Issue #119  --  Nov. 9, 2000

<< 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...

Mike has a tip on earning 2000 Gold Passport points. Marmar plans to use miles for a Hawaii trip and wants to know how. Kathy took a trip to China and is trying to earn miles after-the-fact. Debbie is considering her next move in the miles-for-long distance game. There's an extended thread on Igougo started by Hal. And Ronald, as usual, has tips.

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

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The FrequentFlier Forum

<< M I L E S >>

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Hilton Card Goes Platinum (Correction)
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We reported the launch of the new Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card in last week's issue of The Crier. In so doing, we compared the new card's features to those of the old card, suggesting that henceforth consumers could choose between the 2 cards.

Our mistake. In fact, the new Platinum card replaces the old HHonors card.

Again, the new (and only) HHonors Platinum card offers the following:

o No annual fee
o 7500 HHonors bonus points after the first charge
o Complimentary HHonors Silver VIP status for the first year of card membership
o 3 Hilton HHonors bonus points for every eligible dollar of spending using the card
o 5 Hilton HHonors bonus points per dollar for eligible charges at HHonors hotels

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Earn WorldPerks Miles for Gift Certificates
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WorldPerks members who purchase a gift certificate between November 1 and December 31, 2000 earn up to 1,500 bonus miles.

Earn 4 bonus miles for each dollar spent on Northwest gift certificates. Plus, you earn an additional mile per dollar by purchasing the certificates with your Visa card.

Bonus applies to multiple certificates purchased, up to a maximum of 1,500 miles during the promotion period. Gift certificates purchased for yourself don't earn miles.

[Thanks to Stephen for bringing this promotion to our attention.]

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Northwest

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Combine Miles and Cash for Northwest Tickets
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Also new from Northwest [and again, our thanks to Stephen], WorldPerks members can combine cash and miles for flights this winter.

"Price" (cash plus miles) is based on a system of origin and destination regions, as defined on NW's website (link below). A domestic ticket for travel within a region can be had for as little as $88 plus 10,000 WorldPerks miles. At the higher end, Transpacific flights begin at $360 plus 20,000 WorldPerks miles.

To qualify, you must be a WorldPerks member residing in the U.S. and have a minimum of 5,000 miles in your account.

The Cash and Miles offer applies to flights within the U.S. 48 or for travel from the U.S. 48 to Canada, San Juan, Puerto Rico or Asia.

Purchase tickets by January 31, 2001 and travel between November 20, 2000 and February 15, 2001. Tickets must be purchased at time of reservation and at least 14 days in advance of travel. A Saturday night stay is required.

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Northwest

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Dividend Miles Gets Golf
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US Airways' Dividend Miles program is partnering with Leading Golf Courses of America to offer Dividend Miles Golf.

Dividend Miles members earn 100 miles for each round of golf played at participating courses, plus bonus miles for joining. The program includes over 500 courses in North America and over 150 courses in Europe.

Prior to February 28, 2001, you can purchase a Dividend Miles Golf annual membership at the introductory price of $95 and receive 3,000 bonus Dividend Miles for enrolling. To enroll, call Leading Golf Courses of America at 1-888-843-5422 and refer to code KGK435.

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Toronto-Phoenix Flights Earn Double Aeroplan Miles
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From November 1, 2000, to January 31, 2001, Aeroplan members receive double Aeroplan miles when flying Air Canada nonstops, on any published fare, between Toronto and Phoenix.

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Air Canada

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Lufthansa Bonuses for Winter Flights
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Members of Lufthansa's Miles & More who fly roundtrip to Germany between November 1, 2000 and March 31, 2001 earn the following bonus miles:

1) Departing from (promotion code US30): Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Ft.Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/JFK, Newark and Philadelphia

 - 10,000 bonus miles for roundtrip economy class
 - 20,000 bonus miles for roundtrip business class
 - 30,000 bonus miles for roundtrip first class

2) Departing from (promotion code US10): Chicago, San Francisco and Washington

 - 5,000 bonus miles for roundtrip economy class
 - 10,000 bonus miles for roundtrip first/business class

Members must pre-register to participate in the promotion, either by calling 800-659-0149 or on the Lufthansa website, using the above promotion codes. Offer is only valid for Miles & More members residing in the U.S. or Mexico.

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Lufthansa

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Alaska Miles-for-Flowers with FTD.com
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Alaska Airlines has added online florist FTD.com to the Flight Fund partner list.

Earn 10 miles for every dollar spent on selected floral arrangements, candies, etc.

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Alaska 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...

>> West Coast and Hawaii Travel on Sale from United

United Airlines has released a sale between West Coast cities and between the West Coast and Hawaii. Travel is valid through February 15, 2001. Purchase tickets by Friday, November 17.

For more details, go here.

>> Select International Cities on Sale from Delta

Delta Air Lines is offering savings on world travel to/from select cities. Except as noted, departure is valid through December 14, and all travel must be completed by January 15, 2001. Purchase tickets by Tuesday, November 21. Fares purchased online save up to an additional 10 percent.

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."

>> Getting Bumped Involuntarily

If you are involuntarily bumped (meaning you have a reserved seat, have met the 20-minute cutoff, and the airline still denies you a seat), governmentally imposed protection kicks in. You can ask to be rebooked, or "240ed" on another airline. But if that flight gets you to your destination between one and two hours late, you are entitled to an amount equal to the price of your one-way fare, up to a maximum of $200. If you are more than two hours late, you are entitled to twice the value of your one-way ticket, up to a maximum of $400. Many times you can also keep your original ticket for a refund or future use. Remember: Bumping is more common during the holidays or busy summer months.

If there are several passengers who might be bumped waiting at the gate hoping to board, most airlines give top priority to first-class and business-class passengers, then to full-coach passengers and elite members of their frequent flier programs, then to everyone else.

Usually, the airlines will first try to appease those involuntarily bumped with free tickets. Depending on your situation, a free ticket might be more valuable than cash. But you won't get the case unless you demand it. Perhaps better for frequent traveler program members is a travel voucher or a certificate of specific monetary value to apply for future flights on that airline. The voucher should always be worth at least the value of the ticket you are holding. Travel vouchers are better for frequent travelers because you can still earn frequent flyer mileage on tickets "bought" in exchange for them. Travel on "free" bump coupons does not accrue frequent flyer miles. (Unfortunately, not all airlines offer such vouchers; be sure to ask.)

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 >>

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Value of MilePoint?
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[Last week's launch of MilePoint generated lots of buzz, both within the travel and marketing communities and among consumers. The following note is from fellow travel writer, regular contributor to this publication, and consultant Chris McGinnis. He has succinctly raised a question we've heard posed often lately. Our response follows.]

TIM:

What are your thoughts on MilePoint.com? It sounded like a great idea to me at first, but when you get into it and realize that all you are getting is a 10% discount, it is a real turn off. I think that their claim of "using miles like money" is bogus. I mean, the only thing you can "buy" outright are mag subscriptions. Who cares? A waste of time for a busy traveler as far as I can see.

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

CHRIS:

I just returned from the Frequent Travel Marketing Association conference, where I had the chance to speak with the founder of MilePoint, Mark Lacek. So this subject is very much top-of-mind.

My sense is that MilePoint is suffering from exaggerated consumer expectations. MilePoint is a natural (and welcome) step in the evolution of frequent flyer programs. But it is perhaps less than the revolutionary development some wanted and expected.

Because of the hype (and hope) surrounding the notion of using miles as cash generally, and about MilePoint specifically, there has developed a groundswell of wishful thinking that miles can be used to purchase goods and services outright. That's simply not realistic. With the exception of magazine subscriptions (where publishers are more interested in boosting circulation and ad revenue than they are in subscriber fees) and perhaps distressed merchandise, the economics of mileage earning and redemption just won't support wholesale miles-for-cash transactions.

Once MilePoint is recognized and accepted as a partial payment option and judged on its own terms, its value is more apparent. A 10% to 35% discount is significant, especially if it's taken with a merchant whose pricing is aggressive to begin with. Which raises a point: To get real value from your miles using MilePoint, it's important to shop intelligently--i.e., caveat emptor.

Example. I could use miles to get a 10% discount on a $999 Sony Handycam through SkyMall vendor The Film Shop. But I could as easily go to Circuit City's website and purchase the same item for $899. Why give up miles to get the discount when I can get the same discount without giving up a single mile?

On the other hand, if a desired item were available at a competitive price from a MilePoint merchant, then using miles to obtain a further discount could be a very attractive proposition indeed. And that's especially true if the miles in question are "orphan miles" scattered among several accounts, which migh otherwise go unredeemed.

For now, though, you will have to search diligently for competitive pricing as the SkyMall merchants (Sharper Image, Hammacher Schlemmer, Frontgate, etc.), which comprise the majority of MilePoint's vendors, tend to be full-price retailers. But according to Lacek, the number of MilePoint merchants will increase considerably beginning next year.

Personally, as a longtime customer of Amazon.com, a MilePoint merchant, I'm looking forward to using some of my miles to partially offset the cost of books I would buy from them anyway.

To sum up: take MilePoint for what it is (a partial-payment option); use it intelligently (compare prices, with and without using miles); and consider the universe of mileage-redemption options expanded.

Tim

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Northwest Cyberfares
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Tim,

Northwest Airlines has continued their recent policy change to exclude mileage credit for passengers traveling with tickets purchased under their CyberSavers programs. They no longer point out this fact in their weekly e-mail notices. Nor do they make note of it on the main CyberSavers' web page. You have to dig down into the terms and conditions page to find out that passengers are not eligible for miles under this program at: http://www.nwa.com/travel/cyber/disterms.shtml#terms

Many times the ticket sale prices are about the same or better than what is offered through Cyber Savers, although they may not be during the same week, but still, purchasing a ticket directly from the airline without any travel agent commission and then getting no mileage credit does not seem right or maybe not even legal.

 - Gregory

Until next week...