U P F R O N T

Good News: We're In
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We receive plaudits from various mainstream media pretty regularly, but the following is particularly gratifying:

"Your Web site has recently been chosen as one of 500 top aviation sites on the Web. Your site will be featured in the Aviation Internet Directory -- A Guide to 500 Best Aviation Web Sites, published and distributed worldwide by McGraw-Hill.

"Thank you for continuing to serve up quality aviation information."

Sad News: Paul's Out
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Longtime travel writer Paul Grimes will be travel writing no more. He's retiring, that is.

I've never met Paul, but we've both been contributing travel editors for SmarterLiving for several years, and I'm proud to have been a colleague, albeit a distant one.

Paul's calm, reasoned approach to the travails of travel was a model of consumer-focused reporting, a welcome foil to today's popular (and generally self-indulgent) "crabby traveler" style of travel writing.

Bon voyage, Paul.

O N S I T E

New on the FrequentFlier Forum
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The dominant topic on the Forum continues to be American's 20/20 promotion. Kathy is wondering about the Fleet Fusion mileage card. Jean points out that Points.com isn't growing. There are a number of reports of Max sightings on MyPoints. And more...

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

> More...

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

Hilton Doubles Miles, Adds points, for Fall Stays
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Between Sept, 1 and Nov. 15, 2001, HHonors members can earn double miles for Double Dip stays at Hilton HHonors hotels, plus 1,000 HHonors bonus points when the Double Dip stays are charged to a Visa card.

To earn the bonus miles and points, make 1 Double Dip stay at any HHonors hotel during the promotion period. Thereafter, every additional Double Dip stay earns double miles. And, if you use a Visa card to charge the double-mile stays, you'll earn 1,000 HHonors bonus points as well.

Offer is available at more than 2,100 HHonors hotels worldwide, including Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Innand Homewood Suites.

> More...

Transfer TWA Miles to AAdvantage... AAnytime
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Based on the initial policy statements from American and TWA regarding merging the AAdvantage and Aviators programs, many Aviators members assume that their Aviators miles will auto-transfer to AAdvantage on Nov. 30, and NOT before.

In fact, Aviators accounts will be transferred on Nov. 30 (assuming you have accounts in both programs). But you can also transfer miles immediately -- either all or a portion of them. And in the case of a partial transfer, the remaining Aviators miles will auto-transfer to AAdvantage on Nov. 30.

So, if you need to top off your AAdvantage miles to reach an award level, and you have the missing miles in your Aviators account... problem solved!

You can make the transfer online, at http://www.aa.com/ or by calling 1-800-882-8880.

Cathay Pacific Offers Handhelds, Miles for Transpac Flights
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Fly Cathay Pacific in first or business class between Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, 2001, and the airline will reward you with a Compaq iPAQ handheld plus up to 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles. To qualify, you must depart the U.S. between Sept. 1 and Nov. 15, and return no later than Dec. 15.

Pre-registration instructions and more details can be found at http://www.cathaypda.com.

AeroMexico: Fly 4, Earn 50 (Thousand, That Is)
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AeroMexico is offering 50,000 bonus miles to Club Premier members who take at least 4 roundtrips or 8 one-way flights on AeroMexico between Aug. 24 and October 14, 2001.

Club Premier members should mention this offer when making reservations.

Call AeroMexico at 1-800-237-6639 or visit http://www.aeromexico.com.

Boston Flights Earn AAdvantage Bonus
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AAdvantage members who book roundtrip flights to or from Boston on AA.com will earn a total of 2,500 bonus miles.

In addition to the standard 1,000 mile bonus offer for booking travel on AA.com, American and American Eagle flights to/from Boston earn an additional 1,500 miles, for a total of 2,500 bonus miles. The bonus can be earned twice during the promotion period, for a maximum of 5,000 bonus miles.

To qualify for the Boston bonus-mile offer, book on AA.com between Aug. 27 and Sept. 5 and complete travel by Oct. 15. Register online, using promotion code RMBOS.

MilePoint Adds Mortgages from Chase, Citibank
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MilePoint.com has added Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation and CitiMortgage to the list of MilePoint merchants.

MilePoint members can now use their miles and points toward the partial payment of mortgage closing costs. For example, a member can use up to 25,000 frequent flier miles or points, at a rate of two cents each, toward a maximum of $500 to use for closing costs, or (in the case of CitiMortgage) toward a 1/4-point buydown of the mortgage interest rate.

> More...

Alaska Air to De-list TWA from Partner Roster
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TWA's participation in Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan will end on Nov. 30, 2001, after which no Mileage Plan miles can be earned or redeemed for TWA flights.

While Nov. 30 is the last day to make award requests, Mileage Plan members have until July 31, 2002, to complete award travel on TWA (by which point, presumably, you'd actually be flying on an American flight).

Budget Rentals Earn Double Southwest Credits
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Rapid Rewards members who book their Budget car rental through southwest.com will receive double credit (1.0 credit versus the 0.5 credit per qualified rental).

Offer valid on Budget reservations booked on southwest.com between Aug. 27, 2001, and Feb. 27, 2002, at a participating U.S. Budget locations where Southwest flies.

> More...

United Offers 1,000 Bonus Miles for SFO Flights
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Mileage Plus members will earn 1,000 bonus miles for qualifying roundtrips between San Francisco and Ontario (CA), Phoenix (AZ), Orange County (CA) or Vancouver, Canada.

Travel must be completed between Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, 2001. Offer may be earned a maximum of 3 times. Valid on qualifying paid, published fares in F, A, C, B, Y, M, H and Q booking classes only. Register by Dec. 15, 2001, online or by calling 1-800-447-6772 and entering offer code 366.

Oops!
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In last week's Crier, we misrepresented Northwest's partner offer as having a 5,000 bonus-mile maximum per participating partner. In fact, the 5,000-mile max is per member, NOT per partner.

[Thanks to Philip for bringing the mistake to our attention.]

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...

Sale Fares Within North America and to Europe and Asia
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Northwest has announced a fall fare sale, offering savings to/from North American destinations and from the U.S. to Europe and Asia. Other major U.S. airlines have matched this sale.

> More...

Sale Fares to Mexico City From $354 R/T
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American Airlines has announced a fare sale on travel from cities throughout the U.S. to Mexico City, Mexico. Fares are valid for departure through Dec. 15, and return travel must be completed by Dec. 19.

> More...

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

Orbitz Sweepstakes Prize: Planet Earth
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Register at the Orbitz website before Sept. 30, 2001, for a chance to win tickets for 2 to 6 continents and $5,000 cash. In addition to the grand prize, 50 pairs of airline tickets to anywhere in the U.S. will be awarded.

In addition to receiving 1 entry for registering, everyone who books travel on the site during the promotion period will receive 10 additional entries in the sweepstakes, with a maximum of 50 entries.

You can also enter at http://www.americangreetings.com by sending an AmericanGreetings.com e-greeting telling a friend about the promotion. You'll earn 1 entry per referral, up to a maximum of 50.

> More...

Until next week...