Thanks...
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On a personal note, my thanks to the many readers who responded to last issue's tribute to my father with condolences, expressions of support, and stories of their own. I wasn't able to respond individually to those notes (as I would normally do) because I've been in New York taking care of my father's affairs, and my laptop was in the shop.
I consider myself fortunate to have such a warm-hearted, supportive group of subscribers. And yes, as someone reminded me, for all the talk of travel and miles, it's probably good to be reminded that are other things in life.
M I L E S
"USA Today" Rates the Programs
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In case you missed it, Tuesday's "USA Today" carried yet another article rating the frequent flyer programs. Herewith their rankings, from best to worst:
>> Airline Programs
1. American AAdvantage
2. US Airways Dividend Miles
3. Continental OnePass
4. Northwest WorldPerks
5. United Mileage Plus
6. America West FlightFund
7. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
8. TWA Aviators
9. Delta SkyMiles
10.Southwest Rapid Rewards
>> Hotel Programs
1. Starwood Preferred Guest
2. Hilton HHonors
3. Bass Hotels Priority Club
4. Marriott Rewards
5. Hyatt Gold Passport
6. Best Western Gold Crown Club
Setting aside questions of the rankings' validity, does this mean you should rush out and join AAdvantage or Preferred Guest, because they're "best"? Absolutely not! For most travelers, the choice of frequent travel program has nothing whatever to do with these or any other ratings, reviews or awards. (See http://frequentflier.com/ffp-006.htm for more on choosing a program.) Which begs the question: Why bother rating the programs at all? Two reasons I can suggest:
1) Where all other considerations are equal, rankings could be used as a tie-breaker to choose between two otherwise equally appropriate programs.
2) Because airlines and hotels covet the bragging rights accruing to "first" and "best" rankings, such exercises act as an incentive for the program operators to continuously improve their FFPs.
In regard to the second point, and undermining it somewhat, the article included official responses from three of the lower-ranked carriers (Delta, Southwest, United). All claimed that their programs were far better than the rankings indicated. Perhaps. It was discouraging, though, from a consumer standpoint that these carriers were claiming on the one hand to be intensely customer focused, and on the other hand denying rather than embracing and learning from the criticism implied by their poor showings. It would have been refreshing to hear something along the lines of: "Yes, there appear to be some areas where we could improve our program. And, by God, that's exactly what we're going to do."
>> More <<
I spent 15 minutes searching the "USA Today" site for the above-cited article. If it is there, it's buried too deep for mere mortals to find.
Mileage Plus Awards Available Online
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United Airlines will allow Mileage Plus members to redeem award miles for domestic travel online, view real-time updates to their accounts and enroll in the Mileage Plus program through the United website.
The airline's frequent flyers can now use the Internet to check the availability of seats for award travel to all 50 states and Puerto Rico, calculate the number of miles required to fly to their chosen destination, and book their award reservations while they are online. The new capability applies to roundtrip domestic travel in all classes of service on United, United Shuttle and United Express flights.
Using the new "Award Travel Booking" option accessed through the site's Reservations menu, customers fill in departure and destination cities, dates and preferred times. The system will either display a list of flights with award seats or indicate that no qualifying flights are available. When a satisfactory itinerary is found, tickets can be purchased online, and miles are automatically deducted from the customer's account.
Other new enhancements include:
>> Real-time account updates
United's online Mileage Plus Account Summary now has a direct connection to the master Mileage Plus database, allowing customers to confirm any new mileage earned as soon as it is entered in their Mileage Plus accounts. Users can view up to two years' worth of data. They can also dictate the time periods to be displayed and sort entries by date, airline, hotel, car rental company or other partners such as credit cards or dining programs for rapid review.
>> Mileage Plus online enrollment
Customers now can use the Internet to enroll in United's frequent flyer program, have a member number assigned to them while they are online, and immediately access a summary of program features and rules. New members also have the option of simultaneously registering with the airline's United Connection on the Web online travel booking service.
>> Streamlined registration
A consolidated login procedure eliminates the need to register separately to access the Mileage Plus Account Summary and United Connection on the Web. With just one login, users now can reach both areas of the site, including the E-Fares program offering last-minute discount travel for selected destinations.
>> Change of address
Customers can now change or update their Mileage Plus address, phone and e-mail contact information online. Changes are automatically posted to the Mileage Plus system.
The service was developed and is serviced by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Internet Travel Network (ITN) and United Airlines' Information Services Division.
>> More <<
United online
AAdvantage Bonus Miles for Vacation Packages
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American Airlines Vacations is offering 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles per booking on packages featuring a number of hotels at the following destinations: Aruba, Barbados, Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico, Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Los Cabos, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta. A minimum stay is required to qualify for the bonus miles. The 10,000 AAdvantage bonus miles are also being offered on Disney Cruise Line seven-day land and sea vacations.
The Mexico and Caribbean bonus miles are available on packages booked between now and July 31 for travel to Mexico between Aug. 1 and Nov. 30, and for travel to the Caribbean between Aug. 1 and Nov. 15. The bonus miles are also available on Disney Cruise Line packages booked now through Oct. 31 for travel between Aug. 30 and Dec. 20.
Customers can choose from a wide variety of participating hotels, including Sam Lord's Castle in Barbados; the Hyatt Regency Cerromar Beach Resort & Casino and the Wyndham El San Juan Hotel & Casino in Puerto Rico; the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort; the Holiday Inn Aruba Beach Resort & Casino; the Westin Regina in Los Cabos; the Presidente Intercontinental in Guadalajara; the Camino Real in Puerto Vallarta; the Acapulco Princess in Acapulco; the Sheraton Cancun, and the Coral Princess in Cozumel.
According to the company, American Airlines Vacations is the largest airline-owned tour operator in the United States, and offers over 300 tour packages to more than 145 destinations.
Ramada Launches New Program
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Ramada this week introduced its new frequent stay program, Club Ramada.
The program is being launched as the chain's $3.5 million summer promotional strategy. Major features of Club Ramada include a point redemption level of 12,500 for a free hotel stay no blackout dates and merchandise gift certificates from top-name retailers such as Eddie Bauer, K * B Toys, Warner Brothers Studio Stores and Barnes & Noble.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, everyone joining Club Ramada will automatically receive 5,000 bonus points. In addition, families will receive the "Animush" children's book featuring space creatures from the planet Adamar as well as $200 worth of coupons from Entertainment Publications.
Club Ramada is a fully automated guest frequency program provided free of charge to Ramada guests. Club Ramada has no blackout dates and members receive 10 points for every dollar spent at a Ramada property for room charges plus any charges that appear on the guest's room folio such as telephone calls, gift shop purchases, restaurant meals and even taxes. Points can be redeemed for a variety of awards including free stays at Ramada properties, clothing, toys, free car rentals and airline mileage vouchers.
Ramada has earmarked approximately $3.5 million for network TV, cable, USA Today, People Magazine and on-line advertising for its Club Ramada summer promotion. Impax Marketing Group, Philadelphia, PA, created and developed the Club Ramada promotion. Ramada has also created a website, ClubRamada.com, with special promotions, bonuses and offers.
Ramada Franchise Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation, is a mid- to upper-mid-market chain of over 1,000 Ramada Limited, Inn and Plaza Hotel properties throughout the United States.
>> More <<
Ramada's website
Triple AAdvantage Miles for Hilton Stays
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Stay at Hilton, pay with Diners, earn triple AAdvantage miles...
Between June 1 and August 31, Hilton HHonors members who Double Dip by requesting both HHonors points and AAdvantage miles for their business-rate stay and charge their stays on their Diners Club Card will receive triple American AAdvantage miles.
The offer is available to U.S. residents for Double Dip stays at any of more than 450 participating Hilton and Conrad International hotels worldwide. (Double Dipping allows members to earn HHonors points and airline miles for each business-rate stay.)
>> More <<
Hilton online
Midwest Express Online Auction
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As part of its 15th anniversary celebration (see story below), Midwest Express is holding an online mileage auction for members of the carrier's Frequent Flyer program.
Members can bid on 15 prize packages -- one for each year of Midwest's operations -- ranging from a Swissair vacation for two people to a pair of roundtrip tickets on Midwest Express every month for a year. All mileage from the winning bids will be donated to the Midwest Express Miracle Miles program, which supports non-profit organizations assisting sick, disabled and terminally ill individuals and their families. Bids will be accepted from June 4 through noon central time on June 11, 1999.
>> More <<
To take an online tour of the auction items, visit Midwest's site.
S T E A L S & D E A L S
Northwest's WorldVacations
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As Northwest correctly points out, their WorldVacations package rates to Asia this spring and summer are lower than rates to many U.S. domestic vacation destinations.
Roundtrip air and five nights' hotel in Bangkok is as low as $669 from the West Coast, and $717 from cities such as Atlanta, Detroit, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Roundtrip air and three nights' hotel in Singapore is from $723. A three-night package to Beijing is $54 more. Two-city packages (i.e. three nights in Singapore and five in Bangkok) are priced from $988 for air and eight nights.
Rates are per person, based on double occupancy, for departures through June 30. Other travel dates and days are available at slightly higher prices. WorldVacations also offers packages to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
WorldVacations Asia air and hotel packages include airport welcome by English-speaking destination representative, roundtrip transfers between the airport and hotel via motorcoach with an English-speaking guide, half-day city sightseeing tour, hotel taxes and service charges, and 2,000 WorldVacations WorldPerks Bonus Miles in addition to actual miles flown. Bangkok packages also include a full American breakfast daily.
>> More <<
To book, call your travel agent or WorldVacations at 800-800-1504. For more information, visit WorldVacations online.
T R A V E L W I S E
Staying Healthy in the Sky
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With more people traveling and airlines putting more people in each plane, your personal comfort suffers. But how is your health impacted? This month we'll take a look at potential health risks, including: decreased cabin air pressure, and sitting long periods of time for that never ending flight.
Although pressurized, jet liners do not maintain the same pressures for passengers as those experienced on the ground. As a general rule, you should be able to withstand a cabin altitude of approximately 10,000 feet. Decreased cabin air pressure can cause problems for those with severe coronary artery disease, and lung disease. The decreased cabin air pressure makes more work for your body: your heart has to pump more blood faster and you have to breath faster and harder than normal just to maintain your "normal" baseline. Add this to the sometimes stressful rigors of traveling (waiting in long lines, fighting for overhead space, even fighting for your seat), and one could have problems.
Now that you've settled into that center seat in a five across section for the movie, the night and a thirteen hour flight, no need to worry... right? There are four basic things that you can do to help prevent swelling and, much worse, blood clots. Although the two people flanking you may not be happy about it, you need to get up and take a walk every hour or two. Even while seated, work through different muscle groups in your body flexing your muscles, especially in your legs and feet. Just as when walking, this helps blood to continue to flow and helps to prevent swelling and clots. A very important thing to do if you are prone to swelling or clots is to wear support stockings: again they compress your legs to help prevent swelling and clots. Lastly, avoid alcohol. While it may make you walk to the bathroom (a good thing), it also promotes dehydration which could increase your risk for a clot (a bad thing).
In the future, I would like to have a Question & Answer format for TravelWise, interspersed with the regular editions. So, if you have questions related to travel and health, please send them to me at mailto:burkey@cwix.com
That's it for this month. Until next, remember: TravelWise!
Brent W. Burkey, Medical Student
MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
For additional travel health resources, visit the International Health and Travel Medicine website.
T R A V E L O N L I N E
United Flight Info on Palm Pilot
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United Airlines will deliver United flight status information to 3Com's new Palm VII connected organizer, enabling users to retrieve the most up-to-date arrival and departure information on current-day United flights via a direct connection to United's online reservations system.
(For technophobes and Luddites, the Palm VII is like previous generations of the Palm Pilot, with the notable addition of wireless Internet access.)
I N D U S T R Y N E W S
Airline Ratings (continued)
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In the last issue of The Crier, I briefly mentioned the airline ratings in June's "Consumer Reports." Having reread the article, I find it merits further comment...
* Looking at CR's value matrix, there is a striking disconnect between the airlines' success at serving their customers, on the one hand, versus their success in serving their shareholders on the other. Or, put another way, their profitability doesn't correlate with their customer focus. Which suggests that the forces of free-market capitalism which we depend upon to implicitly "discipline" companies which underserve the public just aren't working the way they should.
* Looking at the survey methodology, the question of expectations arises. Value reflects the relationship between ticket price (quantifiable) and customer satisfaction (largely qualitative). And satisfaction has everything to do with expectations. As an industry colleague recently pointed out, given identical fares, service, aircraft, meals, on-time performance, etc., passengers are likely to be more satisfied with Southwest than with American because Southwest doesn't promise to deliver "something special in the air." If nothing else, this amounts to a warning to airline ad managers: Don't position yourself as the Orient Express if your real product more closely resembles a cattle car.
More generally, my sense is that this will be seen in retrospect as a time of significant change (regulatory, operational, etc.) in civil aviation, comparable to the early 80's, when deregulation was working itself through the industry. And the impetus for these changes will be the widespread dissatisfaction reflected in the CR study.
Whatever the reality, the perception is that the business of air travel has become largely disconnected from consumers. And, what makes it almost certain that their dissatisfaction will translate into real changes, legislators (who as rule are themselves frequent flyers) are disaffected as well.
Recommendations? Just a general one: that consumers stay informed and involved, so that the next generation of civil aviation reflects our needs, and not just the needs of business or government, neither of which should be trusted to act in our best interests.
United Modifies Baggage Templates
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United Airlines will modify the dimensions of templates used to screen carry-on baggage to accommodate most garment bags.
The benefit to customers, according to United, is that garment bags can be placed flat on the belt at security checkpoints and pass through the templates without having to be "rolled" or compressed.
United reports that since introducing the stainless steel templates at 23 airports beginning last November, delays attributed to cabin checked bags have gone down 72 percent.
The templates were, and are, controversial. But we'll say it again: United gets a zillion FrequentFlier.com points for at least making a good-faith effort to address a real and growing problem.
United said the new templates will be introduced at 12 security checkpoints at O'Hare International Airport this week. They will be deployed at other locations led by United's hubs at Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles in the next month.
Midwest Express Turns 15
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On June 11, Midwest Express Airlines will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the day it first took to the skies in 1984. The airline launched service with two aircraft flying to four cities, and together with its Astral Aviation subsidiary now operates 45 aircraft serving 45 destinations.
Among the anniversary events planned by Milwaukee-based Midwest Express:
o Cookie receptions on June 11. Midwest Express senior leaders and managers will thank passengers for their support by distributing the airline's signature chocolate chip cookies at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport from 7 to 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 2 to 4 p.m. The treat will also be served at airports in all Midwest Express destination cities, including Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, Missouri.
o Free inflight data access and Bloomberg financial calls on June 11 for passengers on aircraft equipped with GTE phones.
o Co-sponsoring the building of a home for Milwaukee's Habitat for Humanity -- also celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Employee volunteers will work side by side with framing crews during House Raising Week (June 21 through June 25), and help finish the house throughout the summer.
o Hosting the fifth anniversary Kids' Day event at Riversplash! on June 6 at Milwaukee's Pere Marquette Park, site of the Midwest Express Landing -- the airline's 10th anniversary gift to the city.
Milwaukee-based Midwest Express is one of only a few airlines remaining in business that started service in the immediate post-airline deregulation period. The airline industry experienced a significant downturn between 1990 and 1994, recording a collective net loss of $13 billion. During that time, Midwest Express was one of only two U.S. jet carriers consistently showing a profit. 1998 was Midwest Express' 12th consecutive profitable year.
Midwest Express Airlines features primarily nonstop service to major destinations throughout the United States and Toronto from Milwaukee; Omaha, Neb.; and Kansas City, Mo. Astral Aviation, Inc. -- its wholly owned subsidiary -- operates Skyway Airlines, The Midwest Express Connection, which offers connections to Midwest Express jet service and point-to-point service between select markets. Together, the airlines fly to 45 cities.
>> More <<
Midwest Express
R E A D E R R A N T S & R A V E S
Reader Feedback: Traveling with Children
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[snip]
Now, on to a "Rant and Rave"...
As president of a small software company, I often need to fly. This is no different than my younger days as a "road warrior", flying 100,000+ miles a year, the only difference is that I now have two young babies.
Let me "rant and rave" about buying 4 tickets for each flight instead of one (2 kids and a nanny), only to have the gate agent and/or flight attendant grunt-"what about the kids?". I smile and say that they are ticketed, not lap babies, and watch their face. I don't see the look of "how nice, 4 paying passengers". What I see is-get on the plane and sit down! American Airlines has been a nightmare for me when I travel with kids.
As a seasoned traveler the kids had everything to keep them busy, snacks, etc. The flights were uneventful. However, it never ceases to amaze me how differently I am treated when I'm in a business suit as compared to machine washable clothing with children in tow.
Customer service agents for the airlines have a unique opportunity to positively influence my airline selection. By creating some type of atmosphere that actually encourages customer service from the time we book our ticket to the moment we pick up our luggage, the airlines would have multiple opportunities to "sell" me on my airline selection. Alas, this is not the case.
Heck, a smile would make all the difference some days!
J.P.
Until next week...
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