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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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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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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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Too many miles chasing too few seats (so burn as you earn)

by Gary Leff

airplane
Jan 20 2005

Back in November I explained why mileage award prices will go up, now and in the future, because there are simply too many miles chasing too few seats. This new piece (originally in the Boston Globe and then syndicated) outlines the current state of the phenomenon. Frequent-flier miles are easier to come by as airlines sell more miles to partners like credit card companies and hotels, but they’re harder than ever to redeem. Behind-the-scenes deals with corporate partners are helping cash-strapped airlines rake in millions of dollars at a time when high fuel costs and lower fares are killing their bottom lines. At the same time, these deals give companies that buy miles a sought-after incentive to offer their customers. But frequent-flier club members shouldn’t think all the freebie miles they’ve racked up will add…

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Time to Vote for the Freddie Awards

by Gary Leff

freddie awards
Jan 15 2005

Balloting for the Freddie Awards has begun. For 17 years, frequent travelers have been asked to make their picks for the best frequent travel programs via the Freddie Awards. Introduced by InsideFlyer magazine publisher Randy Petersen in 1988, the Freddies allow consumers to rank airline and hotel programs from their point of view. The awards have grown in stature and importance and are the most prestigious consumer-generated awards in the industry. The nice thing is that the Freddies are voted on by hundreds of thousands of real travelers. I get rather sick of having to roll my eyes at the hotels and airlines that claim to be world’s best this and that as determined by an award they’ve funded themselves. When a program wins a Freddie Award they tend to trumpet it pretty loudly. I’ll…

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Whose miles are the most valuable?

by Gary Leff

Speaking as someone with a hefty seven-figure total mileage balance (which doesn’t compare to some folks I know with an eight-figure balance), my own preferences are as follows, in order: Starwood: hotel rooms are almost always available, plus points transfer into most airline programs is at 1:1 — plus 5k bonus for transferring 20k. Starwood Amex is the best points-earning card to the extent that spending earns 1.25 miles per dollar on all spending when transferring points in 20k blocks to airlines with 1:1 ratio, which is better than the AA Mastercard for instance. Not to mention the card is cheaper. American: I’ve never had any problems with availability. Partner awards are great. All miles earned count towards lifetime elite (we’ll see if that feature lasts). United: Availability on UA metal ain’t what it used…

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Free the First Year American Express Platinum

by Gary Leff

amex
Jan 01 2005

Now that banks are able to issue American Express cards, some interesting offers may be coming down the pike. The first one that I’ve noticed is from MBNA, which is offering the American Express Platinum card free the first year and $195 after that. The card comes with MBNA Worldpoints as its rewards program rather than Membership Rewards. As far as proprietary rewards programs go, this one is pretty good but I still don’t like it as much as the various airline and hotel programs. So I wouldn’t put much spending on the card. Instead, I’d use the card for its benefits like airline lounge access. Amex Platinum cards come with access to Delta, Continental, and Northwest lounges when flying on the respective airline. The Platinum card is usually more expensive than straight lounge access,…

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Gutting another Rewards Program — Dining for Miles Becomes Just Another Program

by Gary Leff

dining
Dec 31 2004

Rewards Network’s Dining for Miles programs are being revamped, a.k.a. gutted. You may know the program as iDine (what I’ll always call it), and its precursor was Transmedia — the old program where you paid to sign up and had a membership card which you needed to present at restaurants for a cash discount. The program awards frequent flyer miles in the program of your choosing when dining at a participating restaurant. Traditionally the award was 10 miles per dollar, although increasingly of late some restaurants only offered 5 miles per dollar spent and some restaurants gave miles only on certain days of the week. Now comes the announcement that earning in the program is being changed dramatically. Instead of a default of 10 miles per dollar (plus frequent bonuses), most members will only earn…

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Bonus miles for filing taxes

by Gary Leff

delta-airline-plane
Dec 30 2004

American Express OnlineTax is offering 1000 Delta miles for using their online tax filing service from January 1 to April 15. $34.95 buys filing of your federal and state returns, which is somewhat higher than other online services I’ve seen and likely higher than the after-rebate price of some software packages.

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