Why bother. They need to see what WN's Rapid Rewards <Frequent Flyer> rules are all about. Capacity controls and black-out dates are few and far between. Not to mention 4 roundtrips equals a free round-trip.........= Happy customers. Walter DCA Fan of WN's Rapid Rewards Program ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Hough" <psa188@juno.com> To: <AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 22:44 Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Two Airlines to Ease Frequent Flier Rules > > 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 >