In the Comfort Wars, Peace (and Discomfort) Prevails

In the past 2 weeks, I've received press releases from 2 airlines breathlessly touting the virtues of their coach-class seating. Dateline Milwaukee: "Midwest Airlines Reaffirms Its Claim to the Most Comfortable Coach Seats in the Sky." And from Chicago: "The Legs Still Have It -- on United."

Could it be that consumers will finally benefit from airlines battling each other on the comfort front?

But Midwest's comfy coach seats are only available on its so-called Signature service flights, operated on routes which cater primarily to business travelers.

United wasn't offering anything new either; the comfort in question is found exclusively in Economy Plus, a fourth class of service reserved for full-fare coach ticketholders and Mileage Plus elites. Legroom in "regular" economy remains a miserly 31 inches.

That such limited offerings are considered grist for the P.R. mill speaks volumes about the industry's unwillingness to truly make comfort a priority.

(American once enjoyed undisputed bragging rights in the coach legroom race, offering roomier seats on every flight in its network, a service dubbed "More Room Throughout Coach." In a slap in the face of coach travelers, American recently dismantled "More Room," adding back seats and returning legroom to original levels.)

Press releases notwithstanding, consumers have a better chance of booking a roomy coach seat on JetBlue, which features 33-34-inch legroom on 2/3rds of the seats on every flight, than on the "full-service" carriers. Plus, JetBlue features seatback TVs. And lower prices.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, Evan is on a quest to clean up his orphan miles: "I have never used any of the point consolidation programs like Points.com so I am not sure how to get the best value out of my orphan stuff."

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, simonmoran wants to leverage his United elite status into comparable status with American: "I just called AA and they said that they no longer do an elite match. I am trying to convert my UA 1K into a match on AA."

In the "Hotel Programs" Forum, bcl00 got good news regarding a cancelled award stay: "I was under the impression that once you made a reservation using Hilton points, they were gone. If you cancelled, you lost the points. However, after talking to someone from Hilton reservations on the phone, she said that you can cancel them just like a regular reservation and they will put the points back in your account."

And much more... Questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!

More: http://frequentflier.com/forums/index.php

Air France, KLM Will Combine Programs

Beginning in June, the Air France Frequence Plus and KLM Flying Dutchman programs will be merged into a single program, called Flying Blue.

Current members of the 2 programs will automatically become members of the new program and their miles will be transferred with no change in value.

Specifics of Flying Blue, including elite qualification criteria and award charts, will be made public soon.

More (Air France): http://www.airfrance.us/
More (KLM): http://www.klm.com/uk_en/index.jsp

Alaska Discounts Spring Awards

As they do periodically, Alaska Air is offering Mileage Plan members a 7,000-mile discount on 20,000-mile Coach Saver awards on Alaska flights between Las Vegas, Phoenix or San Diego and Canada.

This offer is valid for travel between Apr. 19 and June 9.

More: http://alaskaair.com/shopping/OnlineAwards/AwardPromo.asp?promo=ASYCLS

American Expands Redemption Options to Hotels, Diners Club

American's newly launched redeemAAmiles program allows AAdvantage members to redeem their miles online for hotel stays, points in leading hotel programs and Diners Club Rewards points. For the convenience, AAdvantage members will be charged a stiff $25 "transaction fee."

The redemption options are as follows:

Diners Club - Redeem 10,000 AAdvantage miles for 10,000 Diners Club points.

Hilton - 5,000 miles = 10,000 Hilton HHonors Points

Intercontinental - 5,000 miles = 4,000 Priority Club points. When redeeming for hotel awards, the conversion rate is different, ranging from 12,500 miles = 10,000 points, enough for a 1-night stay at Holiday Inn Express Value destinations, to 37,550 miles = 30,000 points, enough for 1 night at an Intercontinental hotel.

Marriott - Redeem miles for hotel award certificates. At the low end: 16,000 miles = 1-night Flex Weekend Award; at the high end: 25,000 miles = 1-night Platinum Anyday Award.

The technology behind the new feature is from Points.com, a familiar player in the loyalty space. In fact, the $25 fee goes to them, not to American. Which raises the question: couldn't American have offered AAdvantage members a better deal if they'd eliminated the middle man... and the $25 charge?

More: http://www.redeemAAmiles.points.com

Budget Offers "Easy Money" Rebate

Through May 15, travelers who complete a qualifying rental of 5 or more days and pay for the rental with a MasterCard Card will receive a $15 Prepaid MasterCard Gift Card.

Gift card may only be earned once per customer. Registration is required.

More: http://www.budget.com/easymoney

From Continental: Discounted Gift Certificates

Through Apr. 30, $100 continental.com Gift Certificates are on sale for $95 -- a $5 discount. Gift certificates are redeemable on continental.com for travel to more than 270 destinations worldwide.

More: http://www.continental.com/onepass/news/

Delta Bonus for Online Tax Prep

Through Apr. 15, Delta SkyMiles members will earn 1,000 miles for using the American Express OnlineTax program to file their 2004 taxes.

The program costs $34.95 to use, and includes e-filing.

More: http://www.americanexpress.internet-taxprep.com/plindex.asp

Diners Club Award Changes

Effective Apr. 1, Diners Club points will be worth fewer Southwest Rapid Rewards credits and Priority Club points.

Where 2,000 Diners points have been redeemable for 1 Rapid Rewards credit, it will take 3,000 points after the change. And instead of the 2,000 Priority Club points available for 2,500 Diners points, the new formula only awards 1,500 Priority Club points for 2,500 Diners points.

Tomorrow is the last day to exchange at the current rates.

More: http://citibank.com/dinersus/clubrewards/catalog/2005/root/updates.htm

Double Miles on New Frontier Routes

Members of Frontier's EarlyReturns program will earn double miles on 4 new routes, as follows:

Detroit (May 8 - June 30)
Tulsa (May 22 - June 30)
Akron/Canton (June 15 - July 30)
San Antonio (June 26 - July 30)

More: http://www.frontierairlines.com/specials/ff_promotions.asp

Marriott Announces PointSavers for Spring

Marriott's Spring PointSavers Rewards, discounted as much as 33% and valid for stays between Apr. 1 and June 30, are listed on Marriott's website.

More: http://marriott.com/

More WorldPerks Miles for Copa Flights

Through May 31, WorldPerks members will earn 3,000 bonus miles for coach and 4,500 for Executive Class on Copa Airlines roundtrip flights between the U.S. and 10 destinations in Latin America.

More: http://www.nwa.com/features/copa/

Southwest Extends Baltimore, Chicago Bonuses

Originally set to expire on Mar. 31, Southwest has extended through Aug. 3 its double credit promotion for flights to or from Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) and Chicago Midway (MDW). Tickets must be purchased at southwest.com to qualify for the bonus.

More: http://southwest.com/hotfares/hotfares_other.html#dc

Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Sale Fares on America West from $89 Each Way

If you're looking for a low price on a cross-county flight, or a flexible 1-way fare, check America West's spring sale before booking. Prices start at $89 1-way, and destinations include Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and more.

Travel is valid on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays from Apr. 1 through June 16. Book tickets at least 14 days in advance, and by May 19.

More: http://www.smartertravel.com/air/deal.php?id=8616

2) Italy Sale Fares on Alitalia from $363

If a flight to Italy sounds appealing to you, check Alitalia's spring sale before booking. Prices start at $363 roundtrip for travel in Mar. and Apr.

Departures are valid on Mondays through Thursdays through Apr. 30. Book tickets at least 3 days in advance, and by Apr. 15. A Saturday-night stay is required, and the maximum stay is 30 days.

More: http://www.smartertravel.com/air/deal.php?id=7789

Win a Trip to London

Enter the "London for Less" sweepstakes by Apr. 8 for a chance to win a trip for 2 to London, including air and hotel. Other prizes include London hotel vouchers and event passes.

More: http://na.visitlondon.com/info/campaigns/usa_sweeps_2005.html

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

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"I'm a realist, and understand that I won't always be able to get my first choice of award flights. But this is ridiculous! I've spent hours trying to book two award seats with Delta next Fall.

"Different times, different days, alternative airports. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

"I'd ditch Delta in a second if I thought the problem was just them. But I hear similar stories from people trying to use their miles on other airlines. So I am left feeling that I've been a fool to bother earning the miles in the first place.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr." (Lee)

"In response to your note on this, this week, I think that the BA-AA arrangement against mutual crediting of miles was the result of a directive by the Government. BA and AA control so much transatlantic capacity to London that allowing their travelers to "pool" frequent flyer miles would be extremely anti-competitive, to the severe detriment of the few competing carriers like V (Richard Branson's airline). Anyone who flies on BA can get BA miles (including RT upgrades for as little as 10,000 miles), and anyone who flies on AA can get AA miles. For the record, I think that this is perfectly fair, especially if the alternative is much higher fares on these already-profitable routes." (Alan)

Until next week...