The New Year Begins with a Whimper and a Bang

Best wishes to all Crier readers for smooth travels in 2006.

The year is off to a eventful start, with the shutdown of Independence Air and the sudden disintegration of the Diners Club Rewards program.

On the upside, the year begins with miles-for-dining promos from four airlines, a major bonus for Priority Club members, and a second credit card option with more miles and lower fees for US Airways Dividend Miles members.

Hang on... it's going to be a bumpy ride.

2006 Roadmap for Frequent Flyers

To help you start the year right, we've compiled a checklist of 10 items to help put your mileage life in order for the year to come.

:: More

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, mahdnc is looking to avoid phone fees for an upcoming award booking: "We are interested in redeeming our SkyMiles account for 3 SkySaver tickets from ORD to FLL for a cruise that we have scheduled in late Dec 2006. Because we are scheduling around a cruise (which we have booked already), we are pretty date inflexible and so we must hit the dates that we had mind. With United, we have been able to book the outbound flight 330 days in advance and then book the return flight 330 days in advance as well. One time we simply booked the return flight for the same day as the outbound flight and then rebooked it to the desired date of return for free when the 330th day came up. Another time the airline actually held our outbound freq flyer reservation that we made on its 330th day until the 330th day for the return flight came up. However they all required phone calls which today involve fees. Is there a way to nail down both ends of this Delta reservation on their respective 330th day thru their online system without incurring rebooking fees or must I do this thru the phone and pony up the phone fee?"

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, CLINDSEYPITTMAN is wondering about elite members' access to roomy seats: "To a new AA GOLD member -- I'm curious. I've seen conflicting info about having access to premium seating (i.e. bulkhead, exit row) by being GOLD. Does anyone know how that works?"

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

:: More

Diners Club Sheds Airline Partners

Effective Jan. 1, Diners Club Rewards members can no longer exchange Club Rewards points for miles in the frequent flyer programs of Continental, Northwest and US Airways. And exchanges into United's program will be discontinued after Apr. 17.

The losses -- which amount to a stake in the heart of a program long beloved by road warriors for its industry-leading partner lineup -- follow Diners' recent tie-up with MasterCard. While the MasterCard affiliation had the desired effect of dramatically expanding the network of merchants which accept Diners Club cards, it had an unwelcome, and apparently unforeseen, effect as well.

Diners suddenly became a competitive force to be reckoned with, and the banks which issued the co-branded credit cards affiliated with the loyalty programs of Continental, Northwest, United and US Airways gave their airline partners an ultimatum: you may work with us, or you may work with Diners, but you cannot have it both ways.

The airlines chose to maintain their relationships with the banks, since those ties are significantly more lucrative than a relationship with Diners Club.

After the changes, the program which once boasted that cardholders could "Earn miles on every major U.S. airline" will still allow points conversions to 20 airline programs -- but only to American and Delta among the U.S. majors.

For a complete list of Diners Club airline partners, visit http://www.dinersclubus.com/.

FLYi to Fly No More; iCLUB Shuts Doors

"Service discontinued after January 5th, 2006"

So reads the banner on Independence Air's website, marking the end of an 18-month experiment in low-fare air transportation that took off with considerable fanfare and won over legions of flyers with a winning combination of value and style but was grounded by the unrelenting pressures of fuel costs and price competition. According to the company: "The financial pressures in the industry have prevailed. We have run out of time."

Independence Air's demise is good news for carriers serving the Washington market, which were forced to match ultra-low prices on competitive routes. But the disappearance of an airline which, JetBlue-like, managed to deliver a solid product at giveaway prices, is a loss for consumers who will pay more for less, and for the airline's 2,700 employees whose jobs evaporated.

Among those consumers hardest hit by Independence Air's shutdown are the more than one million members of the carrier's iCLUB frequent flyer program. According to the Independence website: "After cessation of operations, iCLUB points will no longer exist and will not retain any value."

The status of iCLUB award tickets already issued is less clear. While Independence claims on its website that award tickets will be accepted by other airlines for travel on a space-available basis for a $50 fee each way -- as mandated by the government in the case of paid tickets -- US Air today said it would not honor award tickets.

At press time, we were still waiting for a call back from United clarifying their policy regarding Independence Air award tickets.

:: More

More Miles for Dining

Conspiring to undermine New Year's resolutions to lose the holiday heft, 2006 begins with miles-for-dining bonuses from several programs.

Members of the programs of American, Northwest and United will earn triple miles on their first three qualifying dines between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28, up to a maximum of 5,000 bonus miles. Registration is required (links below).

Members of Delta's program will earn 500 bonus miles for each dine of $15 or more between Jan. 1 and Mar. 15, up to 5,000 bonus miles. Again, registration is required.

:: More (American)
:: More (Delta)
:: More (Northwest)
:: More (United)

Earn Up to 30,000 Priority Club Points

Between Jan. 16 and Apr. 30, Priority Club members can earn up to 30,000 bonus points or 10,000 bonus miles for qualifying stays at InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites or Candlewood Suites hotels worldwide.

Members earn 3,000 bonus points or 1,000 bonus airline miles after every third qualifying night during the promotion period. The nights do not have to be consecutive and can each be at a different IHG property.

(Members who have Southwest as their designated earning program earn one credit for every third qualifying night, up to 10 credits. And those who opt for AIR MILES earn 100 reward miles after every third qualifying night, up to 1,000 reward miles.)

Registration is required.

:: More

New US Air Credit Card

Members of US Air's Dividend Miles program now have two credit card choices: the old US Airways Dividend Miles Visa issued by Bank of America and the new US Airways Dividend Miles MasterCard issued by Juniper Bank (part of the Barclays Group).

Following the America West-US Air merger, Barclays won the bid to issue cards for the programs of both America West and US Air, which will be consolidated into a single program in Spring 2006. But B of A can continue issuing its own US Airways cards until Dec. 27, 2007.

As the new entrant, the Juniper card is being bundled with a number of limited-time value adds aimed squarely at persuading current B of A cardholders to switch cards.

In particular, new Juniper cardholders will earn 1.5 miles for every $1 charged, and three miles for every $1 charged for purchases of US Air tickets directly from the carrier, during the first year.

The annual fee of $79 (versus $90 for the B of A card) will be waived for the first two years.

In addition to the 15,000-mile bonus activation, cardholders can earn up to 10,000 bonus miles for balance transfers.

And throughout the month of February, cardholders have a chance to purchase US Air tickets for 50 cents -- on a limited first-come/first-serve basis, of course. (Sign up by the end of January at http://www.50centflights.com/.)

Annual percentage rate for the Juniper card is 16.99% or 18.99% variable, depending on credit history, at the low end matching B of A's current 16.99% variable APR.

Of course there's the possibility that Bank of America will match or improve upon Juniper's offer. While I think that's unlikely -- because B of A's partnership with US Air is coming to an end -- it might behoove current B of A cardholders to wait a month or so before jumping ship.

:: More

Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) United's Worldwide New Year's Sale from $158

Every year at this time, the major airlines launch new sales to lure travelers to book after the holidays. This year is no different, and United gets things started with a massive sale to kick off 2006. Its discounted prices start at $158 roundtrip for flights to cities around the world, and the airline is throwing in 1,006 extra bonus miles in addition to its usual 1,000 miles for online purchases (reported in last week's Crier) to make the offer more attractive.

Travel is valid from Jan. 10 through Mar. 8 on United's domestic sale routes. For its international routes, departures from the U.S. must commence by Mar. 31. You have until Jan. 10 to book a flight, but the best prices tend to disappear early because seats at the lowest prices are often scarce. Book tickets at least 14 days in advance for domestic flights or seven days in advance for international routes.

:: More

2) JetBlue Sale from $39 Each Way

JetBlue is kicking off 2006 with a sale on most of its routes. Prices start at $39 one-way, and destinations include cities in the Caribbean, the Northeast, Florida, and California.

Travel on the Florida and Caribbean routes is valid through Feb. 15, and travel on most other routes is valid through Apr. 4. Book tickets at least seven or 14 days in advance, depending on fare, and by Jan. 19.

:: More

Win a Trip for 2 to Australia and Tahiti

Enter Great Getaways sweepstakes by Mar. 31 for a chance to win a trip for two to Sydney, Australia and Tahiti, including airfare, three nights' hotel in Sydney, two nights in Hunter Valley, and two nights in Lafayette Beach, Tahiti.

:: More

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

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"The complaint from a reader last month about American and BA not working together for miles on AA when flying BA to Europe struck a chord with me.

"The consumer does not always get screwed. Last month, I flew from SFO to Shanghai. After a lot of research, I booked a business class ticket via Air China (non-stop). This turned out to be a UA codeshare. I got the ticket for 40% of what UA would sell me the same seat for. Yet I not only got the UA FF miles, I got the business class bonus AND, they accrued to my account like United miles, contributing to my Premier Executive status! All this because it was, in fact, United equipment, even though Air China sold me the ticket.

"More people should check out the codeshare opps. In this case, my initial research was through Orbitz, which did not want to sell me the ticket but permitted me to figure out who was flying where, when to identify the common bookings." [Dave S. - San Francisco]

"The reader that complained about BA not recognizing AAdvantage credit for U.S. to GB flights (in last week's newsletter) might be advised that this is one of the oldest restrictions in the AA program and is well advertised.

"What is bad instead is AA's limitation for getting an upgrade on certain booking codes, on which information is practically impossible to find on the AA Web site." [P.S. in Venezuela]

"I currently am an AA frequent flier member. I travel mostly to the Caribbean. What is the best program/airline to be part of to fly to that region?" [Bill]

[FrequentFlier.com responds - You don't say where you're flying from, a critical part of the equation.

Generally, though, I'd be inclined to participate in the program which offered the most non-stops (or convenient direct flights) between my home airport and the destinations I visit most frequently. That should yield the optimum combination of the most frequent flyer miles and the most convenient flights.]

"To pull my measly 10,000 miles out of NW without payment, their web site calls for a transfer fee of: $.01/mile + $25.

"Astounding, but appropriate for a failing airline, I guess. Used to love their Boston to Glasgow to avoid Heathrow.

"P.S. Love your book - need to read it again." [Harry D.]

Until next week...