U P F R O N T

The Smaller They Are, the Faster They Grow

And leading the hyper-growth-mode discounters is JetBlue.

On Monday, they announced the May 27 inauguration of new service between JFK and Aguadilla, on Puerto Rico's northwest coast, and an increase in JFK-San Juan flights for the summer. Also this summer, JetBlue will begin flying to Santiago and Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. (The Dominican Republic is currently served by American and Continental, neither of which will gladly suffer JetBlue's incursion.)

On the domestic front, JetBlue announced today that they will begin JFK-San Jose (CA) flights on June 10. That's in addition to new Washington-Sacramento and Boston-Oakland services already scheduled to begin in May.

American's current buy-2/get-1-free offer for flights between New York or Boston and Florida or California (matched by Delta and United) -- a high-volume warning to JetBlue to steer clear of American's turf -- clearly failed to produce the intended effect.

America West, which now bills itself as "the nation's second largest low-fare airline," this week announced flights to 4 new cities from its Las Vegas hub, plus frequency increases on their flights between Los Angeles and both Boston and New York, plus new flights between Los Angeles and Edmonton and Vancouver, Canada; and Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Meanwhile, AirTran rolled out 2-day fare sales (Mar. 9-10) for travel to/from Atlanta and Philadelphia -- the primary hubs for Delta and US Airways respectively. And today they unveiled plans to commence new service to Akron and Newport News/Williamsburg from Boston.

As if US Airways didn't have enough problems, local media is reporting that a new low-fare airline may be starting operations at Charlotte Airport, where US Air currently commands a 90% traffic share.

And... ATA plans to launch discount flights to London. Sir Richard Branson is threatening to mount a low-fare U.S. operation. And Washington's Dulles (a United stronghold) may become the hometown airport for yet another new discount operator.

Holy cheap tickets, Batman! And the corollary: which of the legacy carriers will survive?

<< O N S I T E >>

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

From Marathon Man: "Wow, what a phone-to-airline paper-chase my last day and a half has become, but in the end, I got two award tickets to Europe I have been mulling over for some time now! I am happy with my efforts and results here but I must say, I could not have done the planning and known the deals or twists and issues if it hadn't been for the FrequentFlier Forum and those who give tips and info in this forum and beyond!" 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 >>

Buy Samsonite to Bag AAdvantage Miles
=====================================
AAdvantage members will earn 700 bonus miles for Samsonite bag purchases over $100 at online discounter Samsonite Company Stores.

> More - http://www.samsonitecompanystores.com or call 1-800 547-BAGS, extension 7384

More Mortgage Miles from America West
=====================================
Through May 31, FlightFund members will earn a 50% mileage bonus when borrowing from Nationwide Advantage Mortgage Company. That's 500 miles in addition to the standard 1,000 FlightFund miles per $10,000 in principal amount borrowed.

Apply at http://www.FlightFundMortgage.com or by calling 1-888-906-4537.

Cendant Introduces TripRewards
==============================
Cendant -- parent company of 9 hotel chains comprising 6,000 individual hotels, plus Avis, Budget, etc. -- has launched TripRewards, "the newest and the largest hotel loyalty program."

TripRewards members earn 10 points per $1 spent on qualifying room rates at AmeriHost Inn, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge (U.S. hotels only), Villager, and Wingate Inn hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Other points-earning earning partners include Avis, Budget and Jackson Hewitt tax services.

Or, earn 2 airline miles or rail points per $1 of room spend in the programs of Air Canada, Amtrak, Continental or Delta.

On the award side, free hotel room nights may be had for between 6,000 and 16,000 points, depending on the desired hotel's assigned "tier." There are no award blackout dates.

The thumbnail value calculation - Earn 600 points per night at a $60 room rate. So 10 nights = 6,000 points, enough for 1 free night at a Tier 1 hotel. Which amounts to a 10% rebate.

The program's award chart also includes airline miles, resort packages, gift certificates, merchandise, etc.

Executive summary: industry-leading choice of low- to mid-range hotels; too few airline partners; good range of awards otherwise; decent if unspectacular payout.

> More...

Continental Fine Tunes Elite
============================
Effective Mar. 1, Continental OnePass members will earn 150% of elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) and 2 elite qualification points (EQPs) when flying on H-class fares.

The change elevates H fares to the same status as Y fares.

While all coach fares earn 100% of flown miles toward awards, elite status is earned at different rates, according to the type of fare as follows:

Full fare coach (Y, H) - 150% EQMs, 2 EQPs
Mid-priced coach (K, N, B, V, U) - 100% EQMs, 1 EQP
Discount coach (Q, I, S, W, T, X, L) - 100%*/50% EQMs, 1*/0 EQPs
* Through Dec. 31, 2004, for flights booked on www.continental.com

> More...

Northwest Discounts Caribbean Awards
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Through Apr. 29, WorldPerks members can redeem 30,000 instead of the normal 35,000 miles for travel to Grand Cayman, Nassau, Bahamas or Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Or they may purchase a WorldVacations air and hotel package for Caribbean travel, and book the air portion of the trip for 28,000 miles.

> More...

Candlewood Suites Is New Priority Club Partner
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Beginning Mar. 29, Priority Club Rewards members will earn points or miles at more than 100 Candlewood Suites hotels in the U.S.

> More...

United Flip-Flops on Promo Rules
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Remember United's "Triple/Double/5,00" offer, reported here in early Jan. 2004?

United has come under considerable fire -- rightly -- for materially changing the terms of the offer after it was introduced.

For details, see "Reader Rants & Raves" below for links to a subscriber's website where the whole debacle is chronicled in painful detail.

Thanks, Gene.

<< S T E A L S & D E A L S >>

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

Domestic Sale Fares from $118
-----------------------------
American and ATA have announced sale fares to a wide variety of domestic and a handful of Caribbean/Latin America destinations. Domestic flights start as low as $118 roundtrip, and cross-country flights start at $188 roundtrip. Travel for most destinations is valid from Mar. 23 through June 16. Book ATA tickets by Monday, Mar. 15. American has not released a specific booking deadline.

> More...

Fly United to London from $190
------------------------------
Take advantage of low-season fares to London before prices rise to their summer highs, with United's sale fares from $190 roundtrip.

Departure is valid through Apr. 4; return travel must be completed by May 31. Book tickets at least 7 days in advance, and by Wednesday, Mar. 31.

> More...

<< S W E E P S & F R E E B I E S >>

Win US Air Miles at Points.com
==============================
Enter the Points.com sweepstakes through Apr. 30 for a chance to win 1 of 10 grand prizes of 100,000 US Airways Dividend Miles each.

There are 4 ways to enter: 1) sign up for a free Points.com membership (limit 1 per person); 2) sign up for a paid Points.com membership (limit 1 per person); 3) make a Points.com exchange (limit 4 per person); or 4) mail in an entry form (limit 1 per person).

> More...

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

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

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel
======================================
"On your web page http://frequentflier.com/ffc-010704.htm you refer to the United Airlines Early Bird Bonus under the heading of 'United Has 1st-Quarter Promo, too.'

"The terms of this offer have changed since it was originally announced. For people to get full benefits they must register again at http://united.com/offer/mpd714 by Mar. 15 in addition to the http://www.united.com/offer/mpd873. More information can be found on http://www.genefowler.com/MPW004."

- Gene

"I read the last two editions of Feedback from the Frontlines of travel and can add one more horror story. I have been Platinum Elite with Delta for several years, but this year only achieved Gold, even though I flew more flights than the prior year. We all know about the changes to the program, so I won't labor on, other than to say, I began the new year with zero 500 mile upgrade segments, which is due to the fact that I was Platinum last year and therefore had an unlimited number, and didn't bank to start this year... how's that for a thanks, you've been a great customer. But to the real story...

"Recently I was on a $2200.00 coach class ticket to London England (long story on the high price.....but yes it's outrageous). When I arrived at the airport, instead of my confirmed Aisle seat, they had somehow put me in a middle seat, and no arguing with them as coach was full. There were 14 seats available in first class, so I asked the 'upgrade question'. They said they could upgrade me for 20,000 miles... I explained that I normally pay 10,000. They informed me that I could upgrade my return ticket for 10,000 but the outbound was a different class of ticket. I thought to myself... fine, there is no way I'm paying 20,000 hard earned airmiles and $2200.00, so I'll upgrade on the way back... to which they quickly told me the waitlist was already closed, and did I want them to issue my boarding pass for my middle seat... yes, she actually referred to it as a middle seat. I think the term 'going postal', may have to be reworked to 'going airline'. I'm also done with Delta."

- Fiona (recovering Delta customer)

Until next week...