"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blogs:

• Delta and Hawaiian link mileage programs
  Result is a major plus for HawaiianMiles, just so-so for SkyMiles.
• Top five miles and points deals for March 2008
  This month's offers are from Alaska Airlines, Hilton, Northwest, and more.
• Frequent flyer miles for taxes? Yes, but...
  Earning miles for tax payments doesn't make financial sense.
• Northwest flyers can bid miles for merchandise
  But limited selection makes this auction a bad buy.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Hotel Programs" Forum, QF WP has compiled a comprehensive list of Priority Club promotions. Handy!

And in the "Retail, Other Non-Travel Programs" Forum, DJHerm reports that Opinion Place participants have a new rewards option, PayPal credits. Which raises the question: Are frequent flyer miles losing their cachet?

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

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Continental Promotes New Cleveland Flights

Continental is offering bonus miles for 13 new flights to/from Cleveland, including Paris, Birmingham, Green Bay, Charleston, Des Moines, Greensboro, Omaha, Memphis, etc.

Most routes are being promoted with double miles. Promotion periods vary, with most ending June 30 or July 31.

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Earn More Miles for New NW/KL Amsterdam Flights

To promote the new Northwest and KLM flights to Amsterdam from Portland and Dallas, members of Northwest's WorldPerks program can earn up to 15,000 bonus miles per round-trip -- 7,500 miles each way for business class (J or C booking class), 5,000 each way for selected coach fares (Z, Y, S, B, or M class), and 2,500 each way for discounted coach (H, Q, V, L, T, or K class).

Register by May 31 for travel between March 29 and June 15.

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Double Points at Venice Starwoods

Through June 30, Starwood Preferred Guest members will earn double points for qualifying stays of two or more nights at the following properties in Venice, Italy: Hotel Gritti Palace, Hotel Danieli, the Westin Europa & Regina, and the Westin Excelsior Resort. The offer also applies to stays at the Hotel Villa Cipriani, in Asolo, Italy.

Eligible rates include buffet breakfast.

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More United Miles for London Flights

To promote its new flights between Denver and London, launching March 30, United is offering bonus miles for round-trips completed by May 31, as follows: 7,500 bonus miles for first class (F, P, or A booking class), 5,000 bonus miles for business (C or D booking class), 3,000 for discounted business (Z booking class) or economy (Y, B, M, or H booking class), and 1,500 bonus miles for discounted economy (Q,V,W, or S booking class).

Registration is required.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Save 15% on British Airways Flights

British Airways is offering 15 percent off economy-class and premium economy flights worldwide. The discount is available to registered users only.

The discount is available for travel through September 3. Book tickets by March 31.

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2) Spirit Offers $48 Off Flights

Spirit has announced a $48 discount on round-trip flights departing in mid-April through October.

The discount is valid on round-trip flights from April 15 through May 20, and from August 18 to October 31, and must be booked online by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 20.

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Win a Trip for 2 to Miami

Enter Ford's "2008 NASCAR Street Tour" sweepstakes by October 27 for a chance to win a trip for two to Miami, including air, four nights' hotel accommodation, tickets to NASCAR events, a $400 Visa gift card, etc.

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[Visit FrequentFlier.com for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"[In reference to Doug's comments in last week's newsletter...] Although the AA upgrade mileage balance always resets on 1 March, I have found by calling AAdvantage and asking nicely that they will usually give 1,500 mile upgrade for every 2,500 miles you lost in the reset." [Jack]

"Was told by United I could redeem 60,000 miles for travel from US to BKK and back from Auckland to U.S. BY AT LEAST 4 people I talked to at different times.

"I had the 1st leg booked and was waiting for available time frame to book the last leg. Of course I had gone ahead and booked a cruise and put a deposit down in the meantime. On my last call they told me, no I couldn't do that. That I would have to use 175,000 miles for 2 different tickets and that it didn't matter how many people told me I could, they were ALL wrong. I felt that with all of the calls being recorded they should look back into their records and honor their word. I tried talking to several supervisors but there was nothing they would do. Of course the trip was ruined. Our 40th anniversary cruise.

"I don't know how we could all protect ourselves from this happening again. How can we know if the agents know what they're telling us is right? Any suggestions?" [Leslie B.]

"I've read your newsletter for years, love the insight - but never felt the need to comment... until now.

"US Airways is now offering standard customers the chance to purchase elite status. What's the point of building up any elite status with an airline that will sell it to almost anyone!? Unbelievable.

"Please don't share any specifics on my wife's name (I am elite with US so didn't get this email, but she shared it with me knowing I would lose it)..." [Brian]

"Slightly outside your normal flavor... but PayPal is running a nice promotion that rebates some cash ($50 off $250+ purchase on at least one of the airlines) for the first 10,000 paypal users to pay for airfare on any one of three airlines. 20% discount is rare in the airline world; fairly nice offer." [Glenn]

"OK, I feel sorry for Cathy from S.C. (the reader who discovered, after using her Southwest VISA for enough purchases to earn a free flight voucher, that she didn't live anywhere near an airport Southwest serves).

"I feel sorry that she's so inept at travel that she'd actually attempt to earn miles on an airline that doesn't serve her market. I mean, come on - is anyone really this stupid? I can understand sleight-of-hand tricks by the airlines being annoying, but Southwest's network of cities served is certainly no secret. And unlike the so-called Big Six airlines, Southwest hasn't eliminated service to any of its cities in at least six or seven years.

"Granted, Southwest doesn't fly everywhere (nor do all the Big Six), but I think it's a minimum expectation for a consumer that she actually determine whether or not she can use the award she's trying to earn. Get a grip, Cathy!" [Kevin M.]

"Please inform Cathy U that there are many organizations that can take her ticket off her hands. It is unfortunate that she did not understand that Southwest has few partners, but please do not let the ticket go to waste-there are many people in the country that could desperately use the ticket to visit a sick loved one, get medical treatment, etc…" [Mike F.]

"As you may know, American Airlines is testing a new system for boarding at selected airports, including Chicago O'Hare. They seem to have reinvented the wheel, boarding again by rows instead of groups. However, in their testing, they have chosen to eliminate priority boarding for their gold level members, favoring only platinum and executive platinum. In a recent discussion with an AA gate agent, I learned that despite being a gold level Aadvantage member, my recent boarding experience at ORD was not an oversight by those handling the flight, but rather a deliberate effort orchestrated by the corporate managers. I've contacted AA via e-mail about the situation and they have ignored my questions. Of course they don't seem to have a phone number to call with such issues. I just wonder what good it is to be at the gold level? And how does ignoring this group help their boarding? Finally, do they think this is the best way to handle their elite passengers? While it is certainly not the end of the world to do the general boarding, having the guarantee of overhead carry-on space (regardless of how full the flight is) is a nice perk, one which I feel is worth fighting for.

"While I hope others were not inconvenienced by similar situations, I do hope that any who were would also voice their concerns." [Christopher A.]

Until next week...