"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blog posts:

• 6,000 Ways to Redeem Your Frequent Flyer Miles
  With more than 6,000 items redeemable for miles, Delta's new SkyMiles Marketplace offers plenty of choice. Convenience, too. But better value can be found elsewhere.
• Midwest Gets One-Way Award Pricing Right
  Midwest has long offered one-way awards. Now it offers them at half the price of a round-trip.
• Virgin America Upgrades Elevate Program
  Virgin America has added a mileage mall to its Elevate program, allowing members to earn points for shopping at more than 150 online retailers.
• Best Western Matches Other Hotels' Elite Status
  Got status? If you're a silver, gold, or platinum elite member of another hotel frequent-stay program, Best Western will accord you equivalent status in its Best Western Rewards program.

The FrequentFlier Forum - Hot Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, the "Partner Flight Availibility" thread has given rise to some scathing observations about global airline alliances, including this from Flying Texan: "Forget about us FF'ers, but why the alliance if the partner systems don't even communicate with each other in general (and in our case FF seats)? As I posted before, a previously booked a trip through AA, a couple of segments were LAN. LAN changes their flight, no notification from AA, LAN... zip.... Nada. One would have thought (haha) that the alliance would streamline travel, both paid and everything else for everyone's benefit. I know, you can find the exact location of your fedex package in 20 seconds online and your airline doesn't have a clue where your lost luggage is 90 years into passenger travel..."

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, DJHerm was kind enough to share info on an AAdvantage dining promotion, which turns out to be targeted. But to whom? Not to VIPs, according to daisy dukes: "I'm VIP and am not eligible for the bonus either. Bonus appears to be targeted, but I'm not sure what the criteria are."

Questions, answers, opinions? Post them to the Forum!

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Choice Offers Free Night After 2 Stays

Choice Privileges members who make two stays at Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Econo Lodge or Rodeway Inn hotels between February 22 and April 30 will earn enough bonus points for a free night at more than 1,500 hotels.

To qualify, stays must be booked at 800.4CHOICE or ChoiceHotels.com.

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This Weekend Only - Discounted United Awards

Mileage Plus members can book round-trip award flights for travel this weekend -- departing Saturday, February 27, and returning Monday, March 1, or Tuesday, March 2 -- for 15,000 or 17,000 miles, depending on the route.

Flights between Denver and San Diego, for example, are priced at 15,000 miles, while flights between Chicago and Washington, D.C., cost 17,000 miles.

Discount only applies to selected routes, and bookings at the discounted rates must be made online by the end of day Friday.

While more limited in scope, this latest offering is of a piece with United's recent regional award discounts, and another positive move for members of United's program.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Sale Fares on Southwest From $47 Each Way

Take a few days off between now and summer with Southwest's recently announced midweek sale, featuring more than 1,500 routes.

Travel is valid through late June, but book these sale fares by Thursday, February 24.

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2) $368 Europe Fares on Lufthansa

Lufthansa's latest sale puts numerous European hotspots on sale, including Milan, London, Paris, and Lisbon. Round-trip fares begin at $368, and travel is available from 17 departure cities.

Book by March 4 for travel through mid-April.

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Win a Trip to New York and a $1,000 Wardrobe Makeover

Enter Virgin America's "Land the Look" sweepstakes by March 31 for a chance to win a two-night trip for two to New York, including round-trip air, hotel, and a $1,000 Banana Republic wardrobe makeover.

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[Visit FrequentFlier.com for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

We welcome reader feedback on issues related to travel generally and frequent flyer programs in particular. Please use this link to submit comments.

Using Miles on Partner Airlines

"We have more than enough AA miles to fly Business class to Australia but Qantas does not release seats.

"We booked early and were told there were business or first class available yet. We are now only 2 weeks from our flight and still no seats, what a bummer. American is much better at allotting seats in first or business for frequent flyers. I will not ever pay for Qantas flights, I will switch to Virgin Atlantic or any other airlines." [Jane C.]

Response to Last Week's 'United Disappoints Again'

"Sure that would be disappointing if you put out the extra cash but I doubt United banks on it, the reality is our status gives us an edge and from time to time it pays off but it's always based on available seats.

"The best way to hedge your chances is to simulate a booking in business class and see how many seats are available or call United reservations and ask them to check how many seats are still available, sometimes they will tell you how many 1Ks or Global members are on the list ahead of you and what your chances are.

"More times than not I have been upgraded when I thought it was hopeless, I am a 1K one million miler and I fly out of Lihue, Hawaii (a tight market) at least once a month to the mainland and Asia. It is rare that I don't get an upgrade, But to be honest the last time it happened it wasn't all that bad. Makes me extra grateful when I do." [Tom M.]

Until next week...