AmeriDebt, the consumer credit counseling company, has filed for bankruptcy. There are also allegations of shady business practices. Then the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Trade Commission and state regulators weighed in with a consumer alert about credit counselors. The FTC in November also sued AmeriDebt, one of the industries leaders, alleging it used deceptive marketing to bilk consumers. FTC Commissioner Thomas Leary said in testimony to Congress that AmeriDebt advertises its services as “free,” when in fact the company retains a consumer’s entire first payment as a “contribution.” … Leary cautioned in his testimony that some companies use their non-profit status as a badge of trustworthiness to attract customers, who are then duped into paying large fees. Those fees are sometimes funneled to for-profit companies.
Northwest Instant Elite
Residents of Asia can get automatic gold status for the summer when signing up for Northwest Worldperks.
Star Alliance Set to Expand
The Star Alliance is set to expand, adding South African Airways, TAP Air Portugal, and Finland’s Blue1. Blue1 might seem like a strange choice given its limited route network, but its parent company is SAS which is already a member of Star.
Free Knife
Amazon has a free knife available. Shipping on one is nearly $8, but shipping on 30 comes to only about $15. Order 300 of them for about $85 in shipping and re-sell them on eBay…
Northwest Airlines New Member Enrollment Bonus
Northwest is offering up to 7,000 miles for new members of its frequent flyer program who take flights within six months. So enroll in the program and participate in Fly Free Faster 4 as well and you should have a free ticket on Northwest by the time you’re done.
Delta Membership Rewards Bonus
Through July 15 Delta is offering a 15% bonus on Membership Rewards point transfers.
AA Mastercard Offers
The American Airlines Mastercard Business Card is available free the first year with 15,000 bonus miles for signup. The personal card is available free for six months with 12,500 bonus miles for signup.(Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)
Useful for getting work done while traveling
Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory is a listing of places that offer free wireless internet access.
Free stuff
Free Maker’s Mark golf balls, free coffee sample, and free condom sample, free oyster sauce, and free floaty pen. And then there’s free after rebate: TS1100 Spillproof 104-Key PS/2 Keyboard for $6 – $6 rebate, penny shipping and Air Duster (10 ounce can for $5 – $5 rebate, penny shipping.
Sabre Reinvents its Architecture
A computer reservation system offers 79 million fares and 6 million schedules. It processes 1.2 million fare changes each day. Sabre alone processes 48 million transactions a day, including all shopping, pricing, and and availability queries. ComputerWorld offers a glimpse into the challenges that Sabre faces in handling all of this computing at a reasonable cost. In order to rein in escalating processing costs and offer customers more options, Sabre is completely overhauling the software used by airlines, travel agents and passengers to find and book flights. In stages, Sabre is replacing its old mainframe assembler code with modern languages running on cheap commodity computers and open systems, including Linux. … Three forces hugely increased the processing demands on Sabre systems over the years. After airfares were deregulated in 1979, travel agents began shopping based…
