U P F R O N T

On 9/11, Just Do It
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As promised last week, we're keeping to our schedule and publishing as usual. Well, not quite as usual. This week's issue carries no ads and somewhat less editorial. The goal was to maintain continuity.

Speaking of perseverance, the following sentiment from John "Johnny Jet" DiScala (http://www.johnnyjet.com) struck me as particularly apropos --

"Since 9/11 I have been on 79 flights and flown over 131,000 miles, I'm not going to let those cowards scare me."

Finally, for some thoughts on where travel is headed on the occasion of the first anniversary of 9/11, Smarter Living has compiled articles on the subject by its contributors -- myself included -- at SmarterLiving.com.

B-A-A-A-A-D D O G G I E

Out of the Doghouse: US Airways
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No sooner had we nominated US Airways as the charter member of the B-a-a-a-a-a-d Doggie club than they rescinded the very policy that earned them that dubious distinction.

As so rarely happens, the company acknowledged it had made a bad decision and reversed itself. In its official account of the policy flip-flop, US Airways cited customers' negative feedback. No doubt that played a part. But the more likely explanation is that they recanted less in response to consumer input than because their customer-unfriendly move wasn't matched by competitors.

In any case, whether for the right or wrong reasons, US Airways did the right thing: base miles earned on nonrefundable fares will continue to count toward earning elite status in Dividend Miles.

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

Redeem OnePass Miles for Great Performances
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OnePass members can redeem their miles for 3 upcoming performances at Lincoln Center.

For 3,500 miles per orchestra seat, OnePass members can obtain tickets to Great Performers concerts at Lincoln Center on Oct. 16, Nov. 3, and Dec. 8. Tickets are limited to 4 per OnePass account and subject to availability.

To redeem miles for tickets, call CenterCharge at 1-212-721-6500 or visit the box office window. There's a $5.50 per ticket surcharge for tickets ordered by phone through CenterCharge.

Delta Adds 3 Partners
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Effective Sept. 1, SkyMiles members will earn miles for qualifying stays at Omni Hotels throughout North America. And through Oct. 31, Omni stays earn double miles -- 1,000 rather than the normal 500.

> More... (or 1-800-THE-OMNI)

Also effective Sept. 1, SkyMiles members can earn miles when renting cars at any of Europcar's 2,600 international locations. As an introductory offer, members earn 100 miles for each rental day through Nov. 30. Thereafter, earn 60 miles per rental day.

> More... (or 1-877-940-6900)

And effective Oct. 1, Delta and Virgin Atlantic will participate in each other's programs.

To promote the reciprocal tie-up, through Dec. 15 SkyMiles members will earn double miles for Virgin flights, excluding flights between London and Johannesburg or Capetown; and members of Virgin's flying club will earn double miles when flying on Delta's transatlantic and U.S. domestic flights.

> More...

From Hertz: Discount or Bonus Miles
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Through Mar. 31, 2003, save $25 or earn 500 bonus airline miles for qualifying Leisure Weekly or Leisure Weekend rentals of 3 days or more of full size or larger cars at participating airport and suburban locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

Miles are offered in the programs of the following airlines: Alaska, Aloha, American, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, Midwest Express, National, United, US Airways.

> More... (or 1-800-654-2210)

Sprint Offers Up to 9,000 MWE Bonus Miles
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Members of Midwest Express Frequent Flyer can earn up to 9,000 bonus miles from Sprint through Dec. 31.

Switch to Sprint 7 cents AnyTime residential long-distance service to earn up to 5,500 bonus miles -- 1,100 miles for each of the first 5 Sprint invoices. Additionally, earn 500 bonus miles by signing up for Sprint 7¢ AnyTime online, at http://www.sprint.com/mwe/9000. And then earn up to 3,000 more bonus miles by signing up as a new customer for any Sprint PCS Service Plan of $49.99 a month or more.

After the promotion period, Frequent Flyer members earn 5 miles for every $1 spent with Sprint Long Distance; Frequent Flyer Plus members earn 7 miles per $1 spent.

> More - 1-888-678-0798

Qualiflyer Will Disband Next Year
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Beginning Jan. 1, 2003, the Qualiflyer program will be broken up into separate programs, operated by its individual partner airlines, Air Lib, SN Brussels Airlines, Swiss International and TAP Air Portugal. (A fifth Qualiflyer partner, LOT Polish Airlines, will join Lufthansa's Miles & More program.)

Qualiflyer members with miles in their accounts will be automatically transferred into 1 of the successor programs, based on their recent airline activity. And of course they can override the default and elect to have their miles transferred to a different program.

> More...

Six Continents Offers Bonus Miles, Points
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Every second stay at a Six Continents hotel between Sept. 9 and Nov. 27 will earn 2,000 Priority Club bonus points or 500 airline miles.

Bonus points or miles will be awarded on every second qualifying stay at participating Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, and Staybridge Suites hotels. Maximum bonus: 20,000 points, 5,000 airline miles or 300 AIR MILES miles. Registration is required.

Participating airlines/programs: Aeromexico, AIR MILES, Air Canada, Alaska, America West, American, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, US Airways.

> More...

Double United Miles at Choice Hotels
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From Sept. 23 through Dec. 15, earn double Mileage Plus miles at Choice-brand hotels in the U.S. and the Caribbean -- 500 miles per stay at Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion or MainStay Suites; and 300 miles per stay at Econo Lodge or Rodeway Inn.

> More... (or 1-800-4CHOICE)

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...

Flights to/from the East and Southeast from $88 R/T
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AirTran and US Airways are offering sale fares as low as $88 round-trip to/from cities in the East and Southeast, and Delta is offering a similar sale on travel to/from Atlanta. Sale fares are valid through Jan. 22, 2003. Book tickets by Tuesday, Sept. 17.

> More...

Fall and winter fares to Europe from $362 R/T
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American, Continental, Delta, and US Airways are offering fare sales on winter travel to Europe, for departure between Nov. 1, 2002, and Mar. 31, 2003. Continental, Delta, and Northwest are also offering higher fares for fall flights, for departure between Sept. 5 and Oct. 31, and American's fares apply to holiday-season departure between Dec. 13 and 24 as well.

> More...

S I T E 2 S E E

The Antidote to Hunger: AirlineMeals.net
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[We featured this site once before, soon after it launched. Since then, the collection of photos and reviews of airline meals has expanded considerably so it warrants a repeat visit.]

Last week, in what may be symptomatic of deep psychological problems, I spent a full 20 minutes thumbing through amateur photos of airline meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. In coach, business and first class. Aboard just about every airline I'm familiar with, and a few I'm not. Totally engrossing (no pun).

The photos are accompanied by comments from the travelers. New York Times restaurant reviews they're NOT: "Horrible, bland." "Food not fit for my dog nor for human consumption." "Salad with a jellied fish thing. Rice and vegetables and some kind of meat. Not very nice." "Yuk." "The only thing that really made us believe this was a salad was that it came with salad dressing!" And so on. Real people expressing real opinions.

If this doesn't cheer you up, nothing will.

> More...

Until next week...