U P F R O N T

Good News for "Investors"
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Here's a soothing thought for the otherwise distraught...

The Dow closed yesterday below 10,000, and the NASDAQ was down (WAY down), from 5,000 a year ago to under 2,000 yesterday. Most major airlines are teetering on the verge of labor-management Holy Wars and, anticipating both service disruptions and a generally soft economy, have warned of sub-par earnings. Prospects for investors and travelers are grim; and they're grimmer still for those of us who both invest and travel.

Here's the soothing part: Against this sky-is-falling backdrop, the value of your miles and points has, arguably, increased.

In fact, there's a comforting element of counter-cyclicality to miles. When the economy declines, so does air travel. With fewer paying customers clamoring for seats, there will be more seats available for frequent flyer awards. And the more likely a mile is to be redeemable for the award flight of your choice, the more valuable that mile is. Ergo, when stocks tank, miles soar.

Take heart!

Don't Bet on the Prez
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President Bush's high-handed shutdown of the Northwest mechanics' strike is no cure-all for the airline industry's labor problems.

If you believe in workers' fundamental right to strike, Bush's action is nothing short of outrageous. If you believe the airline industry is so critical a piece of the country's infrastructure that all major carriers' operations must be maintained at any price, Bush did the right thing.

In either case, don't assume that a "No Strike" policy will insulate the traveling public from delays, cancellations and the aggressive surliness of a disaffected and demoralized workforce.

While the labor unrest at Northwest, Delta, American and United may not culminate in wholesale strikes, workers have at their disposal (and have used in the past) every tactic from sickouts and slowdowns to refusal to work overtime to press for their demands. And we can expect them to do the same, again, Presidential Emergency Board or no.

M I L E S & P O I N T S

Northwest Offers Tickets for Cash-and-Miles
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Northwest's limited-time Cash and Miles offer allows WorldPerks members to combine cash and miles for travel throughout NW's network. You must be a resident of the U.S. 48 states and have 5,000 WorldPerks miles in your account to participate.

Domestic flights start at $128 plus 10,000 WorldPerks miles; Trans-Atlantic starts at $199 plus 20,000 miles; and Trans-Pacific starts at $360 plus 20,000 miles. Pricing is based on a zone system, detailed on NW's site at http://nwa.com/offers/winterdeals/.

Purchase tickets by May 26, 2001 and travel between Apr. 16 and June 14, 2001 (for travel to destinations in Europe purchase your tickets by March 31, 2001 and travel between Apr. 1, and May 31, 2001). Tickets must be purchased at least 14 days in advance of travel and a Saturday night stay is required.

Cash and Miles tickets can be booked on NW's website or by phone. Book online, though, and you will save 500 miles.

Marriott Makes Weekends More Rewarding
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Between Mar. 15 and June 15, 2001, Marriott Rewards elite members who make 2 weekend stays that include either a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night at any of Marriott's nearly 2,000 hotels worldwide will receive a 1-time bonus of 5,000 points.

Full details are available on the Marriott site.

Aeroplan Discounts Awards
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Aeroplan members can take advantage of reduced mileage rates for reward travel on selected Air Canada routes between Mar. 20 and May 31, 2001. To take advantage of this sale you must book online at least 8 days in advance and have at least 15,000 Aeroplan miles in your account.

> U.S. Short-Haul Routes for 12,000 miles

- Nashville and Toronto
- Atlanta and Toronto
- Cleveland and Toronto
- Philadelphia and Toronto or Montreal
- Newark and Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa
- Boston and Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa
- Chicago and Toronto or Montreal
- Washington Dulles and Toronto or Montreal

> U.S. Long-Haul Routes for 20,000 miles

- Los Angeles and Montreal
- San Francisco and Montreal
- San Jose-Ca. and Toronto or Ottawa
- Washington Dulles and Vancouver
- Chicago and Calgary
- Denver and Winnipeg
- Houston and Toronto or Calgary
- Dallas and Toronto or Vancouver

> South America Routes for 40,000 miles

- Buenos Aires and Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa or Quebec City
- Sao Paolo and Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa or Quebec City

> Asia Virtual Routes for 60,000 miles

- Shanghai and Vancouver
- Tokyo and Toronto
- Taipei and Vancouver

> More: Air Canada

HHonors Bonus for Updating Profile
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Earn an easy 1,000 HHonors bonus points by updating your member profile at http://www.hiltonhhonors.com/profile/

United Establishes Mileage Link with eBags
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Mileage Plus members can now earn 250 miles for online purchases of $50 or more at the eBags store at http://united.ebags.com.

To promote the tie-up, eBags.com is sponsoring a sweepstakes, giving away 100,000 airline miles every week through March 25th.

MilePoint Mounts Shopping Sweepstakes
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Every MilePoint.com transaction between Mar. 13 and Apr. 15, 2001, qualifies you to win 1 of 3 prizes in their Spring Shopping Sweepstakes.

The grand prize is a $1,000 Amazon.com gift certificate; 2 first-prize winners will receive a $500 gift certificate from Flooz, the online gift currency, or ICE.com, an online jeweler.

> More: MilePoint.com

Like Wine, Like Miles?
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Earn 500 ClickMiles on your first wine purchase of $25 or more from eVineyard and 1 ClickMile per dollar on additional purchases up to $500.

> More: ClickRewards

WorldPerks Adds Transavia to Partner Roster
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Northwest has signed a code-share and frequent flyer program agreement with Transavia Airlines. The frequent flyer program agreement is effective immediately while the code-share agreement has been filed with the government and is expected to be approved within 90 days.

Transavia is the leading Dutch "holiday carrier," flying between Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and the Mediterranean region.

S T E A L S & D E A L S

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

Sale Fares to Central and South America
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American Airlines has announced a fare sale to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Also, Delta and GRUPO TACA are offering sale fares to destinations in Central and South America.

For more details, go here.

Spring and Summer Travel Sale from ATA
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ATA has released sale fares starting at $118 round-trip. Travel is valid between Apr. 3 and Sep. 30, except as noted. Purchase tickets by Thursday, Mar. 29. United Airlines has matched this sale.

For more details, go here.

I N D U S T R Y N E W S B I T E S

The TWA Saga (continued)
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We're almost there! American's buyout proposal has received the Bankruptcy Court's provisional approval, and the Department of Justice is expected to approve the acquisition as well. Here's what Aviators members can expect:

"It is anticipated that TWA would give Aviators members six months notice before ending the Aviators program. Aviators members would then receive full credit for unused mileage balances in their Aviators portfolio when the Aviators program ends."

"During that transition period, Aviators members would be able to continue earning and redeeming miles as they do today. At the end of the notification period, Aviators members would receive a bonus mileage posting in their new or existing AAdvantage account equal to the unused ending mileage balance in their Aviators portfolio."

Once again, most transition questions are addressed here.

Why Northwest and KLM Are All Alone
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In the past 2 issues, we reported, first, on the joint Northwest-KLM move to withhold commissions for ticket sales made through online agencies like Travelocity and Expedia, followed by the fact that the move was not copied by other airlines. The question begged: why haven't other airlines followed the lead of NW-KLM on this?

The question has been addressed -- and, I think, definitively answered -- by Kate Rice, an analyst with the PhoCusWright group. Here's the beginning of her article, reprinted with permission:

"Six years ago, airlines began slashing their distribution costs by cutting and capping commissions they paid travel agencies. Delta was the first to stick its neck out, capping domestic airline commissions in February 1995. Other airlines began to follow almost immediately. In September 1997, United cut domestic commissions to 8%. The other airlines followed. United subsequently capped international commissions in November 1998, then cut domestic commissions to 5% in October 1999. In all instances, other airlines followed within days and sometimes within hours. Then why haven't the other airlines leaped to follow Northwest's move last week?"

The full text of the article is here.

Until next week...