"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blog posts:

• Industry forecast is bleak, bankruptcies likely
  Experts warn "there will be blood."
• The top five award destinations for June
  Your five best bets for award travel this month.
• 41 million travelers just say "No" to flying
  New study puts air travelers' frustration in perspective.
• American's reputation nosedives as fees rise
  The world's largest airline takes a pie in the face over new policy.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, maynard7 poses a question that's a sure sign of our times: "I am tempted to do most of my flying on Star Alliance, but I'm worried about the financial health of United and US Air. Would it make sense to join a foreign member of Star Alliance, such as Thai, and collect all my miles there? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to doing it this way?"

And in the "Hotel Programs" Forum, ronald reports on a problem MyPoints members are facing when trying to redeem for Hilton HHonors points: "(H)ave been informed from MyPoints customer service that MyPoints has removed Hilton HHonors from their list of rewards redemptions..."

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

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Alaska Discounts Summer Award Travel

Between June 1 and August 31, members of Alaska's Mileage Plan program can save 5,000 miles off the regular 20,000-mile round-trip price of a saver award flight on Horizon Air between Seattle and Kelowna or Prince George, or between Portland and Vancouver.

Compared with previous Alaska award discounts, this is pretty limited in scope. But it's better than no discount at all.

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10K American Miles for New Zealand Flights

AAdvantage members who book coach flights on Qantas to Auckland in V, S, or G will earn 10,000 bonus miles.

To earn the bonus, flights must be booked by June 30, 2008, for travel between now and March 22, 2009. If flights are in conjunction with a "Waltzing Matilda" New Zealand tour with Goway Travel, free travel insurance is also included.

Registration is required.

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Double Northwest Miles to Dusseldorf

Through July 31, WorldPerks members will earn double miles for round-trip Northwest flights between Detroit and Dusseldorf, Germany.

Registration is required, by July 24.

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Earn More Starwood Points at Aloft Hotels

Between June 1 and December 31, Starwood Preferred Guest members will earn quadruple points for stays at Aloft hotels, Starwood's eighth and newest brand.

What's Aloft all about? According to the website, it's "a bright new destination sensation. with loft-inspired design and free-flowing energy, you can celebrate your style in a no-walls, no-limits space." Whatever that means. There will be 18 open for business by the end of this year, and 35 more in 2009.

Registration is required to earn the extra points.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti Air Pass from $999

Air Tahiti Nui and TravelScene are teaming up to offer a three-country air pass. The pass includes flights to Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti, and starts at $999 round-trip from Los Angeles and $1,098 round-trip from New York.

The pass starts at $999, not including taxes and fees, for travel from Los Angeles when you book a six-night stay at Starwood hotels and resorts in the South Pacific, or $1,098 from New York. Without the hotel stays, the pass costs $1,099 from Los Angeles, or $1,198 from New York departures. Book tickets by June 30, for travel through October 31. The pass requires a seven-day minimum stay, and the maximum stay is 60 days.

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2) Sale Fares on Southwest from $40 Each Way

Southwest is offering a domestic sale available for booking through Thursday. Fares start at $40 one-way and $80 round-trip, and Las Vegas, Houston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., are included.

Travel is valid from June 17 through October 30. Book by June 5, 11:59 PM CT.

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Win a Trip for 2 to New York City

Enter the Conde Nast "Bite of the Big Apple Foodie Tour" sweepstakes by July 27 for a chance to win a trip for two to New York, including air, two nights' hotel, and $2500 to cover dining. Other prizes include gift baskets and cookbooks.

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[Visit FrequentFlier.com for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"Benjamin Franklin is credited with the opinion that the only certainty is death and taxes. Today, in tandem with your commentary, we have American Airlines assuring the former, and perhaps heading for the latter.

"Likewise, most of the effusive froth for Southwest would disappear in a hot flat second if/when their economics change. In the meantime, enjoy their advantage over American and most other carriers.

"One does have to wonder from where the wizards come who run most of these companies and dream up schemes guaranteed to bring more grief than profit. Call it the 'White House effect,' perhaps?" [Ed N.]

"My experiences with on-line bookings have been excellent. There are those exceptions where I have had to alter my plans & of course it cost me money, but it wasn't the airline's fault. I won't name the airline that was involved here because it was I who stepped out of bounds. I will say this much, Delta Airlines has a 24 hour cancellation policy on those 'non refundable' purchases so that way if you find out you screwed up or your plans change within that 24 hour period, you can make the changes without any penalty.

"Yes, I have had to do that on a few occasions as well & they more than gracious to oblige too. My advice to anyone who uses the cheaper non-refundable e-specials & can use Delta, by all means do so, because as far as I know they are the only Airlines that I know who offer this 24 hour policy (of the major airlines I have used of late). Unfortunately, because of the city & airport I have to fly out of Delta only is cheapest about 1/4 of the time so I can't use them all the time.

"Oh by the way, the airport that services our area seldom has decent rates to anywhere decent. You have to practically pay first class price for coach to get anywhere. The rest of you should be thankful!" [Steve H. - Huntsville, AL]

"When I boarded on Monday May 19th at O'Hare for my flight to Newark, NJ I sat down in the seat and the tray table mounted to the back of my seat 23D had the retainer clip break. The tray table would not stay up and the flight attendants had to reseat all of the three people in the row behind me. As we flew I noticed the seat was uncomfortable and the vertical rails on the seat back dug into my shoulder blades and when we landed in turbulence I kept getting jabbed. After we landed I got behind the seat and pushed against the back and found out that the support that goes between the vertical seat back rails was not there, only the cloth upholstery. I showed this defect to the flight attendant and compared it to other seats with the support, he was baffled and had no comment, even when I asked him to report it.

"Having a broken defective seat in service that can injure a passenger is inexcusable, reckless, and stupid. The mechanic or supervisor who did not tag and disable this seat should be disciplined to say the least as should Continental Airlines." [Steve S., a frequent flyer]

"We recently purchased tickets on JetBlue for travel in November, 2008. Our confirmation and other information from their website indicated that we would be entitled to check 2 suitcases at 50 pounds each. We have now heard that as of June 1st they intend to change their policy and charge $20 for the second checked bag. There was no information to this effect on their website when we made our purchase.

"This is the second time that JetBlue has done this to us - the last time was when they used to allow 3 checked bags at 70 pounds each and again, changed their policy AFTER we purchased our tickets.

"Is this legal? We bought our tickets expecting to be able to check 2 bags for free. Do we have any recourse?" [Elaine C.]

Until next week...