"Up Front" Blog Entries

Following are some of Tim's recent blog posts:

• Latest InterContinental Promotion Is a Yawner
  More bonuses from a major hotel chain? Yawn. After 18 months of constant promotional activity by the hotel industry, such offers have become the rule rather than the exception.
• United Matches American's Elite Bonus
  With double elite-qualifying miles now on offer from American and United, 2009 is shaping up as the easiest year ever to sample the benefits of elite status.
• American Launches Elite-Oriented Promotions
  With business travel still in the doldrums, American is offering double elite-qualifying miles and bonuses to maintain the loyalty of its most profitable customers.
• Join Southwest's Loyalty Program ... Please!!!
  Southwest's sign-up bonus gets new members halfway to a free ticket, making this one of the most generous recruiting promotions ever.

The FrequentFlier Forum - Hot Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, vmorris828 seeks help with her Delta miles: "I thought I was able to purchase high end coach & use some of my miles to bring down the cost. Plus be upgraded to business. We are going to France to do a river cruise thru France. I will be happy with any help."

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, ncvet61 just added the following to the "British Airways taxes and fees" thread: "Three months ago, a one-way award ticket ATL - DME [Domodedovo, Moscow's main airport] was $13.40 on AA and $187 on BA, with the BA fuel surcharge being the main culprit."

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

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American Offers Bonus for Sharing Miles

Through September 30, American is offering a 15% bonus when AAdvantage members transfer 6,000 or more miles to another member's account. Both the giver and the recipient receive the bonus, incidentally.

Also, during the month of September, the usual 15,000-mile limit on the number of miles a member can receive annually has been upped to 25,000 miles.

Even with the bonus, the price of transferring miles -- at least 1 cent per mile, plus a $30 processing fee -- makes this a questionable proposition, except in small quantities.

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Earn Up to Quadruple Points at West Western

Between September 13 and November 22, Best Western Rewards members will earn double points for two qualified nights, triple points for three nights, and quadruple points for four nights. Stays must be charged to a MasterCard to qualify. Nights need not be consecutive to count toward the bonuses.

In addition, there's a 250-point bonus for booking stays on bestwestern.com, earnable twice for a maximum of 500 points.

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Marriott Discounts PointSaver Awards

PointSavers are Marriott's value-priced awards, discounted as much as 33% from normal award prices. And through January 15, 2010, they are being discounted an additional 10% to 15%.

The discount depends on the member's membership status: non-elites and Silver members receive the 10% discount; Gold and Platinum members get the full 15% discount. The discounts take the form of a rebate, awarded six to eight weeks after the promotion has ended. Registration is required.

This is a great way to get more value for your Rewards points. 'Nuf said.

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Priority Club Introduces 'Flights Anywhere' Awards

Taking its cue from Starwood's SPG Flights, Priority Club Rewards now allows members to redeem points for a combination of points and cash for flights on more than 400 airlines, anywhere they fly.

Because the tickets are revenue tickets, purchased by Priority Club on the member's behalf, there are no capacity controls or blackout dates. And the flights earn frequent flyer miles.

I made a few test reservations using the Flights Anywhere booking application, comparing the prices in points with the dollar prices shown for the same flights using the Expedia booking app. So, for example, a JetBlue ticket priced at $259 would require 77,000 Priority Club points. Points consistently were valued between $.0031 and $.0034, so around a third of a cent each.

You'll generally get significantly better value redeeming points for free room nights, so this is hardly a compelling award option. Still, it is an option, and more options are always better than the alternative.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Domestic Fares on Virgin America from $49 Each Way

Virgin America offers a new fall and winter sale from $49 one-way or $98 round-trip. A handful of cities are available including Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., and travel is valid from mid-September through mid-February.

Travel is valid from September 12 through February 10, 2010. Book tickets at least three days in advance and by September 22, 11:59 PM ET.

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2) Caribbean Sale Fares on American From $128

Flights to Aruba, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and more destinations are included in this new Caribbean offer from American Airlines. Fares start at $128 round-trip for travel through mid-November.

Travel is valid Mondays through Thursdays from September 2 through November 19. Book by September 15, 11:59 PM CT.

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Win a Trip for 2 to Paris

Enter Lucky Magazine's "Lucky Breaks" sweepstakes by November 2 for a chance to win a trip to Paris for two, including air, three nights at the Hotel de Crillon, spa treatments, and $1,000 spending money.

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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 Not Releasing Award Seats - 2 Views

"Not only is the comment by Bret T. [in last week's newsletter] correct, but he fails to mention that on International flights you have to buy an upgradable seat to even have the chance to upgrade. In effect, a lottery.

"If upgrades do not become available, you are not, of course, given a refund. A despicable system." [Steven S.]

"In response to Brett T., I also fly the SFO-SIN route and, though I can't speak to award tickets, I don't have an issue with upgrades. Upgrades these days, as you know, are issued based on status with you, as a 1K flyer, getting first preference 100 hours prior to flight. UA used to allow instant upgrades with miles but that practice ended a while ago. My big issue is that they recently decided that you have to buy an 'upgradable' fare for international flights. No matter what your status, if you buy the lowest web fare, you can't upgrade. Here's an example of what just recently happened to me on trying to upgrade SFO-MEL roundtrip. Economy web fare of $800 with no upgrade option. When I looked at cost of lowest upgradable fare, M or H, the fare was $3,200. I painfully sat, sore back and all, through 13 1/2 hours of SFO-SYD. This practice started sometime middle of last year.

"Look, the airline is broke and they are looking at every angle to cut costs, not give many benefits. We all have to be aware of this travel nightmare and deal with it accordingly. Video conference or try a Star Alliance airline. You'll still get the miles but much better service... even if you have to pay a bit more. And I think you can now use UA miles to upgrade on some star alliance partners with significantly less pain." [Jeff D.]

Kudos to United

"I recently flew from Philadelphia to L.A. on United with my daughter. About halfway into the flight a passenger in 1st class became ill and a request was made overhead for medical personnel.

"As a nurse, I responded to the 1st class cabin to assist a medical doctor in caring for this passenger which resulted in diverting the flight to Las Vegas for medical aide. I want to commend the pilot and the flight crew for their outstanding performance during this emergency. They were quick and responsive to the situation. They provided much needed assistance to the medical staff assisting in the situation while keeping the other passengers calm and informed. They kept the diversion to a minimum amount of time as well.

"During the time I was assisting the ill passenger, the flight attendants took care of my daughter and made sure she was comfortable. We were compensated with an upgrade to 1st class for the remainder of the flight and I was compensated by United for my assistance. The ill passenger recovered nicely and I booked United for my next trip to L.A.!" [Eva F.]

Delta Switcharoo

"I just returned from Lihue, HI with my wife and son using Delta FF miles. Three weeks before our departure from New York I was informed via email that my Delta flights had been changed. No big deal, I thought.

"Upon further investigation I learned that Delta no longer flew on my departure/return dates. When I questioned how this could occur three weeks prior to my much anticipated Hawaiian vacation I was told that they just weren't flying on those dates. When I asked how they could accommodate my family on the original dates, perhaps with seats on another airline, they said that they weren't authorized to do that (even after speaking with a supervisor) but offered to redeposit my FF miles with no penalty charge. I blurted out a flabbergasted laugh and told the agent that that was silly since I had been waiting all year for this vacation. Eventually I had to change flight days to one day prior for the outbound and return after I got a committment from Marriott that I could use my rewards certificate for the new dates with my prior to Jan. 15, 2009 certificate from the old Marriott rewards schedule. At first the Kauai Marriott Beach Club wanted to charge me $250 for arriving one night earlier, even tho they had availability, but later relented.

"Since I would now be flying my first two of three segments on NWA with less favorable routings someone must have taken pity on me and entered in the computer that I didn't have to pay for checked bags to Hawaii saving us (eventually) about $70. On the return we checked two bags for $30.

"And so the history of the airline frequent flyer programs progresses... picking up speed downhill." [Eric W.]

Until next week...