U P F R O N T

This Week's Travel Newsbites
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As the airlines' performance figures trickle in for the month of Feb., the picture that emerges is decidedly good-news/bad-news.

Measured in volume terms, the news is heartening. More people were flying this Feb. than flew last Feb.

At American, the world's largest airline, traffic was up 12.2% for the month. Continental's traffic improved 13.9%. Alaska Air was up 14.7%, AirTran 28.7%, British Air 7.1%, KLM 5%.

The bad news, from the airlines' standpoint: those consumers are flying on the cheap.

Continental, for example, reported that yield, a key barometer of average ticket prices, was down 2.5% - 3.5% over last year.

The outlook: consumers can look forward to cheap tickets and lucrative frequent flyer promotions. But as part of the bargain, they'll have to endure crowded planes and bare-bones service. And less tangibly, they will have to live with the prospect of more airline bankruptcies.

/-/-/-/

Against the backdrop of low yields and the rapid growth of low-fare carriers, the legacy airlines have little choice but to chase after cost-savings. And worker pay and benefits remain the primary targets of such efforts.

Delta, citing a lack of "pricing power," is asking pilots to take a 30% pay cut. The pilots have counter-proposed a decrease of just 9%.

Northwest -- which has slimmed down from 59,000 to 39,000 employees over the past 2 years -- is negotiating further concessions with its pilots and other workers.

The discounters are not exempt. No less an industry darling than Southwest is engaged in acrimonious wage negotiations with its flight attendants.

As consumers know all too well, labor-management discord inevitably spills over onto the front lines, where crabby employees perform grudgingly.

/-/-/-/

And speaking of elusive profitability and labor unrest, a recent Forbes story, entitled "Mayday," is taglined: "Once soaring into a recovery, US Airways is now losing altitude--fast."

'Nuf said.

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

Anthony is wondering about the new mileage card from Discover. Carole has a link to a Delta double-miles-for-charges offer (which turns out to be geo-targeted... see below). Naresh is looking for a way to earn miles for junking his old car (nice try!). 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 ~ sponsored by Hertz >>

AAdvantage (& Other) Miles for Tax Prep
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Taxpayers who use H&R Block for tax preparation and filing may earn miles in the programs of American, Delta, and United, plus points in the Best Western Gold Crown Club and Priority Club Rewards programs.

In the programs of American, Delta and United, customers who have their taxes prepared at an H&R Block office for the first time will earn 1,000 miles, returning customers will earn 250 miles, and those who use H&R Block's online tax-prep service will also earn 250 miles.

Best Western Gold Crown Club members earn 200 points for first-time office visits, 75 points for return visits, and 75 points for doing their taxes online. (Elite members receive an extra 25 points for the same services.)

And for Priority Club members, the payout is 1,500 points for new office customers, 500 points for returning customers, and 500 points for those using the online tax-prep service.

< More >
- American
- Best Western
- Delta
- Priority Club
- United

Or call H&R Block at 1-800-HRBLOCK.

Delta Charges Earn "Double Miles On Everything"
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Charges to the Delta SkyMiles Credit Card or Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card from American Express will earn double miles from Mar. 15 - Apr. 15.

Registration is required.

Offer is only available to SkyMiles members with billing addresses in Atlanta or select cities in AL, GA, MS, NC, SC or TN, or in the greater Boston, Cincinnati, Los Angeles or New York City areas.

> More...

Elite Changes at Northwest
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Effective Mar. 1, WorldPerks members will earn a 50% elite-qualifying bonus when traveling on B-type coach fares on Northwest, Northwest Airlink, or KLM flights, in addition to the 50% bonus already earned for Y-type full coach fares.

Additionally, Platinum Elite members traveling domestically on full coach fares may upgrade a traveling companion who is booked for travel on the same reservation.

Also beginning Mar. 1, Platinum Elite members will no longer be guaranteed a confirmed World Business Class reservation within 48 hours of travel. Under the new policy, the guarantee will only apply to bookings made 7 days in advance.

Through Feb. 28, 2005, Platinum Elites will earn Platinum Points for qualifying miles, which in turn may be redeemed for rewards, including bonus miles, confirmed upgrades, and discounted awards. (See http://nwa.com/features/platpoints.html for more on the gratuitously complicated Platinum Points.)

And also through Feb. 28, 2005, Platinum Elite members traveling on domestic Northwest or Northwest Airlink flights will receive 1,000 bonus miles each time they are not upgraded to first, if they are eligible for the upgrade and the aircraft has a first-class cabin.

> More...

Southwest Rolls Out New Credit Cards
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Members of Southwest's Rapid Rewards program now have 2 new credit card options, the Rapid Rewards Visa Signature card and the Rewards Visa Business card, both issued by First USA.

Both offer 2 Reward Dollars for every $1 in Southwest Airlines purchases, excluding Southwest Airlines Vacations purchases, and 1 Reward Dollar for every $1 in everyday purchases. (1,200 Reward Dollars = 1 Rapid Rewards Credit.)

Annual percentage rate for both cards is 12.65%, variable, and the annual fee is $59 (vs. $39 for the Classic).

> More - http://www.Southwest.com/visa or call 800-SWA-VISA

Ted's First Words: "Free Ticket"
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Join the TedClub and fly Ted twice between Feb. 12 and June 13 to earn a free roundtrip companion ticket valid for travel on Ted in the contiguous 48 United States between Sep. 10 and Dec 15. Qualifying tickets must be booked online at flyted.com.

The TedClub is an offshoot of Mileage Plus which includes a number of special offers for customers of United's newly launched low-fare subsidiary, Ted. There's no charge to join.

In contrast to the many other buy-x/get-1-free offers currently in the marketplace -- which are highly restrictive in terms of routes or fare types -- this is refreshingly free of restrictions. It applies to all Ted routes (admittedly somewhat limited at this point) and all fares.

> More...

US Air Is New Points.com Exchange Partner
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Dividend Miles members may now exchange their US Airways miles for miles or points in other programs.

Well, not quite...

According to the fine print, only Dividend Miles members who have a Dividend Miles Visa card may exchange their Dividend Miles for other programs' currencies. But anyone may make exchanges into Dividend Miles.

Such onerous and convoluted rules detract from Points.com's value, which is already marginal at best.

> More...

Deal Alert from SmarterLiving.com
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This week's hot deals from SmarterLiving.com...

Fly to Las Vegas from $58
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You don't have to be lucky to find low prices for a trip to Las Vegas, a city where you'll want to save your luck for the casinos. We've found airfares to Sin City starting as low as $58 roundtrip, and you'll be able to find great deals by taking advantage of new service to Las Vegas.

Plus, if you're looking for something a little different, we've found more Vegas options, including vacations packages for as little as $120, and first-class flights from $298 roundtrip.

> More...

Europe Sale Fares as Low as $256
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Fares to Europe are on the rise as we approach the Continent's summer peak season, but that doesn't mean you can't find good deals. Four U.S. airlines are currently offering sale fares to European destinations including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and London, and we found prices as low as $256 roundtrip.

Plus, while most of the fares are to popular destinations in Western Europe, Delta is also offering sale prices to more exotic destinations like Russia and Greece.

Travel dates and booking deadlines vary by airline.

> More...

Win 1 Million Miles from Prime
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Enter the Prime Rewards Million Miles Sweepstakes by Apr. 8 to win 1 of 4 grand prizes of 1 million AAdvantage miles each.

Prime Rewards members automatically receive 1 entry for each stay at participating AmeriSuites, Wellesley Inn & Suites and Prime Hotels & Resorts between Jan. 18 and Apr. 8. Members may also enter by mail, without a paid hotel stay.

> More...

<< R E A D E R R A N T S & R A V E S >>

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel
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"I totally agree on the Delta comment.

"I actually just got off a plane with Delta on a red eye from Vegas just a couple of hours ago and a similar situation happened to me. They are complete jerks and I simply asked the man at the counter, What is the benefit for me to continuously fly your airline and pay $700-$800 per ticket for a 1 hour each way round trip ticket to ATL?

"There is no benefit at all to being a gold or platinum member of the Delta SkyMiles program. I had already determined to say good-bye to Delta this morning and upon receiving this issue of the Crier I am just fired up even more. Delta is useless and I hope they do go bankrupt. Maybe their flight crews will be a little friendlier when they are out in our business world looking for a job. I have had it!"

- Nigale

Until next week...