"Up in the Air" Giveaway

Thanks to more than 750 Crier readers who entered last week's "Up in the Air" drawing. Frankly, the response far exceeded our expectations. We'll look for opportunities to host similar travel-related drawings in the future.

Before picking the winners, we opened each and every email. Heartfelt thanks to the many readers who wished us well on the occasion of our 600th newsletter issue.

And congratulations to Fran, Michael, and Cathy, our three winners.

"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blog posts:

• New Best Western Bonus Favors the Fortunate
  Best Western's newly announced promotion is a multi-faceted affair, whose value ultimately depends on travelers' luck in using a $50 travel card.
• Midwest to Lose Delta as Frequent Flyer Partner
  Members of the mileage programs of Midwest and Frontier are in limbo. The two programs are set to merge eventually. But in the short term, Delta will end its tie-up with Midwest.
• New Hotel Program Awards Cash Instead of Points
  The new loyalty program from AmericInn, a chain of more than 220 mid-priced hotels in 22 states, promises members: "Earn cash for your stays."
• Earn Double, Triple Points for Spring Amtrak Trips
  Train trip, anyone? If you're a member of Amtrak's Guest Rewards program, you can earn double points on all routes between March 22 and May 7, and triple points from May 8 through May 29.

The FrequentFlier Forum - Hot Topics

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

In the "Credit Card Programs" Forum, joelmeu has a suggestion for travelers looking for a cash-back credit card with no foreign-transaction fees: "Since a lot of travelers hang out here and there are not a lot of remaining cards with 0% foreign transaction fees plus other good rewards, I thought I'd mention that Schwab is only accepting applications for their Visa card through the end of this month -- March 2010.

"The Schwab Visa pays 2% cash back (deposited directly to Schwab account) on all spending. Plus it is one of the few cards with a 0% foreign transaction fee."

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

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Aeroplan Offers Shopping Bonuses, Flight Discount

Between March 29 and May 9, Aeroplan members can earn bonus miles for purchases at participating program partners, plus a 15% discount on Air Canada flights after shopping at three partners.

The bonuses differ according to region. As an example, British Columbia residents can earn double miles at Esso, 100 bonus miles on purchases of $100 or more at Home Store, 120 bonus miles on purchases of $120 or more at Rexall stores, 50 bonus miles for purchasing three or more Nestle or Purina products, and so on.

The Air Canada discount applies to bookings of up to four passengers, for travel completed by December 15.

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Multi-Night Carlson Stays Earn Bonus Goldpoints

Between April 5 and May 28, goldpoints plus members can earn up to quadruple points for qualifying stays at Regent, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inns and Suites, and Park Inn hotels.

Bonuses are as follows: two-night stays earn double points; three-night stays earn triple points; and four-night stays earn quadruple points. (In all cases, these are consecutive nights.)

Registration is required.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Last Day: $18 U.S. and Caribbean Spirit Sale

Spirit's latest sale features travel to destinations such as Boston, Los Angeles, Nassau, and San Juan, among others. Flights start at $18 round-trip for members of the airline's fare club.

Travel is available on select dates in April, May, and September, depending on your route. Purchase by March 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

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2) $499 Europe Sale With Icelandair

Icelandair's latest Europe sale features spring flights starting at $499 round-trip to destinations such as Reykjavik, London, Paris, and Stavanger.

Fares are good for travel this spring and early summer. Book by April 1.

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Win a Trip for 2 to Attend the French Open in Paris

Enter Dunlop's "2010 French Open" sweepstakes by April 17 for a chance to win a three-day trip for two to Paris, including air, hotel, and tickets to the French Open tennis tournament.

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[Visit FrequentFlier.com for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

We welcome reader feedback on issues related to travel generally and frequent flyer programs in particular. Please use this link to submit comments.

Using Mileage Awards

"What follows may be common knowledge to your readers, but just in case:

"Earlier discussion has pointed out the easy opportunity to book one-way travel on American for one-half the mileage requirement on a round-trip.

"If you've got more than one trip in the works, you can get the same deal on Continental (and partners) using an open-jaw booking. Today's actual example booked: Houston to Portland in November, then Portland to Miami in January: 25,000 miles total in economy.

"Bon Voyage!" [Ed N.]

British Airways Refundable Tickets, Not

"In November 2009 I bought two tickets for roundtrip flights, Heathrow-Scotland for August 2010. I wanted refundable tickets because of the possibility of cancellation. The e-tickets were issued -- nowhere on the e-ticket was there any mention of 'non-refundable' tickets. Yet when I canceled the tickets two weeks ago I was told they were non-refundable! When I complained that I had not been told this, I was informed that I had to check a box that indicated I had read the BA conditions. I was also told 'No one ever reads that material -- the box is simply checked. You undoubtedly did not read the material either -- and that is where you were told the tickets were non-refundable.'

"Today I received a phone call from BA -- in response to a request I made two weeks ago. Of course, I was told I was at fault for not knowing, and of course the tickets are non-refundable.

"That is the honesty of BA -- and of course BA and AA will be able to join their trans-Atlantic service -- so we will be open to continual dishonesty by these corporations which have no interest in their customers except as the source of their income. Once they have their funds, 'The customer be damned.'" [Dick E.]

More on United Upgrades

"Why does the new United upgrade policy (effective March 19) EXCLUDE the P.S. flights from JFK to LAX & SFO?" [Larry M. - Los Angeles]

[FrequentFlier replies - We can't speak for United, of course, but since P.S. stands for Premium Service, perhaps the airline feels that upgrades would be too much of a good thing?]

US Air's Fine Print

"After reading about the US Air 100% mileage bonus offer in your newsletter my wife and I enrolled in the airline's mileage program and then attempted to buy miles before the program's March 31 deadline. We each received a short message from US Air saying we were ineligible to buy miles at this time (just below this message was another offer from US Air for us to take advantage of the 100% bonus program).

"So I looked up the customer service number and was connected to someone several thousand miles away who informed me that there is a restriction to the mileage program: you can't buy miles within your first 10 days as a member. Asking this person and then their supervisor why you aren't told about this when you read about the program on their website, or when you are enrolled, or even when you are turned down. All they could say was 'Sorry, there is this restriction.'

"Since we had enrolled with less than 10 days to go in their program, we found that some invisible strings attached to US Air's offer made it really a non-offer for us." [Duane C. - Chicago, IL]

Until next week...