UP FRONT..........................................................

The Fee-Creep Stampede
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Over the past 2 weeks, since we reported on the first wave of fees imposed by Northwest and United for award tickets not booked on the airlines' own websites, the tide of nickel-and-diming has risen slowly but inexorably.

Northwest solidified and expanded its fees to include international tickets (initially, only domestic tickets were affected). More significantly from a momentum standpoint, the world's largest airline, American, matched Northwest. Yesterday US Airways matched Northwest as well. And today, Continental did the same.

So, as of 4:30 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, Sept. 8, 2004, the award-ticketing fee picture is as follows:

Air Canada - Since July 2003, a $25 CAD fee for Aeroplan award tickets booked through the airline's reservations center or ticket offices.

American - Effective immediately, a $5 fee for award bookings made via American's reservations centers and $10 for award tickets booked at the airport. AAdvantage Executive Platinum members and AAirpass customers are exempt.

Continental - Effective immediately, a $5 fee for award bookings made via Continental's reservations centers, and a $10 fee for bookings at U.S. airport ticket counters and city ticket offices. Fees are waived for OnePass Platinum Elite members and their traveling companions booked on the same itinerary, as well as for customers purchasing tickets for military, government, bereavement, or unaccompanied minor travel.

Northwest - Effective immediately, a $5 fee for award bookings made via Northwest's reservations centers and $10 for award tickets booked at the airport. No fees for Platinum Elite members.

United - From Oct. 15, a $15 handling fee for awards not booked via United's website. Mileage Plus 1K and Global Services members will not be assessed the handling fee.

US Airways - Effective Sept. 9, a $5 fee for award bookings made through US Airways' reservations centers and $10 for award tickets booked at the airport. Dividend Miles Chairman's Preferred members will not incur the new fees.

With the majority of the major carriers already onboard, it's only a matter of time before service fees become the industry standard.

ON SITE...........................................................

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, Msreduch questions the old formula for valuing frequent flyer miles: "The strategy was that if buying the ticket with cash cost substantially less than 2 cents per mile, one was better off to save the miles. I am thinking that, in this day of hard-to-get award tickets, this may no longer apply."

In the "Contests & Sweepstakes" Forum, new member Jennifer has details and links to no fewer than 8 travel-related sweepstakes

In the "Credit Cards" Forum, Mrcheaps tells all re the new Amex/Marriott promotion.

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

-> More: http://frequentflier.com/forums/index.php

MILES & POINTS....................................................

AAdvantage/Oneworld Alliance Bonus
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AAdvantage members who fly American and at least 2 other oneworld alliance airlines between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30 will earn 15,000 bonus miles. Other oneworld members include Aer Lingus, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LAN and Qantas.

Eligible fares: first, business, or full-fare economy class (fare classes Y, B or H).

Register for the bonus before flying by calling AAdvantage at 1-800-882-8880, promotion code OW5YR (69597); or register online at http://www.aa.com/offers , promotion code OW5YR.

This same offer is open to members of the programs of any oneworld airline who fly on 3 oneworld carriers, including the carriers which hosts their programs, during the promotion period.

-> More: http://www.oneworld.com/

America West, Royal Jordanian Link Mileage Programs
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Beginning in Oct., members of America West's FlightFund program will be able to earn and redeem miles on Royal Jordanian flights. And members of Royal Jordanian's Royal Plus program will be able to do the same on America West flights.

Mileage program reciprocity is part of a larger joint-marketing package, including code sharing and lounge access.

Hawaiian Air Is New Points.com Partner
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Members of Hawaiian Air's HawaiianMiles program may now use Points.com to convert their miles into other loyalty-program currencies, or to convert other currencies into HawaiianMiles miles.

Example: 10,000 Hawaiian miles convert to 1,395 American AAdvantage miles or 1,255 Delta miles, a loss of 86% and 87% respectively.

Predictably, the ability to exchange Hawaiian miles for safer currencies comes as Hawaiian, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, looks to be on the mend.

-> More: http://www.HawaiianAir.com

Free Midwest Companion Ticket from HomeLoanCenter.com
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Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31, Midwest Miles members will earn a free companion ticket for qualifying loans from HomeLoanCenter.com. Minimum loan amount is $15,000 and loan app must be closed by Dec. 31.

-> More: http://midwestairlines.com/specials/ffspecialoffersdetail.asp?id=160

Northwest Doubles Rental-Car Miles
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Between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, Northwest will double the miles earned by WorldPerks members for qualifying transactions at rental-car partners Alamo, Dollar, National and Thrifty.

The doubling applies to base and bonus miles, so the current triple-mile offers from Dollar and Thrifty become 6X bonus offers.

Register at http://www.nwa.com/promo/accelerator using promotion code 8652.

-> More: http://www.nwa.com/features/accelerator04.html

Priority Club Bonus for Multiple Nights (Correction)
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In last week's Crier, we mis-characterized this as a multi-stay bonus. In fact, it's a multi-night bonus... which potentially makes it that much more lucrative. Once again:

Between Sept. 13 and Dec. 17, Priority Club Rewards members will earn 3,000 bonus points or 1,000 bonus airline miles after every 3 qualifying nights (!) at InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotels.

Maximum bonus during the promo period: 30,000 points or 10,000 miles.

Registration is required.

-> More: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/1/en/home

Thrifty Triples the Miles for 3-Day Rentals
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Between Sept. 6 and Nov. 19, Thrifty Car Rental will award triple frequent-flyer miles to members of 8 airline programs who book cars for 3 - 7 days. Bonus only applies to bookings made online at www.thrifty.com.

Participating airline partners: Alaska, American, America West, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, US Airways.

-> More: http://www.thrifty.com/specials

United Reprises Fly-3/Get-1-Free
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Mileage Plus members will receive 1 free coach ticket for every 3 qualifying flights on United, United Express or Ted between Sept. 7, 2004, and Jan. 31, 2005.

Qualifying flights may be in first, business or coach, so long as the ticket price exceeds $250. But (and this is the key qualifier for cheaper tickets): "Economy Class roundtrip travel may not include a Saturday night stay. Economy Class roundtrip travel in Y or B booking classes may only include a Saturday night stay."

There's a maximum of 4 free tickets per person.

Free tickets may be used for travel between Oct. 15, 2004 and June 10, 2005, on United, United Express and Ted flights within the 48 contiguous U.S. For residents of Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the free ticket will be valid for roundtrip travel from these locations to the contiguous 48 states. Blackout dates apply.

Registration is required, by Nov. 30.

-> More: http://united.com/onefreeforthree

United Doubles Miles to Mexico City
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Through Nov. 15, United is offering double miles for roundtrip flights to Mexico City in first (F, A or P booking class), business (C, D or Z booking class) or economy (Y, B, M, H, Q or V booking class). Bonus only applies to e-tickets.

Registration is required. Visit http://united.com/offer/mpi224 or call 1-800-447-6772, code 855.

STEALS & DEALS....................................................

Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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1) JetBlue's New Bahamas Flights - from $99 Each Way

JetBlue has announced plans to begin service between New York (JFK) and Nassau, Bahamas. Service begins on Nov. 1, and prices range from $99 to $249 each way, not including additional taxes and fees. Fares include a $3 online booking discount, and may be combined for roundtrip travel.

JetBlue has not announced a booking deadline for the introductory fares.

-> More: http://www.smarterliving.com/air/deal.php?id=7196

2) Atlanta Sale Fares on Delta from $49 Each Way

Delta has once again announced sale fares for travel between its Atlanta hub and a variety of U.S. cities. Travel is valid through Feb. 2, 2005, and prices start as low as $49 1-way. Fares may be combined for roundtrip travel.

Book tickets at least 7 days in advance, and by Tuesday, Sept. 21.

-> More: http://www.smarterliving.com/air/deal.php?id=7259

SWEEPS & FREEBIES.................................................

Visa's NFL Super Bowl XXXIX Sweepstakes
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Win a trip for 4 to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, FL, including air, hotel, and game tickets in Visa's NFL Super Bowl XXXIX Sweepstakes. Other prizes: 10 sets of tickets to the NFL team's 2005 home opener game closest to the winner's home.

Enter by using a Visa card at any U.S. Hilton family hotel between Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. Or enter by mail without making any purchase.

-> More: http://hhonors.hilton.com/en/hhonors/superbowl.jhtml

[Visit http://frequentflier.com/sweeps.htm for more travel sweepstakes.]

READER RANTS & RAVES..............................................

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel
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"Proposal... how about a full and complete Congressional investigation into the practices of airlines offering free travel in exchange for frequent flyer miles. Maybe this will scare the daylights out of the major airlines and coax them to add more seats to the program." (David)

[Editor's Note - Until and unless the airlines make meaningful moves in the direction of transparency, scrutiny by the DOT and/or FTC may indeed be called for.]

.........../

"Some additional thoughts on NW and their booking fees... I agree with others that NW's new fees represent some backwards thinking on the part of NW senior management. Thinking beyond the general annoyance to customers, there are a few things that make it a stupid move.

"First, there is a cost for NW to maintain and operate their website and booking engine. And there is a cost/price point where, financially, NW would be indifferent between someone booking on nwa.com or booking through Expedia. Finding a way to lower their booking fees would be much smarter than forcing customers to front the bill. And as you and others have mentioned, offering miles and discounts on their website will by itself drive reservations from the more expensive reservations center to nwa.com.

"Second, NW, more than any of the other traditional carriers, has resisted fare increases for fuel or other general yield improvement reasons. While you and a handful of other people would zero in on a mass $25 or $5 increase to prices; customers in general wouldn't. And NW could get more revenue without annoying so many constituents (customers, CRS', agencies, etc).

"Third, NW probably (fessing up here, I haven't booked on NW in a long time) can't offer the type of fare searches that Orbitz can. Which means that their website may not show the least expensive available fare. Which in essence means they are asking their customers to pay a fee to use the best booking tool available. I have lots of other thoughts on this and pricing in general, but I'll save those for another time." (Glenn)

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"I recently "gave" my son 90,000 miles to fly from Madison WI to Tanzania. I could not find much on the site, but I called 800-44-PERKS and told the agent I only wanted to use the standard miles. She spent a lot of time on it, was most helpful and I got the standard level ticket and what's more it was the Thanksgiving/Christmas time.

"I totally agree that Northwest has done a great deal to improve customer satisfaction. Especially the vouchers for money toward a ticket instead of the "W" seats. By the way, I have NEVER paid a $5.00 fee to use World Perk miles for a ticket." (Kathryn)

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"With all of the rants against NWA, I must be one of the few who has never had a problem redeeming my Frequent Flyer miles for trips. I have been twice to Hawaii in March, twice to Vancouver in the summer. While I have never tried for a trip to Europe, I have always gotten the dates and times I wanted without much hassle.

"Perhaps it is just luck and perhaps it is because I plan WAY in advance. I resent being forced to use NWA (I'm from Detroit and that's just about the only way out of here) but I grudgingly admit that I have been able to make the big trips for free using my FF miles. And the one time I had a huge problem with tickets, and the fault was entirely mine, the Detroit staff was extremely gracious in making alternate arrangements that got me to my destination only a couple of hours later than the original flight." (CZ)

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"Last month I went to the NW website to book a flight for myself using WorldPerks miles from MSP to Orlando. As I was only going out to the site one month in advance, I didn't expect anything to be open (or at least anything worth taking). To my surprise, I was offered a seat on almost EVERY flight for both my departure and return dates. Even though I'm departing on a Thursday night and returning mid-day on a Tuesday, I was surprised it was offered.

"Say what you will about the NW FF program, I've NEVER had a problem redeeming miles when I was serious about doing it." (Jeff in MSP, a NW hub city)

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"If people are so fed up with NW why don't they use a good airline like Continental. I have twice (July and this month) flown transatlantic for miles with no problem getting seats or flights. The only charges are taxes. Continental people seem to be very fair and reasonable UNLESS you are trying one on - in which case tough." (Roger)

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"I read a previous news letter where a passenger indicated that he/she bought "a row of seats" and their account was credited with FF miles for each seat. I just tried this today with Continental and I was told that I would get credit for only one seat. I was wondering what is more common among carriers, multiple seats/multiple rewards, or multiple seats/same passenger name/one reward." (JR)

[Editor's Note - Just a thought, but I'd guess that most carriers' software is written to prevent the same person from earning miles more than once for the same flight, to prevent fraud. A resourceful, sales-oriented supervisor probably could have figured out a way to override the system.]

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"Had the worst experience with US Airways.

"Flew US Airways for the first time recently, from San Francisco to Asheville, N.C., with layover in Charlotte. Yuck! The seats on the plane were dirty and stained. One seat was squeaking loudly every time the person shifted in his seat. Highly annoying for everyone for 5.5 HOURS; impossible to sleep with that constant racket. Switched planes in Charlotte, to a smaller plane to Asheville. US Airways lost the luggage for the ENTIRE PLANE. The people at the US Airways counter could not have been more rude and unpleasant. Announced in quite snotty tones that they had no idea when the luggage would arrive at the airport, and only those who were in hotels would have the luggage delivered "if the luggage shows up at all." Keep in mind that the flight from Charlotte to Asheville is less than an hour long. I overheard one US Airways employee very rudely tell a distraught passenger that their luggage might "never show up" because it had been labeled "voluntary separation." The passenger had not checked his luggage at the curb, had not been late for the plane, yet it was deemed "voluntary separation." (My luggage was delivered to my hotel near midnight.) I can tell you that I am voluntarily separating from US Airways and will never fly them again. Hideous experience." (DD in San Francisco)

........../

"Below is a portion of the information sent to American Airlines regarding our return trip from England to Chicago. We mailed the information on July 5th and to date no response!

"We flew back from England to Chicago. The flights were so close no one could make their flights Originally our flights began in London, England on American Airlines flight number 67. The flight was slightly delayed in London, England, but we did reach Chicago O'Hare by 3:10 P.M., sufficient time for our connecting flight to St. Louis, departure time 4:10 P.M. However, by the time we were able to exit the plane, go through customs, get our luggage from the London flight, get in line again for luggage check in where the American Airline attendants did not help those (including us) with pending flights to get immediate service, we were told that we would not be flying out on our connecting flight. Since we were eight of a group of 57 returning from a cruise (others were flying United Air Lines) , four were given the option of standby for the next flight was at 5:10 P.M., we the Tacketts and Holtcamps were told there was nothing available until 10:25 P.M. Since we were with a group meeting in St. Louis, and we were to be driven back to Springfield, IL early in the evening, that flight would not work for us. At that time, we asked if there was another option, such as a flight from Chicago to Springfield, IL. The attendant looked and said there were some openings and the four of us asked for that option, since we would be at our home city, and transportation would be available.

"Unfortunately for us, after all was said and done, luggage cleared and we thought all was right, we looked more closely at our tickets and to our dismay found out they had been issued to Springfield, MO! After many inquiries we were sent to a supervisor Michele Flowers, and she had representative Ms. Zayas contact what we believed to be the home office. By this time, there were no other options open to us but to rent a vehicle and drive to Springfield, IL We are requesting that a refund or compensation be made since we had to find "other" means of reaching our destination. We were advised to file our request to this address, along with supervisor's approval. Since our request did not conform to normal situations, we thought it best to forward all information for your review." (Pam)

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If you have a rant or a rave, e-mail us at rants@frequentflier.com.

Until next week...