U P F R O N T

More Alliance Chatter (US, LH, LO)
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Effective Oct. 26, US Air and Lufthansa linked frequent flyer programs, with US Air becoming a partner in Lufthansa's Miles & More and Lufthansa joining US Air's Dividend Miles. (See "Miles & Points" below for the related double-mile promotion for Dividend Miles members flying Lufthansa.)

For now, the tie-up is for reciprocal mileage-earning only. Miles earned count toward elite status, as well as earning the standard elite bonus. Reciprocal mileage redemption will kick in at a later date.

This is a step in the direction of US Airways' entry next year into the Star alliance, co-anchored by Lufthansa and United.

Also on Oct. 26, LOT Polish Airlines became the 15th member of the Star alliance.

Dollars and Sense
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Since we surveyed 3rd-quarter earnings last week, JetBlue and Midwest have reported in, with conspicuously different results.

JetBlue's $29 million profit was not only a nice improvement over the previous year's result, it was a solid profit in absolute terms as well. By contrast, Midwest's $4 million loss, while modest, was only the 3rd loss reported to date for what should be the airlines' most profitable period.

One of the other 3 losses for the quarter was registered by US Air, which got more bad news this week with the announcement that Southwest will be launching operations from a key US Air hub, Philadelphia, beginning next year.

Here's the big picture.

                     * millions

O N S I T E

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

Gdinero has details of Wyndham's buy-1/get-1-free promo for Florida stays. Ella has a link to a sweepstakes (prize: a trip to Curacao). Jennifer is having problems getting her bonus points from Starwood. And much more...

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

> More...

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

From ATA: Free Hawaii Tickets
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Members of ATA's Travel Awards program who fly 5 roundtrips between Newark or New York and San Francisco from Oct. 26, 2003 through Mar. 31, 2004, will earn a free ticket to Hawaii. The freebie is in addition to points normally earned for the flights.

Qualifying transcon flights must be booked on ATA's website to qualify for the bonus.

> More...

More PetPass Miles from Continental
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Continental will extend its miles-for-pets offer through Apr. 30, 2004, allowing OnePass members to earn 1 mile for every $1 spent using CO's PetSafe program.

(PetSafe features a dedicated 24-hour Animal Desk and tracking service, confirmed booking prior to departure and constant monitoring of weather conditions for pets shipped in the cargo hold. I.e., it doesn't apply to in-cabin pets.)

> More...

Earn More United Miles at Marriott
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Marriott Rewards members who have designated United miles as their preferred earning currency will earn 500 bonus miles for each qualifying stay completed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 16 at Marriott hotels. A maximum of 2,000 bonus miles may be earned with this offer.

Registration is required.

> More...

Double Credits at Red Roof Inn
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Members of Red Roof Inn's RediCard Preferred Member program who pay for their stays with an American Express Card between Oct. 20, 2003 and Jan. 18, 2004 will earn double RediCard points.

At the normal earning rate, it takes approx. 10 stays to earn a free night. So with the promo, members earn a free night after 5 stays.

> More...

Southwest Stops the Bonus Madness
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After 7 years of repeatedly extending their double-credit promotion for online bookings, Southwest has announced that Dec. 31, 2003, is the offer's final deadline. Flights must be booked on Southwest's website AND flown by year end to earn the double credits. According to their news release, "this time we REALLY mean it!"

I guess we have to take Southwest at their word, and be grateful that they've made it a priority to align our expectations with reality. After all the previous extensions, I was certainly expecting yet another one.

And since we're in gratitude mode, we should also thank Southwest for keeping the promotion active for all these years. It has to rank as the longest-running mileage offer in the history of frequent flyer programs. (Actually, any program which expires points after just 12 months needs just such a kicker to make it viable... but that's a rant for another time.)

Southwest doesn't expect travelers to go cold turkey on bonus credits, however. They will offer Rapid Rewards members a half credit bonus for 1-way flights and a full bonus credit for roundtrips booked on southwest.com and flown between Jan. 1, 2004 and June 30, 2004.

No word yet on whether the new promo will be as long-lived as its venerable predecessor.

Starpoints for Sale
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Starwood Preferred Guest is now selling Starpoints online through the Starpoint Purchase Plan.

Points may be purchased by members for their own accounts, by members or non-members for use as gifts, or by businesses for use as incentives. Price: 5 cents per point, in lots of 500. There's a 10% discount when purchasing points using a Starwood Preferred Guest credit card.

> More...

Double US Air Miles on Lufthansa
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Between Oct. 26, 2003 and Feb. 29, 2004, Dividend Miles members will earn double miles on US Airways and new program partner Lufthansa between the U.S. and Germany and on Lufthansa flights within Germany or between Germany and destinations within Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East or South America.

Register prior to travel at http://www.usairways.com/dm/7635.

[There's a similar offer for members of Lufthansa's Miles & More program who fly on US Air. Check the Lufthansa site for details.]

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...

Icelandair Deals to Europe
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With Icelandair's deal on flights to Iceland and Scandinavia, you can bring a friend and pay up to $86 less per ticket than if you just bought airfare for yourself. Travel is valid between Nov. 1 and Dec. 17. Book tickets by Friday, Nov. 14.

Icelandair's discount is a 50% savings on the second passenger's ticket, which averages to 25% off for both of you. You can fly to Iceland from Boston, Baltimore, Orlando, or Minneapolis, or to Oslo, Stockholm, or Copenhagen at higher prices from the same cities. Plus, when you fly to Scandinavia, you can stop over for free in Iceland for up to 7 nights.

> More...

Fly to Florida from $116
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Flying to Florida gets expensive around the holidays, and in late Feb. and Mar. when the crowds gather for spring break. But if you can book tickets in the next few days, you can lock in a low-priced airfare and insure that you'll soak up some sunshine during the coldest winter months.

> More...

F R E Q U E N T F L I E R F U N N I E S

True (Funny) Travel Stories
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Top 10 pilot training instructions:

1. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.

2. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.

3. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going round and round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they should be.

4. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.

5. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.

6. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.

7. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.

8. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you and a tenth of a second ago.

9. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are, however, no old bold pilots.

10. If a crash is unavoidable, pick the softest and cheapest thing you can see and aim for it.

[Thanks to Jerry for contributing the above for the amusement of fellow Crier readers.]

Until next week...