This Week's Travel Industry Newsbites

For Delta and other carriers on the edge of the bankruptcy, Hurricane Katrina couldn't have come at a worse time.

The combination of higher fuel prices (from the disruption of affected supply lines) and lower revenues (from cancelled flights) could turn out to be the straw that broke Delta's back.

Our best guess: Delta will file for Chapter 11 within the next two months.

As the 12th day of the Northwest strike comes to a close, the provisional verdict is in: the airline's plan to operate with replacements for its striking mechanics has succeeded. To be sure, there was a spike in delays and cancellations as the stand-in mechanics struggled to keep planes in the air. But the meltdown threatened by the mechanics' union never happened, and probably won't.

While management appears to have won one battle, the outcome of the war is still very much in doubt. Northwest's remaining problems make it the second-most-likely bankruptcy candidate among the major airlines.

United posted a loss of $274 million for the month of July. That's actually good news, since $350 million of that was expenses related to ongoing restructuring efforts. When those costs are factored out, United would have had a profit of $76 million.

More good news from United: airline chief Glenn Tilton reported that $3 billion in financing was available to help underwrite United's emergence from bankruptcy, $500 million more than needed.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, pnolen begins as follows: "Each time I try to do anything besides just pay for flights on Continental, I get very frustrated. I want to take my wife to London (from Houston), and was hoping to pay an advance coach fare, then use miles to upgrade to Business First to make it a special trip. I found the coach class (I fare) tickets from Houston to London for $600 a ticket, which I thought was reasonable, but when I asked to use miles to upgrade..." It's all down hill from there.

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, Cheryl is going "a little batty" with her own award travel to Europe: "My son is going with his High School band to Vienna and Prague. The rest of the family is planning on using FF miles on AA to travel in his vicinity(traveling to Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic) and catch at least one of their concerts. My home airport is ORD. I want to start out near Vienna and at the end of the trip - I am trying to figure the best way to swing a "short" jaunt to visit relatives in Copenhagen."

And much more. Questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!

:: More

Amex Adds New Award Options to Membership Rewards

Effective immediately, members of the American Express Membership Rewards program can redeem their points to cover all or part of the cost of airline tickets, hotel rooms and cruises booked at americanexpress.com/travel.

When redeemed for flights, basic Membership Rewards points have a value of 1¢. So a $150 ticket would require 15,000 points. When redeemed for hotel stays or cruises, points have somewhat less value.

To use points, the member chooses whether to use points for all or a part of the cost and then proceeds to pay for the booking using an American Express card. Based on the number of points redeemed, all or a portion of the charge is then credited back to the member's account.

As the Amex news release stresses, the points are in lieu of a cash purchase, so there are no capacity controls to navigate.

:: More

Amex Launches Private Jet Rewards

In another award-related move, American Express has added Private Jet Rewards to the award catalog of the Membership Rewards program, allowing cardmembers to redeem points for private jet travel through Bombardier Skyjet and Flexjet.

Through Dec. 31, the new private jet awards are offered at half price -- e.g. 195,000 points for a $5,000 credit toward the purchase of a private jet flight.

:: More

Choice Offers 1 Free Night After 2 Stays

Between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, Choice Privileges members will earn enough points for one free night after every two qualifying stays at Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion or Mainstay Suites hotels in the U.S.

Specifically, members earn a minimum of 6,500 bonus points for every two stays, which, when added to the points normally earned, is enough for a free-night award at 8,000 points.

:: More

Double Delta Miles for DFW-SEA Flights on Alaska Air

Between Sept. 12 and Nov. 10, SkyMiles members will earn double miles on Alaska Airlines' new nonstop service between Dallas and Seattle.

Registration is required.

:: More

Northwest Doubles the Miles

Between Aug. 31 and Oct. 9, U.S. and Canada-based WorldPerks members will earn double miles for Northwest, Northwest Airlink or KLM-operated flights. The bonus may be earned for up to five roundtrips during the promotion period.

The bonus miles count toward elite status.

Registration is required.

[Background - The Northwest news release is titled: "Northwest Matches United Frequent Flyer Mileage Bonus Offer." United indeed has a comparable double-mile promotion in place, but it was a targeted offer, only available to members with mailing addresses in select areas. A United rep would not reveal which areas were targeted, but it's likely to have been the Minneapolis and Detroit vicinities. Northwest's disproportionate response indicates that, with the instability caused by the mechanics' strike, they feel particularly vulnerable to poaching by competitors.]

:: More

Starwood to Acquire Le Meridien Hotels

Starwood has reached agreement to purchase the 130-property Le Meridien chain of hotels.

While there's no official word on this yet, the assumption is that Le Meridien will be folded into the Starwood Preferred Guest program when the sale is finalized, around the end of the third quarter.

:: More

Earn Double Credits for Thrifty Rentals

Through Oct. 15, members of Thrifty Car Rental's Blue Chip Rewards program will earn double credits for rentals booked on the thrifty.com website.

:: More

Double United Miles for Ontario-SFO Flights

Between Sept. 7 and Dec. 14, Mileage Plus members will earn double miles on newly launched nonstop Ted flights between Ontario, CA, and San Francisco.

Registration is required.

:: More

United Offers 20,000 Miles for Hong Kong-Vietnam Flights

Between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, Mileage Plus members will earn 20,000 bonus miles for flying first class (F, A fares) or business class (C, D) between Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Registration is required.

:: More

Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Sale Fares on Independence Air from $39 Each Way

Independence Air's latest domestic sale starts at $39 one-way, and expires Thursday at midnight ET. Destinations include Washington, D.C., and cities in Florida and in the western U.S.

Travel is valid from Sept. 6 through Nov. 15. Fares may require up to a seven-day advance purchase, and must be booked by Sept. 1.

:: More

2) Summer and Fall Fares on America West from $39 Each Way

America West's latest domestic sale is valid for travel in September, October, and November. Prices start at $39 one-way, and destinations include Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Orlando. Southwest is offering a similar sale for nationwide travel.

Travel is valid on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from Sept. 2 through Nov. 16. Book tickets at least 14 days in advance, and by Sept. 8.

:: More

Hertz 50,000 Miles a Week Sweepstakes

Enter the Hertz 50,000 OnePass Mile Giveaway for a chance to win 50,000 OnePass miles every week through July 29, 2007. (That's not a misprint -- the sweepstakes continues for 24 months, during which time 104 prizes will be awarded.)

Enter by booking a Hertz car at continental.com and completing the rental, or by mail (no purchase required).

If entering by renting, you must register in advance on continental.com using Promotion Code 57076.

:: More

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"I have so many American Express points and need to know if there is any way of transferring them into American Airlines points without losing anything. I would like to be able to transfer the points and not have a 'ratio transfer'! Please let me know the inside scoop on this!" [Andi H.]

[FrequentFlier responds - While miles from some airline programs can be obtained 1:1 for Amex points, American isn't on that list. In fact, American doesn't partner in Membership Rewards at all. So the only way to convert Amex points to AAdvantage miles is through an intermediate program.

Example: 10,000 Membership Rewards points can be exchanged for 10,000 Priority Club points. In turn, those 10,000 Priority Club points can be redeemed for 2,500 AAdvantage miles. Considering that 10,000 Membership Rewards points can be exchanged 1:1 for 10,000 miles in the programs of Continental, Delta, US Airways and other carriers, settling for 2,500 American miles is a pretty unappealing alternative.]

"Just heard about the changes to Southwest Rapid Rewards.

"Did you mention this? Maybe I missed it.

"Just wanted to say that I am continually mystified by their incompetence in this area. Perhaps they should just disband the program and focus on selling cheap seats." [George D.]

[Editor's Note - We gave considerable space to the Southwest changes, and were quite critical of the move. See our coverage here.]

Until next week...