Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for February 2005.

Customer Influence

by Gary Leff

hertz
Feb 23 2005

Keith Alexander, whose Washington Post columns I generally quite like, this week reviews the recent history of customer activism and their successes in changing the policies of travel providers. Last week, numerous complaints prompted Hertz to back off a plan to introduce a $2.50 reservation fee on all of its vehicle rentals in the United States. …Hertz acted on the reservation fee after several large clients organized an e-mail campaign and other regular customers posted a “boycott Hertz” message on FlyerTalk.com, a popular Internet message board made up of some of the nation’s most frequent — and influential — travelers. …In 2002, Delta’s frequent fliers were outraged when the airline reduced mileage awards on steeply discounted tickets. They created a Web site called SaveSkyMiles.com and raised money to send a truck-mounted billboard protesting the change…

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Taking Too Long to Post Points

by Gary Leff

airplane
Feb 23 2005

Chris Elliott writes in the New York Times that miles are taking longer than ever to post to frequent flyer accounts. That hasn’t been my experience, at least as a general rule. Airlines are getting better at tracking miles for flights. If a frequent flyer number is entered into a reservation in advance, it’s pretty much a certainty that the miles will post. Problems come in when airport agents load the numbers incorrectly, and at times when trying to credit miles to a partner airline’s program. Delta, flagged by the article as second-worst for posting miles, actually credits member accounts before their flights even lands. Delta’s technology in this area is unmatched. The real problem comes in with mileage earning partners. As the article observes, rental car companies are notorious for lags and gaps in…

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Good News at USAirways and Independence Air

by Gary Leff

independence air
Feb 23 2005

USAirways says it needs $250 million to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which strikes me as too low. Air Wisconsin has proposed investing $125 million. Air Wisconsin operates primarily as a regional feeder for United. USAirways has been extremely successful reducing its labor costs, but it remains unclear how their business model can return them to profitability. Still, any indication of interest in providing exit financing is a strong positive sign for the airline. Meanwhile, Independence Air says that it has successfully renegotiated its aircraft leases. After almost four months of negotiations, Flyi said it will be allowed to terminate leases on 24 of its regional jets — about one-third of its fleet. Those concessions will help cut its aircraft lease payments by $94.5 million over the next two years. Creditors are also allowing the…

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Southwest and American Posturing in Dallas

by Gary Leff

american airlines plane
Feb 23 2005

Arguments over the Wright and Shelby Amendments restricting flights out of Dallas-Love Field are reaching absurd proportions. For years Southwest, which is based at Love Field, has maintained official neutrality to the federal rules which limit flying out of the airport to contiguous states. It took years of litigation for Southwest to even be able to use the airport, which had otherwise been abandoned for the Dallas-Fort Worth facility. I’ve assumed that Southwest’s newfound desire to overturn these restrictions is mostly a matter of posturing. I don’t think Southwest really wants substantial new flying out of Dallas. There’s not much room for expansion out of Love Field. They’re pretty close to maxed out in their existing terminal space. New flights to further away destinations could certainly displace existing flights, and those might well be more…

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Free Frequent Flyer Miles

by Gary Leff

Free Frequent Flyer Miles
Feb 23 2005

Gary Steiger has returned from vacation and updated his comprehensive and indispensable Free Frequent Flyer Miles website. It contains links to a plethora of credit card, telephone, internet service, mortgage, and other bonus offers. I often use it as a reference myself — Gary Steiger catalogues the offers, so I don’t need to save them all when I want to refer someone to the best possible bonus.

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Hilton Introduces Rolling Elite Qualification

by Gary Leff

hotel
Feb 16 2005

Been pretty busy and my limited posting prevented me from mentioning a story that Notiflyer broke last week: Hilton HHonors has introduced a rolling elite-qualification program. HHonors now allows members to carry over stays from the prior calendar year in order to achieve HHonors VIP status. By comparison, most other programs only allow members to count stays in a calendar year (January through December) to count toward elite status.

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Tidbits from Joe Sharkey

by Gary Leff

airplane
Feb 16 2005

Yesterday’s Joe Sharkey column in the New York Times contained a couple of interesting tidbits. First, according to an American Express survey[M]ore than a third [of respondents] believe it is either “somewhat” or “quite” common for business travelers to submit expense accounts with “one or more completely false or bogus charges.” This does not surprise me in the least. Taxicab receipts are usually provided blank to travelers. Other receipts are easy to fudge. And travelers find it easy to justify ‘a little extra’ in their expense report as compensation for long days and time away from home. When oversight is poor, and there’s the expectation of insufficient scrutiny, even the best and most honest travelers may fudge. I see it every day. (One small part of my job is making sure it doesn’t happen where…

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Discounted award nights in Southeast Asia

by Gary Leff

starwood
Feb 16 2005

Starwood is offering 25% off the points cost of award nights at several hotels in Southeast Asia for stays through the end of May. While Starwood seems to offer such discounts across the board for about a week during the summer, they don’t seem to often offer promotions like this: discounts at properties during their slow seasons. Of course, Starwood offers cash and points awards and properties that participate are usually facing their slow seasons. But it’s rare that they offer similar discounts on all-points awards. Good move, Starwood!

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