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.
Devaluation of Delta Miles
"Dick M. writes in [last week's] 'Rants & Raves' that Delta's frequent flyer miles are worth much less. Some two and a half years ago I flew Atlanta to Manchester U.K. non-stop business class for 90,000 points. And now it's 200,000.
"My points have devalued by more than half. Is it not the same as saying to someone 'OK, I know I owe you $200 but I'm only going to pay you $90 and there is nothing you can do about it because it's legal'?" [TL]
Delta - 'Frequent Flyer Program a Joke'
"We normally fly to Asia in business class using miles on Delta and/or their partners. The least we've ever had to pay for these tickets was 90,000 miles -- the most was 120,000. Our last trip was in January of this year on tickets that were 120,000 miles each.
"When I tried to get seats for another trip this year, I tried for 7 consecutive months (through both high and low seasons) and could find nothing for less than 240,000 miles. We are very flexible and could travel virtually any time.
"We are so disgusted that Delta would double the mileage required for the same flights that we took less than 6 months ago. We both have elite status and each of us has 600,000 miles in our Delta accounts.
"Delta, you just lost two very good customers." [Wendy]
Booking Hotels on Hotwire
"It is fitting (and I didn't notice at first when diving into the article) that
Hotwire is advertising on your page. Glad to see it!
"In this instance, the ad was for rental cars. However, since using them nearly exclusively for hotel bookings in the U. S. and the U. K. in the past few years, I've all-but-dropped any branded hotel award programs. With Hotwire, the money savings are uniformly generous at any rating level. Worth far more to me than accumulating "free" nights. And, to good customers, if you don't like the star-rating assigned to the brand they pick for you within a star category, they will bend the rule and let you cancel and rebook with them (so long as you don't abuse the privilege). (The Crowne Plaza at Heathrow is a specific example. Rated at 4-stars for that one location, but listed at 3.5 in general category -- and it's awful.)
"I have also had hotel vendors adjust the charge (i. e., not put it through and they notify Hotwire) if you have to cancel, say, due to weather. No quibble from anyone.
"Bear in mind, I don't stay at the very high end (e. g., Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons) that, so far as I know, aren't offered on Hotwire.
"But, I do stay often at Holiday Inn -- e.g., in the U. K. where they are really hotels as you know -- and they often honor the Priority Club card for in-house amenities (free buffet and cocktails at Ronkonkoma, Long Island) even on discounted bookings through Hotwire." [Ed N.]
Delta Bait-and-Switch?
"Is it bait and switch?
"I tried using my Delta SkyMiles Companion Flies for $99 certificate and researched the availability and timetable for the city pair I wanted. I applied the fare filter to the round-trip I wanted to take and made my selections. I called to redeem and was told the flight combination I selected was not available in the fare class. The representative said the web site was incorrect and his computer system had the correct information." [MKP]
Sweepstakes Restricted to U.S. Residents
"I've mentioned this to you before (a year or so ago) but it still annoys me that virtually all the contests you have in the Crier are open only to legal residents of the U.S. and not Canada. This bothers me because so many of the products and services the sponsors offer are available to Canadian residents. Take for instance the Marriott contest on right now. There are many Marriott label hotels up here and when I travel in the US, they are my first choice for accommodations. Yet, like most others, their contest is open only to U.S. people.
"Anyway, I do realize there is not a whole lot the Crier can do about it so consider this to be must me venting a little." [Don W. - Calgary, Canada]
Northwest Lifetime Elite Status Matched by Delta?
"As an NWA Elite with almost 2 million lifetime miles I am interested in the new combined NWA and Delta program. Will I now get a lifetime Elite membership with Delta because of my lifetime NWA mileage?
"The correspondence keeps saying that both program rules will be honored but hasn't actually been specific about this one." [Deborah W.]
[FrequentFlier.com replies - Sorry, I don't know the answer to this one, and it's too late to call Delta on your behalf. My suggestion for this and related questions: call SkyMiles at 1-800-323-2323. The airlines have done a good job of training us consumers to rely solely on their websites for program information, bookings, etc. Sometimes it's best to just pick up the phone.]
Until next week...
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