs to qualify for an award.
AAdvantage members will also soon be able to earn both AAdvantage miles, as well as Dividend Miles, on certain US Airways Shuttle flights between Washington, D.C., New York and Boston.
>> More <<
o American Airlines
o US Airways
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New US Airways Credit Card
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US Airways and NationsBank this week launched a new co-branded Dividend Miles Visa Platinum card, featuring accelerated mileage-earning opportunities.
>> The Facts <<
Platinum cardholders earn a 20 percent monthly mileage dividend, which translates into 1.2 miles for each dollar spent in purchases (versus one mile per dollar with other airline credit cards). In addition, cardmembers receive a 5,000 mile bonus with the first use of the card, double miles on US Airways ticket purchases, unlimited mileage earning potential, and non-expiring Dividend Miles.
Other benefits include $99 companion tickets annually after members' anniversary date, $75 off a new membership to the 26 US Airways Clubs, as well as dedicated 24-hour, 7-day customer service, a year-end account summary and $1 million travel accident insurance.
To apply for the Dividend Miles Visa Platinum card, call 1-800-298-5030. >> The Verdict <<
On the minus side, annual fee for the Platinum card is $125, which makes this one of the costliest of all affinity cards to keep in your wallet. On the plus side, the 20% mileage bonus together with the hefty activation bonus, unlimited earnings and companion discount give the card substantial extra value... potentially. The key here is usage. If you're going to use the card aggressively, taking advantage of everything it has to offer, it's probably worth the $125. Otherwise, earn your credit card miles the old-fashioned way, using a low-annual-fee card.
>> More <<
US Airways
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Good News--Double WorldPerks Offer Extended
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Northwest Airlines is extending its double WorldPerks miles offer. Travelers can purchase select coach tickets for travel between now and September 1 to any Northwest destination in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and earn double WorldPerks miles.
As previously announced, between now and September 1, Northwest also will award double WorldPerks miles to First Class or World Business Class tickets for travel within the airline's North American system or from the U.S. and Canada to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India on Northwest or KLM.
Following are the terms and conditions of the offers:
O North America Coach Class Offer. Double mileage offer applies to residents of the U.S. and Canada for travel through September 1, 1998. Qualifying fares must be booked in Y/B class of service only. Offer is valid for flights throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Other restrictions apply.
O North American and International First and World Business Class Offer. Double mileage offer applies to residents of the U.S. and Canada for travel through September 1, 1998. Qualifying fares must be booked in First Class or World Business Class only (F,P,C or J fares). Offer is valid for travel within the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean or from the U.S. and Canada to Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India only. Travel miles will not apply to KLM flights between Amsterdam and destinations in Asia and the South Pacific, Mexico, South and Central America. Other restrictions apply.
>> More <<
Northwest
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Bad News--Northwest Pilot Strike Increasingly Likely
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Northwest Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have declined the National Mediation Board's proffer of arbitration, thereby establishing a negotiation deadline of Saturday, August 29, at 12:01 a.m. EDT. If agreement cannot be reached by that date on issues including job protections, work rules, retirement, and compensation, the pilots likely will strike.
In May 1998, Northwest pilots returned a record 99 percent strike vote and pilot strike centers have since been set up in all six pilot bases (Minneapolis, Detroit, Memphis, Seattle, Anchorage, and Honolulu). The pilots' strike preparedness efforts are backed by ALPA's $60 million war chest.
As the odds of a strike increased, Northwest announced that it will use its web site to provide customers with updated information on flight schedules and operations.
"Northwest continues to operate its full schedule," said Rick Dow, Northwest vice president - worldwide advertising and marketing. ``Even so, people are very naturally going to have questions and concerns about their flights and about what's happening in negotiations. We want them to get those answers quickly and conveniently and in a way that will keep pace with developments."
>> More <<
o The flight updates can be found here.
o Further information on the labor negotiations are here.
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United Matches Northwest Mileage Extension
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United, in ads running in Friday's papers, matched Northwest's double-mile offer extension (see above).
Like Northwest's offer, United's is limited to full-fare economy, business and first class.
Unlike Northwest's offer, United requires registration in order to qualify for the bonus miles. To register, Mileage Plus members can either call 1-800-930-3052, or register online at United's website.
By requiring registration as a precondition for receiving bonus miles, United is insuring that only customers who are consciously responding to the offer will be rewarded. It saves them the cost, in theory, of awarding the extra miles to customers who would have flown United anyway. This is an increasingly common feature of airline offers, so be sure to read the fine print and register for those promotions which require it.
>> More <<
The United site
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Online Travel Shows Strong Growth, Revenues
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Preview Travel and Travelocity both reported healthy operating results this week.
Preview, which sells off its own website, as well as functioning as the travel affiliate for such major sites as America Online, Excite, Lycos, SNAP! and USA Today, reported online travel gross bookings for the second quarter of $49.5 million, up 38 percent from gross bookings of $35.9 million in the first quarter of 1998, and up 178 percent from the second quarter of the prior year. Revenues from online operations in the second quarter were $3.1 million, an increase of 35 percent, compared with revenues from online operations of $2.3 million in the first quarter of 1998, and an increase of 168 percent compared to the second quarter of the prior year.
Travelocity, another major online travel agency, had its own good news to crow about. During the week ending July 17, it reached two milestones in online sales: the industry's first $1 million dollar day and $6 million dollar week.
>> More <<
o Preview
o Travelocity
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Smoking
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We recently reported on developments in Japan, where there's progress toward adopting an across-the-board ban on inflight smoking.
In a related move, Cathay Pacific Airways announced it will become a totally smoke-free airline effective October 25, when it makes all flights between Japan and Hong Kong nonsmoking. Presently, all flights, except those serving Japan, are smoke-free.
Cathay began gradually introducing nonsmoking flights in 1990 in accordance with customer preference in the countries in which it operates. In April 1992, the airline took an industry lead in expanding its nonsmoking policy to selected long-haul routes--beginning with flights to Australia and Canada, followed by Los Angeles and New Zealand that same year, and London in May 1993.
Recent research carried out by the airline suggests that 80 percent of its passengers are nonsmokers, and that even some of its passengers who do smoke prefer to travel on nonsmoking flights.
All this is against the backdrop of developing legislation in Congress to prohibit smoking on all flights within, to and from the U.S.
>> More <<
Cathay's site
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From Airport to Mallport
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You've probably noticed that airports are looking increasingly like shopping malls, with the occasional check-in counter squeezed in between vendors of apparel, luggage, books, gifts and, of course, food and drink. And where food and drink are concerned, it's no longer the one-outlet-per-terminal purveyor of generic sustenance. Now it's a wild melee of foodstalls, ranging from scaled-down Burger Kings to independent gourmet coffee stands to micro-breweries.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport is (proudly) one of those airports going down the "mallport" road. According to their news release:
Beginning July 29, 1998, many new retail stores, restaurants and concession stands will open their doors, some for the first time, in the main terminal building of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Among those opening will be the Minnesota-themed Split Rock Bar & Grill, a full-service sit down restaurant; Liz Claiborne, a women's boutique; Erwin Pearl, a jewelry store; and Bath and Body Works, a personal care products and gift store.
"Travelers," claims an airport official, "have indicated their interests in seeing more and better quality retail stores and restaurants in the airport. We have heard many positive comments from our customers regarding the recently opened California Pizza Kitchen, Lands' End and Johnston & Murphy shoe store and are proud and pleased to be offering our customers the finest in style and variety."
Maybe. My vote is for airports that put as little as possible between me-arriving-at-the-airport and me-boarding-my-flight. That means a small terminal with a straight-through traffic flow, taking you from the terminal's entrance to your boarding gate in as few steps, with as few bottlenecks, as possible.
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Best of the Worst
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A global survey carried out by the UK-based research company Inflight Research Services (IRS) awarded top ranking in the category of international economy class service to the Middle Eastern carrier, Emirates, followed by Australia's Ansett.
If the category were to include domestic economy class, the winner (in my mind) would be Midwest Express. I recently flew Los Angeles-Milwaukee-Los Angeles on their service, and was very impressed. They run MD-80 aircraft, with two seats on each side of the singe aisle. (Other airlines place two seats on one side, and three on the other.) The seats themselves are wider, and they're leather-covered. The meal service was as good as I've ever had in economy class. And the cabin crew were animated and friendly. I don't ask for more, and I usually receive a lot less.
>> More <<
o Ansett
o Midwest Express
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Repositioning Las Vegas
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The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority released results of extensive visitor research conducted in recent months, and also unveiled long-range strategic marketing plans based in part on the results of those findings.
Among the findings: for the first time, more people (50 percent) cited entertainment over gaming (48 percent) as the primary reason for their trip to Las Vegas. Also, among people with a propensity to gamble, the number of trips to Las Vegas over a five-year period has decreased from 11 to seven. Those trips to Las Vegas have been replaced with trips to other, closer-to-home gaming locations throughout the country as Vegas has lost its monopoly on legalized gambling.
As a result, the Las Vegas marketing mavens will focus increasingly on positioning the city as an entertainment resort (shopping, dining, shows, etc.), rather than the smoky gambler's paradise it had been since the days when mobsters and the Rat Pack ruled.
I have never had a good meal in Vegas. And if I'm going to fly somewhere to shop, it'll be to Hong Kong or Paris. Viva the old Las Vegas!
>> More <<
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
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Price Break for Japanese Travelers
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On September 13, Japan's first discount airline will inaugurate service between Tokyo and Fukuoka.
The Japanese Ministry of Transport granted Skymark Airlines its operating license on Tuesday, setting the stage for a new era of commercial aviation in Japan. For 45 years, Japan's three major airlines have operated in a highly regulated environment, charging the same high fares.
Skymark will enter the market charging only 13,700 yen (about $100) for a one-way ticket on the route, half the fare charged by the incumbent airlines. Like the U.S. low-cost airlines, Skymark's strategy is to keep costs low and productivity high by contracting out services wherever possible, leasing rather than buying aircraft, and minimizing turnaround time between flights.
Plans are to add Skymark service to other destinations within Japan, including Hokkaido and Okinawa.
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Hot Dog... Not
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Due to the summer heatwave baking most of the U.S., Delta Air Lines has stopped checking live animals as baggage.
The only exception to the new policy will be in the case of pet owners who are now in the middle of a trip. They will be allowed to return home with their pets as checked baggage if the temperature when they fly does not exceed 85 degrees. If the flight-time temperature is higher than that, they can reschedule without penalty for an early morning or evening flight, when the weather is cooler.
The policy change will last through September 15.
Arf!
>> More <<
Delta
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