Milestone: American Airlines' 10th Year Online

American's online presence has reached the decade mark.

American rolled out its first website in 1995 as AmericanAir.com. It was little more than a repository of schedules and other information. The site was re-launched in 1998 as AA.com, and has since evolved, as American's press release claims, "into the one place where customers can manage all aspects of their travel online..."

We covered the first days of AA.com in the June 28, 1998 issue of the Crier thusly:

Monday, June 22, was launch day for American Airlines' new website, AA.com. Full page ads in major media proclaimed AA.com "The most popular airline site on the Web!" That may be a bit of an overstatement on its first day online, especially as the site had only the following to say for itself when I visited:

"We are currently in the process of upgrading AA.com and have temporarily taken the site offline. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

By Thursday things had improved, but only somewhat. The site was accessible, but slow-loading and buggy. (Example: when I tried to view my AAdvantage miles, I was advised that my log-in timed out, in spite of the fact that I'd just logged in.)

Given American's history of leadership in both technology and marketing, I fully expect their new site to emerge a winner. In the meantime, though, American would do well to follow the venerable service industry rule: Underpromise, but overdeliver.

I for one would be a lot more tolerant of their missteps if the company weren't so relentlessly self-promoting.

Speaking of historical landmarks, that was the very first issue of the FrequentFlier Crier. (All 371 issues of the newsletter, including this one, are posted on the website.)

This Week's Travel Industry Newsbites

Last week, the oneworld alliance announced that Royal Jordanian Airlines will join the group, probably toward the end of 2006. It will be the first carrier from the Middle East to join one of the three big airline alliances.

Even bigger news from oneworld broke yesterday: Japan Airlines has requested membership in the group. JAL is the largest airline in Asia, and the largest carrier not yet affiliated with one of the three main alliances. There's no word yet on when JAL's membership might take effect.

As part of their alliance participation, both members-to-be will become earning and award partners in the mileage programs of all other oneworld airlines (Aer Lingus, American, British Air, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LAN, Qantas).

We expect to have news in next week's Crier regarding new additions to the Star Alliance.

FrequentFlier Forum Topics

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

In the "Airline Programs" Forum, nanodoc wonders as follows: "Is it possible to transfer one's ff miles to other airlines? I know United says no, but I simply don't believe them. After all, they aren't going to go out of their way to say its possible and lose dinero!"

Also in the "Airline Programs" Forum, BWH is on the verge of earning elite status with Northwest. Looking to squeeze every possible upgrade from his newly elevated status, he wants to be sure that elite perks kick in immediately. "I'll hit the 25K mark on an outbound to LAS. Three days later I return. Will the system know in that short of a time and award me elite upgrade (if any are available)? I've taken this red-eye quite a bit and about 1/2 the time there are empty seats in 1st."

And much more. Questions, answers? Post them to the Forum!

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Big American Bonuses for Denver, West Coast Flights

Through Feb. 15, 2006, AAdvantage members can earn up to 36,000 bonus miles by flying eight roundtrips to/from Denver or to/from any American destination in California, Oregon or Washington.

Members earn 1,000 bonus miles for the first trip, 2,000 for the second, and so on up to 8,000 for the eighth trip and a total of 36,000 bonus miles.

Registration is required. Promotion code for the Denver bonus is AADEN; for the West Coast bonus, it's AAWCB.

(The Denver promotion was launched shortly after Southwest announced that it was returning to Denver after 20 years. Southwest's announcement also prompted Denver-based Frontier to add flights to its schedule, apparently in anticipation of Southwest's reentry into the market. Hurray for the "Southwest effect.")

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Earn Double DL SkyMiles or SkyPoints for AmEx Charges

Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, Delta SkyMiles and SkyPoints American Express cardholders can earn double miles or points on eligible purchases made with the cards.

There's a limit of 10,000 bonus miles or points per member, and miles and points which would be doubled anyway, under the Amex "Always Double Miles" feature, are exempt.

To receive the bonuses, cardholders must register prior to making purchases.

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Continental Offers Bonus for India Flights

Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, OnePass members can earn the following bonuses for Continental's new Newark-Delhi flights:

• 5,000 bonus miles for roundtrips in BusinessFirst (J, D or Z class of service)
• 2,500 bonus miles for roundtrips in unrestricted coach (Y, H, K, or N)
• 1,000 bonus miles for roundtrips in discounted coach (B, O, V, U, Q, I, S, W, T, X or L)

Registration is required.

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Double Delta Miles + Upgrade at Alamo

Through Dec. 31, SkyMiles members who reserve a compact through intermediate car for 3 - 14 days at participating Alamo location in the U.S. or Canada will earn double miles (100 miles a day instead of the usual 50) and receive an upgrade.

To receive the bonus, request Contract ID Number: 7011640 and Coupon Code: U08A at time of reservation.

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Marriott Adds Orient-Express Awards

Last week it was Abercrombie & Kent. This week's new addition to the Marriott Rewards award catalog: Orient-Express hotels.

Marriott Rewards members can now redeem their points for stays at Orient-Express hotels. Orient-Express hotel awards range from 85,000 points for a night at a beach bungalow at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa to 700,000 points for a four-day/three-night safari in the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

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Enrollment Bonus from Northwest

Between Oct. 14 and Dec. 31, new WorldPerks members can earn up to 5,000 bonus miles as follows:

• Earn 1,000 bonus miles for enrolling in WorldPerks on nwa.com
• Earn 3,000 bonus miles for completing one roundtrip flight within four months of enrolling
• Earn 1,000 bonus miles for subscribing to NWA E-mail for two consecutive months

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Thrifty Extends Double Blue Chip Credits

Thrifty Car Rental has extended its double credit promotion for Blue Chip Rewards members through Dec. 15.

Blue Chip Reward members are awarded one free day for every 16 credits earned. Ordinarily, members earn one credit for each rental day based on a 24-hour rental day starting at the time of rental. During the promotional period, they will earn two credits for each rental day booked through thrifty.com.

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Double United Miles for Warm Weather Destinations

Through Dec. 8, Mileage Plus members will earn double miles for roundtrip flights between the U.S. and the following: Aruba; Cozumel, Mexico; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Cancun, Mexico; Los Cabos, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Guatemala City, Guatemala and San Jose, Costa Rica.

Registration is required.

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Deal Alert from SmarterTravel.com

1) Europe Sale Fares on Icelandair from $376

Icelandair's fall sale fares start at $376 roundtrip. Destinations include London, Paris, and Reykjavik.

Departures are valid from Oct. 27 through Dec. 15. Book tickets by Oct. 31. Fares require a Saturday-night stay, and the maximum stay is 30 days.

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2) $39 Each Way on Southwest

Southwest's latest systemwide sale fares are available for booking through Oct. 31. Prices start at $39 one-way, and destinations include Austin, Los Angeles, and Orlando.

Travel is valid from Nov. 4, 2005, through Feb. 3, 2006. Book tickets online at least 14 days in advance.

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Win 10 Grand in Travel from American

Enter American Airlines' "10 Grand Take Off" sweepstakes by Nov. 18 for a chance to win an AAirpass membership redeemable for $10,000 worth of travel.

Ten other winners will each receive $1,000 worth of American Airlines Gift Cards, also redeemable for travel.

Enter by booking a flight at AA.com or by registering online, no purchase required.

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[Visit http://frequentflier.com/sweeps.htm for more travel sweepstakes.]

Feedback from the Frontlines of Travel

"Sorry if this has already been covered, but I'm at a loss as to how to deal with Delta now that they are in bankruptcy.

"During my years as a business flyer, I accumulated more than a million miles, half of which I haven't used. Are they safe? [Jamie]

[FrequentFlier.com responds - They are certainly safe in the short term. And they probably won't disappear in the long term, either.

But the risk is not confined to losing the miles to an airline's outright liquidation, which is unlikely. Over the long haul, miles have lost value due to increased award levels, stringent capacity controls on awards, new fees, and the like. There's considerable risk that the value of miles will continue to decline.

The best way to hedge against that loss in value is to use your miles sooner rather than later.]

"Quick note regarding AA and probability of bankruptcy. My guess is that there won't be a filing in the next year. I also think that AA's $150M loss is more encouraging than anything else. The loss would have been less than $100M without special items, and had AA not contributed over $90M to union pension funds during the quarter, they would have eeked out a small profit (excluding special items). With $4B in the bank, even if AA experiences a $800M loss over the next six months, that doesn't put them at risk of a bankruptcy in the spring. Still a lot of unknowns out there, but looks encouraging to me.

"What I might be concerned about are fuel prices and Southwest's declining fuel hedges. As those unwind over the next few years, Southwest will have no choice but to raise prices. And as that happens, I'd guess that prices across the board will increase. It will be interesting to see if the mileage thresholds required for free flights will be "tweaked" at that time.

"As prices increase and the internal cost of miles gets adjusted, CFOs may feel the need to do something to adjust down their balance sheet liabilities for all the miles members have sitting in their accounts." [Glenn]

Until next week...