Issue #80  --  February 10, 2000

<< U P F R O N T >>

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New Forum on FrequentFlier.com
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One of the final pieces in the renovation of the FrequentFlier.com website was upgrading the software which runs the FrequentFlier Forum. The upgrade was completed over the weekend, and the forum is back up and running.

You will find several significant advantages:

1) The pages (especially the index page, which lists the subject of all messages for the past year) load faster.

2) The forum has its own search engine, which allows quick keyword searches for subjects covered by forum posts.

3) When you sign up to receive automatic e-mail notification of responses to your post, or to receive alerts to any new posts, the e-mail notification will include a link directly to the new post, bypassing the index page altogether.

Let us know what you think.

>> More <<
The FrequentFlier Forum

<< M I L E S >>

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United's "Grocery Miles" for Supermarket Purchases
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In last week's issue of The Crier, we reported on the AAdvantage promotion offering miles for purchases of selected Kellogg's cereals.

This week, United raises the bar with the announcement of their new Grocery Miles offer.

With Grocery Miles, members of United's Mileage Plus program earn 125 miles for every $250 they spend at Safeway, Dominick's, Pavillions*, Pak'n $ave Foods and Vons*. (* Beginning March 15.)

To earn miles, Mileage Plus members must also be enrolled in the Safeway Club, Dominick's FreshValues, VonsClub or Pavilions ValuePlus programs, and they must register their savings AND Mileage Plus cards at a store customer service counter to enroll in the Grocery Miles program. After the one-time enrollment application is completed, 125 Mileage Plus miles will be automatically posted to their accounts every time they accumulate $250 in grocery purchases through December 31, 2000. (Restrictions apply. E.g., liquor, tobacco and various other items are exluded.)

Is this the greatest thing since sliced bread? Not quite... but it certainly expands the universe of mileage-earning opportunities substantially. And while some will grumble about the stingy half-mile-per-dollar earning ratio (as I did at first blush), remember that these are "found" miles.

Don't forget to use your Mileage Plus credit card when shopping at these markets. That way, you're earning 1.5 miles per dollar spent.

>> More <<
United

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1999 AAdvantage Awards
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In the latest issue of American's AAdvantage newsletter, the airline disclosed that it had issued over 3 million frequent flyer program awards during 1999, broken down as follows:

  AWARD                         NUMBER ISSUED
  PlanAAhead and AAnytime           2,039,500
  Upgrades and companion awards       255,000
  HospitAAlity awards, magazines      310,200
  Special mileage awards              149,100
  Other airline/other                 491,100
  TOTAL                             3,244,900

Of the award types, most popular was the PlanAAhead award for economy-class travel within the continental U.S. (25,000 miles), with 1,039,453 issued.

It's good to see these figures made available. However from a consumer standpoint, they fall short of communicating meaningful data. It's numerators without denominators.

The core issue among frequent flyer members is award-seat availability: Do I as a member of a given program have a reasonable chance of obtaining an award seat on a flight that meets my needs, with a reasonable amount of advance notice to the airline? And the awards numbers, as reported above, provide no insight whatever into that question.

More cogent, actionable data might be as follows:

o Of total tickets issued, what percentage were frequent flyer awards?
o Of total award reservations requested, how many (or what percentage) were confirmed? How many were denied due to unavailability of award seats?

We don't mean to single American out here. It is expected that all U.S. airlines, under terms of their respective recently instituted "Customer Care" promises, will be issuing the same type of data.

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Double Northwest Miles for Canada Flights
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Earn double WorldPerks miles when you travel on Northwest Airlines between the 50 United States and Canada from now until March 31, 2000.

You must register for this promotion by March 24, 2000, at NW's website (address below).

After you have registered, fly Northwest on a published fare between the 50 United States and Canada between now and March 31, 2000. The miles will be deposited in your account 4 to 6 weeks after travel has been completed.

Terms and Conditions: Passenger must be a WorldPerks member residing in the U.S. or Canada and must claim WorldPerks miles when flying. Offer valid on published fares only on nonstop Northwest flights between the 50 United States and Canada. Eligible flights are Northwest-coded flights operated by Northwest Airlines or Northwest affiliates.

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Northwest

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Double Miles for New Continental Express Destinations
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OnePass members can earn double miles for flights to 4 new Continental Express destinations, as follows:

o Fly between Houston and Abilene, TX, 3/2/00 - 5/2/00
o Fly between Houston and Mazatlán, Mexico, 2/10/00 - 4/10/00
o Fly between Cleveland and Charleston, WV, 2/10/00 - 4/10/00
o Fly between Cleveland and Madison, WI, 4/2/00 - 6/2/00

You must register at the Continental website in order to receive these bonus miles.

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Continental

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Buy SkyRewards, Get SkyMiles
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"Incentive miles" are the miles small- and medium-sized businesses purchase from the airlines and dole out as incentives, either to attract customers or to reward employees. Most of the larger airline programs sell such miles, generating significant revenue in the process.

If you're considering such an incentive program for your company, here's an offer from Delta which rewards the mile-buyer with... what else?... miles. (This is the first time I can remember seeing bonus miles offered for the purchase of incentive miles.)

Now through February 29, 2000, you can earn 30,000 bonus SkyMiles for your own account when you purchase $4,200 or more worth of SkyRewards vouchers. (SkyRewards are Delta's incentive-mile vouchers, worth either 500, 1,000 or 5,000 SkyMiles. You can give any individual up to 50,000 miles per calendar year.)

The minimum order is $1,200 (60,000 SkyMiles) plus a $75 administration fee.

>> More <<
Delta or call 1-800-704-4601

<< 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...

>> American Offers Sale Fares To Europe, Starting At $239 R/T

American Airlines is offering sale fares from the US to any European city it serves, including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, and Zurich.

Fares to all European destinations include $239 from East Coast cities, $269 from Midwest cities, and $299 from West Coast cities.

For more details, go here.

>> $98-$218 R/T From 6 Us Cities To The 48 Contiguous States

Delta Airlines has put travel from Charlotte, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to all destinations in the contiguous 48 US states on sale. Round-trip fares range from $98-218. Travel is valid through June 10.

For more details, go here.

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Valentine's Day Specials from United
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United is offering special Valentine's Day weekend E-Fares on selected flights in 170 markets for customers who purchase tickets online at the carrier's website. All eligible flights depart on Saturday, February 12, 2000, with return flights on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, February 14-16, 2000.

The sale prices are available exclusively at www.ual.com by clicking on E-Fares on the home page. Tickets must be purchased by Friday, February 11, 2000, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Sample round-trip fares include Chicago-Boston for $169, Denver-Seattle for $219, Atlanta-Los Angeles for $271, Washington Dulles-Tampa for $160, and Las Vegas-San Francisco for $95.

Seats are limited and available only on a round-trip basis. Tickets are nonrefundable and require immediate purchase by credit card when reservations are made.

>> More <<
United

<< I N D U S T R Y U P D A T E >>

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Midwest Express Pilots Poised to Strike
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As we go to press on Thursday, pilots at Midwest Express are counting down to a strike.

Midwest Express pilots and their management are at the end of a federally mandated 30-day cooling-off period and will be legally entitled to strike if a contract agreement is not reached by 12:01 a.m. EST on Saturday, February 12.

The 2 sides have been trying for 18 months to come to terms. According to ALPA, the union representing the carrier's 330 pilots, the sticking points are retirement and compensation.

Unfortunately, updated strike information is nowhere to be found on the Midwest Express website. After 5 minutes of surfing the site, the only strike information I found was a month-old press release. MWE should take a lesson from recent strikes at Northwest and Air Canada, both of which made good use of the Internet to keep customers apprised of developments affecting their flights, refund policies, etc.

If you're scheduled to fly MWE in the coming days, check with their reservations personnel before heading for the airport as follows:

(800) 452-2022
(414) 570-7000 - local from Milwaukee area
(402) 341-2800 - local from Omaha area
(816) 421-7070 - local from Kansas City area
(800) 872-3608 - hearing impaired (TDD)
(414) 570-9872 - hearing impaired (TDD)

>> More <<
o Midwest Express
o ALPA

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

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Things to Know Before You Go
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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."

>> Know Your Code

Be aware of the airline trend toward a relatively new phenomenon called "code sharing," in which more than one airline sells seats on the same flight. (One flight "shares" several airline "codes," so although your ticket says DL for Delta, the plane you fly on says Swissair or SR.) One important detail about code sharing: With more than one airline selling seats on a flight, you may be able to find cheaper seats if you shop among partners. One airline won't quote you the price being asked by its partner, even if it's for the very same flight. A good travel agent should tell you, however. While it is confusing, code sharing benefits frequent flier program members because it expands earning and redemption opportunities.

Chris McGinnis
Travel Skills Group
PO Box 52927
Atlanta, GA 30355
http://www.travelskills.com

<< T R A V E L O N L I N E >>

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TRIP.com Gets Bought
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This week, travel service provider Galileo (one of the GDS's, global distribution systems) took the first steps toward acquiring the shares of TRIP.com not already in their possession.

Galileo previously purchased 20% of TRIP, and the purchase of the additional shares, expected to close by the end of next month, signals their determination to be a major Internet player.

The tie-up gives TRIP a solid financial and technical foundation going forward, thereby increasing their odds of being among the survivors when the inevitable shakeout among online travel providers occurs. And Galileo gets access to TRIP's online expertise and business-to-consumer orientation.

What's not clear is how TRIP will coexist with Galileo's own consumer site, set to launch during the second quarter.

>> More <<
o Galileo
o TRIP

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

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Kiss of Hearts
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As you've no doubt deduced from the glut of flower and candy ads, Valentine's Day looms (this coming Monday, for the calendar-less).

Here's a quirky little site which allows you to send kiss-related postcards to your valentine. (Or, for that matter, to anyone whose e-mail address you have handy.)

You can also read kiss poetry, participate in a kiss survey, and view a kiss animation.

Kiss of Hearts will brighten your day...

>> More <<
Kiss of Hearts

Until next week...