Issue #117  --  Oct. 26, 2000

<< U P F R O N T >>

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CNN Frequent Flyer Segment
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If you want to put a face to the name, look for Tim (editor of this newsletter) on CNN and CNN Headline News this coming Monday, October 30. They will be running a news segment on frequent flyer programs, featuring commentary by yours truly. Given the nature of live TV news, there's no telling exactly when the travel piece will air, but the producer guesses sometime between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.

<< O N S I T E >>

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

Joseph is looking for ways to earn enough AAdvantage miles to get to Seville in February. Mike offers a 1,000-mile MCI trick. Lysabu has the lowdown on United's lowered elite levels (see story below). Hal wants to know if Amtrak is the only rail service which awards airline miles. (Answer: I believe they are, through the Midwest Express program.) Brion plans to take his family on vacation to Hawaii next summer and wants to maximize his miles in the meantime. And Ronald has a bunch of new suggestions.

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

>> More <<
The FrequentFlier Forum

<< M I L E S >>

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AAdvantage One Hundred Million Mile Giveaway
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Several weeks ago, reporting the roll-out of the AOL AAdvantage program, we lauded the AOL AAdvantage Rewards "Million Miles A Day" launch sweepstakes as the most lavish mileage giveaway we could recall. That was (1 million miles per day) x (30 days) = 30 million miles. Consider the ante upped: Citibank is giving away no fewer than 100 million AAdvantage miles.

Citibank AAdvantage cardholders are automatically entered in the sweepstakes each time they make an eligible purchase on their Citibank AAdvantage Card between October 1, 2000, and January 8, 2001 that is posted to their account within 15 days of the transaction being made. Ten winners per day will be selected in random drawings held for each of the 100 days of the promotion period. Each winner will receive 100,000 AAdvantage miles.

You can enter without having or using a Citibank AAdvantage card. Print your name, address and Citibank AAdvantage Card account number and the date of the Daily Drawing you wish to enter on a 3" X 5" card, insert card in a #10 envelope, affix postage and mail to: Citibank AAdvantage 100 Million Mile Giveaway, P.O. Box 9283, Medford, NY 11763-9283.

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Citibank AAdvantage

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Starwood's "Win the World" Sweepstakes
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Having just called the Citibank sweepstakes (above) the largest, we report next on Starwood's claim to sweepstakes fame: the "Win the World" sweep, which they claim to be the "largest travel sweepstakes ever." (Since the former is exclusively a mileage giveaway and the latter is a mix of hotel stays and miles, there's no way we can settle the dispute.)

Sweepstakes begins on October 16, 2000 and ends on November 15, 2000. To participate, go to the "Win the World" website (link below) and click on "click to play." Answer the clue-laden questions and you're entered for that day. You can play each and every day during the 31-day sweep period.

Here are the top 3 prizes--

> Premier Grand Prize
One winner will win a 25-Year Vacation Ownership Resort Prize--1 week (7 nights) of vacation each year for 25 years at Sheraton's Vistana Villages in Orlando, Florida.

> Grand Prize
One winner will win a 4 Week Global Escape, including the following destinations: The Orchid at Mauna Lani in Hawaii, The Westin Sydney in Australia, Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers in Hong Kong, Sheraton Park Tower in London, and the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.

> First Prize
Two winners each will win 1,000,000 United Mileage Plus miles

Other prizes are listed on the website. Note: this is a U.S.-resident-only promotion.

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"Win the World" Sweepstakes

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United Lowers Levels for Elite Qualification
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In the wake of United's well publicized service disruptions this summer, the world's largest airline is reducing the number of miles required in 2000 to attain elite status for next year.

According to United, the reductions (16% fewer miles, 10% fewer segments) represent a balance between recognizing customers' reduced opportunities to reach elite thresholds, on the one hand, and maintaining elite membership numbers at levels that won't overwhelm the carrier's ability to provide them with preferential service, on the other.

Here are the revised qualifications:

                      ---- Required Miles/Segments -----
                      Normal         Revised (2000 only)
                     ===================================
  1K                 100K/10              84K/90
  Premier Exec        50K/60              42K/54
  Premier             25K/30              21K/27

>> More <<
United: http://united.com

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America West Extends 2X-Miles-for-Charges Offer
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America West is extending its double-miles-for-commodities campaign through December 31, 2000.

The promotion, launched in May and originally scheduled to expire October 31, allows FlightFund Visa cardholders to earn double miles for credit card purchases at more than 3,000 76 gas stations and Circle K convenience stores nationwide.

According to America West, members have earned more than 3 million miles with the offer to date.

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America West

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Northwest Bonuses, Up to 40,000 Miles
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New WorldPerks members can earn up to 6,000 WorldPerks bonus miles by joining the program and flying Northwest or any of its 26 global airline partners between October 1 and December 15, 2000. You will earn 1,000 bonus miles for the first one-way or roundtrip flight and 5,000 for the second roundtrip flown during the promotion period.

New and current WorldPerks members can earn up to 20,000 WorldPerks Bonus Miles with Sprint Nickel Nights by registering for Sprint residential long-distance service by December 15, 2000. These miles are in addition to the five WorldPerks bonus miles (seven Bonus Miles for WorldPerks Elite members) Sprint customers can currently earn with every dollar spent.

As mentioned in last week's issue, Northwest also has bonuses in place for getting and using the WorldPerks Visa card. Taken together (the above enrollment, flight and Sprint bonuses, plus the Visa bonuses), you could earn as many as 40,000 miles, as follows:

    WorldPerks Flight Bonus                    6,000
    Sprint Bonus                              20,000
    WorldPerks Visa Card Bonus                14,000
    TOTAL                                     40,000

>> More <<
Northwest

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Continental Automates OnePass Upgrades
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If you are a OnePass elite member, Continental will henceforth automatically upgrade you to first or business class (subject to availability, naturally) on Continental-operated flights when you are traveling alone or with other OnePass Elite members.

Upgrade policies and procedures differ depending on your elite level, type of ticket you have purchased and time of your reservation. All upgrades are processed at midnight CST, after which you will receive an e-mail notifying you of your confirmed upgrade.

> Discount Fares (Other than Full Y)

 - Platinum members -- Automatic upgrade within 3 calendar days of departure
 - Gold Members -- Automatic upgrade within 2 calendar days of departure
 - Silver Members -- Automatic upgrade after midnight the day of departure

> Full Coach (Y)

 - Platinum/Gold Elite members -- Upgrade at the time of ticketing and upon request any time prior to departure*
 - Silver Elite members -- Automatic upgrade after midnight 2 days prior to departure

 *To request an upgrade outside the automated 3-day window, you must call the Elite Priority Line and provide your ticket number for processing.

> Two-Hour Space Available Upgrades
Elite members that were not automatically upgraded in advance may continue to request an upgrade within two hours of departure at the airport.

> Companion Upgrades
As a Platinum or Gold Elite member, you may continue to offer an upgrade to First Class or Business Class to one companion traveling on a paid-fare ticket on the same itinerary at the airport within two-hours of your flight departure. If your reservation includes companions who do not qualify for OnePass Elite upgrades, your upgrade will not be processed automatically.

[Thanks to Sandra for bringing this to our attention.]

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Continental OnePass

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Morningstar Mounts AAdvantage Sweepstakes
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Morningstar, the investment analysis and advice company perhaps best known for their mutual fund ratings, is promoting the launch of its Membership Dividends program with a sweepstakes awarding 50,000 American AAdvantage miles every day between now and December 11, 2000. You can enter once per day, and your odds of winning are increased by referring others' e-mail addresses.

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Morningstar

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Hazelton to Give Away 1 Million Rewards Points
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Last on the mileage front for this week, we received the following note from Douglas Hendry, Chief Commercial Officer at Australia's Hazelton Airlines. We wouldn't usually print such a news-release-cum-letter, but neither do we often receive notes from airlines' head marketers. And because we expect many of our readers are not familiar with Hazelton, we thought it appropriate to let the airline speak for itself, as it were. In Douglas's own words...

"Thought you might be interested in a promotion we are running through to the 15th December.

"Our airline, Hazelton, is a regional carrier flying throughout New South Wales in Australia. We are a partner of Ansett Australia and work within their Global Rewards programme.

"We are offering one lucky Global Rewards member the opportunity to win one million Global Rewards points. All they need to do is fly on Hazelton until 15 Dec to qualify.

"As AN (Ansett Australia) are a member of Star Alliance, I'm sure you clever people would be able to work out the multitude of permutations that a customer could experience with one million points."

>> More <<
Hazelton Airlines

<< S T E A L S & D E A L S >>

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Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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Two hot deals from SmarterLiving.com...

>> Savings to/from Florida and the West Coast

US Airways has released a sale on fall travel to Florida, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle. Purchase tickets by Friday, October 27. Delta has also posted a "Florida Getaway Fares" sale.

For more details, go here.

>> European Travel Sale Starts at $258 R/T

British Airways has released a sale on travel to Europe, valid for flights between November 1 and February 28, 2001. Purchase tickets by Tuesday, October 31. Most major U.S. airlines are also offering sales on travel to Europe.

For more details, go here.

<< B U S I N E S S T R A V E L T I P S >>

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Surviving the Airport
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The following is part of a continuing series of business travel tips from Chris McGinnis's "The Unofficial Business Traveler's Pocket Guide--165 Tips Even the Best Business Travelers May Not Know."

>> Should You Volunteer?

The DOT requires airlines to ask for volunteers before denying booked passengers waiting for seats--what's known as voluntary bumping. Volunteers are entitled to whatever the airline offers them--usually a free roundtrip. However, many airlines offer only space-available or standby free tickets as their first offer to volunteers. These are difficult to use and cost the airline nothing to offer, so before you volunteer, make sure you are getting a confirmed, or "positive space" roundtrip ticket. Also, find out when or if the airline is going to book you on the next available flight out.

When ticket agents have to sweeten the pot to get volunteers, they are empowered to give cash, travel vouchers, and meal vouchers. Sometimes you can get free long-distance phone calls or a pass to the airline's airport club to wait for your next flight.

Another good time to consult your OAG (or the big airport flight monitors that list all flights) is when gate agents begin to ask for volunteers. If you find several other flights to your destination departing immediately after yours, volunteer, get your free ticket or other compensation, then ask to get booked on the next flight out.

Chris McGinnis

Travel Skills Group
http://www.travelskills.com

<< R E A D E R R A N T S & R A V E S >>

None this week.

<< S I T E 2 S E E >>

None this week.

Until next week...