I just returned from my first trip using Airtran, and thought I’d share some things about the experience. I was traveling to Boca Raton for the 4th of July weekend and booked Airtran because their non-stop service from Washington-National to West Palm Beach was especially convenient and their flight times were superior to USAirways’ for my plans. Unfortunately just days before my trip Airtran cancelled their brand new non-stop service on this route, and I wound up connecting in Atlanta. I could have pushed the issue and gotten a refund and bought tickets on another carrier, but at the late date that would have been far more expensive and I really wasn’t in a rush anyway. In the end I was four for four on upgrades and all were complimentary, which seems pretty good for…
Rewards Drive Credit Card Marketing
Of 325 million credit card offers mailed in April 2004, 55% were for cards which include a rewards component. That’s the fifth month in a row in which rewards cards outnumbered their non-rewards brethren.
It would take more than a rewards program…
It would take more than a rewards program for me to eat what they consider seafood, but Red Lobster is bulking up its loyalty program, moving from an email discount list to tracking the value of individual customers. It’ll take more than a signup bonus for me to eat there, though.
Venetian Offer
The Venentian in Las Vegas is offering weekday rates of $129 and weekend rates of $179 through September 27. This hotel is sometimes available on Priceline for less. I used to see it for about $80 on weeknights, more recently $100. I’ve seen it for $130 on weekend nights, though more often $160. Priceline aside, this represents a pretty good offer for this property.
Paying Bills Via Credit Card
Alaska Airlines Visa cardholders can earn up to 5000 bonus miles for paying bills automatically with their credit card. The offer is 1250 miles per service company bill (such as cable, phone, etc). The USAirways Visa has a similar offer of 1000 miles per bill, up to 5000 bonus miles.Both cards are issued by Bank of America. BofA also issues the Hawaiian Airlines Visa and the America West Visa. If anyone knows whether those cards are offering billpay bonuses, please let me know.(Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)
July Starwood Bonus
Starwood is offering 500 bonus points per stay in July (up to 5000 points) as a thank you to Flyertalk members for their help winning the Freddie Award for “Hotel Program of the Year.” Registration required.
More Free
Free one-year subscription to Wired magazine. (Hat tip to Scott Carmichael)
Government Victory As Farce?
The standard media line is that Qantas has been taken to the shed over award availability by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and the Commission has forced the airline to reform. Mr Samuel said talks with Qantas had resulted in action by the airline to review and improve disclosure about the limited availability of frequent flyer seats. The most notable improvement was an internet site allowing consumers to identify flights where frequent flyer seats were available. So the government has forced the airline to do what almost all major world airlines are doing, working to put award availability online. And Qantas’ willingness to do this is unlikely to be related to the cost savings it will see from reduced agent time spent on award bookings? Airlines worldwide are pushing consumers to their websites because…
Air Canada Tussles with Air Miles
Canadian shopping loyalty program Air Miles faces a newly intensified challenge from Air Canada as its Aeroplan program branches out into more partnerships in retail. This is hardly new for a frequent flyer program, many of its US and Asian counterparts have already recognized that their currencies are powerful incentives beyond distinguishing commdity airline seats, and the partnerships are profitable as airlines sell their points to retailers for a higher price than the cost of airline seat redemptions.As Air Canada reaches more consumers through non-aviation earning opportunities, look for them to offer more non-aviation redemption opportunities as well — just as Air Miles offers low point redemption for movie tickets, many US carriers offer miles for magazines, and United now partners with Sony to offer music downloads.
A writer goes to Iceland and learns to to appreciate miles and the people who love them
Last week Slate ran a five part series by Marisa Bowe who took advantage of the $61 roundtrip mistake fare to Iceland and met alot of Flyertalkers along the way. Here’s Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V. Bowe also shares the Iceland Tourist Board’s press release about the mistake fare. They offered free admission to the seven geothermal pools of Reykjavik to anyone presenting a $61 ticket.
