This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Share the spirit with a gift from Starbucks. Our coffee brewers & espresso machines at special holiday prices. http://www.starbucks.com/shop/subcategory.asp?category_name=Sale/Clearance&ci=274&cookie_test=1 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Two Airlines to Ease Frequent Flier Rules January 23, 2002 By LAURENCE ZUCKERMAN Northwest Airlines (news/quote) announced yesterday that it would be the first domestic airline to eliminate blackout dates from its frequent flier program, enabling its customers to redeem miles for travel on any day of the year. But within hours American Airlines, which said last year that it would eliminate blackout dates in 2003, accelerated its plan and said that it would lift its restrictions by Feb. 1, one month before Northwest. Analysts said that the moves were less consumer-friendly than they appeared because the date restrictions were not much of an issue. The bigger problem from a consumer's standpoint, they said, are the limited number of seats on any one flight that are available for frequent flier redemptions. The significance of Northwest's move for consumers was further diminished by its decision to raise the number of miles needed to obtain a round-trip ticket during the nonsummer months. "Blackout dates have never been the real problem," said Randy Petersen, the publisher of InsideFlyer magazine. "The real problem has been capacity controls." Northwest acknowledged this by warning yesterday that fewer seats would be available to be redeemed during the peak travel periods around holidays that have been blacked out in the past. "We feel it is important for us to be candid about the availability of award seats during peak times of the year, or to the most popular destinations," said Beth Shultis, Northwest's vice president for marketing programs. The airline had been planning to fence off 13 days for domestic travel this year that would not be eligible for frequent flier redemptions. Blackout dates vary by geography because of the differing holidays around the world. But Northwest said it would end blackout dates across its entire network, which includes extensive operations in Asia. American, which operates the world's largest frequent flier program, planned to have only 12 date restrictions on its network this year, with none in Japan and Europe. American's frequent fliers with elite status are already exempted, a perk that is not currently offered by Northwest. Chris Nardella, a spokesman for United Air Lines, a unit of the UAL Corporation (news/quote), said that the airline had no immediate plans to match Northwest and American, a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation (news/quote). She added that United's lowest redemption rate, which allows passengers to book a domestic coach ticket for 25,000 miles, excludes certain dates but that 40,000 miles earns a ticket with no blackout restrictions. Elite members are also exempted. Like a few other carriers, Northwest had been requiring frequent fliers to accumulate only 20,000 miles before being eligible for a domestic coach ticket during the off-peak nonsummer months. But yesterday the airline said that, beginning June 1, it would raise that level to 25,000 miles all year. That is a much more significant change than the elimination of blackout dates, analysts said. Continental Airlines (news/quote) made a similar change a few weeks ago, igniting protests from some of its frequent fliers, according to Mr. Petersen. The airline made the move despite a note to passengers from Gordon M. Bethune, Continental's chairman, in the January issue of its in-flight magazine promising no changes in the frequent flier program this year. David Messing, a Continental spokesman, said that Mr. Bethune's letter was written in November, before plans for eliminating the off- peak award were finished. "The overall thrust of the letter is correct," he said. "We are keeping the things in place that matter most to our customers." Northwest said that the lower mileage requirement had failed to persuade people to shift their redemptions away from the peak summer travel season. "Most customers make the choice on when they travel based on factors other than the number of miles," said Kurt Ebenhoch, a Northwest spokesman. About 70 million people were members of frequent flier programs in 2000, and there were about 6.6 trillion unredeemed miles outstanding at the end of that year, according to Webflyer.com, Mr. Petersen's Web site. As a rule, the airlines allot about 10 percent of their seats for frequent flier redemptions. But the actual number of seats varies greatly from flight to flight because the sophisticated computers carriers now use to gauge demand are constantly shifting the number of seats available at various price levels. Availability also changes by the day, so a flight that is sold out for mileage redemptions today may open up a month from now. "You can't hesitate when it comes to claiming an award," Mr. Petersen advised. "But you should also be patient and keep trying." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/23/business/23FLY.html?ex=1012843877&ei=1&en=930b303ae4db0a9c HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company