"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blog posts:

• Hilton Offers Free Nights, but Not So Fast ...
  Hilton's new promotion promises a free night after four stays or 10 nights. Free nights are nice, but only certified road warriors are likely to earn them.
• US Airways Cuts Price to Transfer Frequent Flyer Miles
  Got US Airways frequent flyer miles? Wanna give them to someone else? Between April 1 and May 31, Dividend Miles members can earn a 100 percent bonus when transferring miles to someone else's account.
• Continental Offer Is More Complicated Than Generous
  Continental's new Mileathon promotion offers tiny bonuses for many transactions. For most travelers, it just doesn't add up.
• Virgin America Links to V Australia, Virgin Blue
  With the new tie-up with V Australia and Virgin Blue, members of Virgin America's mileage program can earn points for flights to Australia and other Asia-Pacific destinations.

The FrequentFlier Forum - Hot Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, jsf, who's Platinum elite with Continental, reports as follows:

"This is odd, and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this happen...

"I'm browsing for reward travel in first/business on continental.com, to go from NYC to Paris, and I've got my outbound locked down. On the little calendar image, plenty of days for October are showing up green (meaning first/business is available), though by far most show yellow (only coach). On one click, suddenly every single green highlight turns yellow, and now we can't find a single return flight in first/business for the entire month of October. These were literally there, I'd clicked on one of them to hold, but it wouldn't allow a booking.

"What's going on? Has anyone seen this before? Does Continental cache these things, and then once a day or so refresh the calendar? It seems unlikely to me that multiple people simultaneously booked every single first/business seat available..."

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

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ANA Doubles the Miles

Between April 1 and May 31, members of All Nippon Airways' Mileage Club can earn double miles when flying on ANA, both internationally and within Japan.

Most mileage-eligible fares qualify for the bonus, but there are exceptions, so be sure to confirm when booking travel.

Registration is required.

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United Discounts Domestic Awards

Through April 12, Mileage Plus members can book Saver coach award flights within the continental U.S. and between the U.S. and Canada for 10% fewer miles.

So, with the discount, the price of a round-trip award ticket would be 22,500 instead of the 25,000 miles normally required; and a one-way would be reduced from 12,500 to 11,250 miles.

Travel at the discounted rates must be booked on united.com, and travel must be completed by May 26.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) 1-Cent Airfare Sale: U.S., Caribbean Flights on Spirit

Yep, you read the headline right: Fly anywhere for a penny! Spirit's new "Penny Plus" fares start at just one cent each way, not including fuel, taxes, and fees. Sure, it's a bit of a gimmick -- those fees add up and make the final price a little less eye-popping -- but the final cost is still the cheapest around on every route.

No booking deadline listed. Only available to members of the airline's fare club. Travel is available from summer through winter.

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2) $798 Alitalia Europe Sale

Grab a last-minute ticket to Europe with Alitalia's latest sale. Destinations include Budapest, Nice, and Prague, as well as numerous cities in Italy, such as Pisa, Rome, and Venice. Fares start at $798 round-trip, with departures available from Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Miami.

Travel through mid-May, but book fares as soon as you see a price you like; no booking deadline is listed, so these fares may come down at any time.

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Win a Trip for 2 to Bora Bora

Enter TheRealTahiti.com's "The Real Tahiti" sweepstakes by June 1 for a chance to win a five-night stay in an overwater bungalow at Le Maitai Polynesia Resort Bora Bora, including air from Los Angeles to Papeete, ferry to Bora Bora, and activities.

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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.

United Upgrades

"I have been reading all of the responses to my original email regarding UAL's complimentary upgrades policy. I want to point out to one specific responder that while United's website link says 500 mile upgrades will be valid through the end of 2010, the very next section says that they are not valid on any flights after the complimentary upgrades go into effect. As promised, on the day the policy went into effect, all 500 mile upgrades were deleted from my account.

"My Rant N Rave was to alert readers that their upgrades, and their value, would disappear. I called Customer Service and received travel certificates equal to the value of my 500 mile upgrades. I congratulate those who did call and fight for their upgrade(s) value." [Erik P.]

Award Travel Using United Miles

"I want to congratulate you on your great e newsletter. I really enjoy reading it and learn a lot!

"Fortunately, I am one of the few who has had very good experiences with getting mileage award tickets with United Airlines and their international partners. The secret is saving up enough miles to fly first class and then booking my one great vacation a year in advance.

"I have so much fun flying first class that I barely want to get off the plane... but I'm willing to so that I can hang around in the 1st class lounges while transitioning to my final destination! Inevitably, we always seem to get booked on Lufthansa since all of our trips have been to Europe... just love their caviar!!!" [Katherine W.]

Bag It!

"With their new bag-fee plan, flying Spirit Airlines will become like trying to put on a pair of pants in the dark that are inside-out: 'Where's the seat?'

"Using one Spirit 'reason' for their ham-handed announcement (and if a goal is to move people on and off the plane faster), as written to you before if a bag fee must be assessed, put it on carry-on bags other than personal items (purse/laptop/baby needs/child car seats) and let at least one checked bag go free.

"But, the suspicion is that Spirit really has little of it -- like 'unlimited upgrades' for no seats with that 'Mixed-Message' legacy carrier.

"To even guarantee a seat, next likely will be 'brass elite' status -- still for an extra fee, of course." [Ed N.]

Credit cards With No Foreign Transaction Fees

"Lufthansa's Miles & More MasterCard does not impose a foreign transaction fee, since it is not a U.S. airline. We use it when traveling outside the U.S.A." [Dianne]

Until next week...