http://smail.info - free e-mail service, smtp, pop3, imap4, ssl ! _____________________________________________________ On Wednesday, August 14, 2002, at 08:21 AM, DZTOPS@aol.com wrote: > Esp if you use a certain credit card and a certain > long distance phone carrier and hotel and rental car partners > and.......... These can go a long way to help... especially the credit cards. And some offer benefits that really make them worth it. For example, the $135/year Delta SkyMiles Platinum card from American Express comes with a free companion certificate each year you renew the card. That alone will make the $135/year fee worth it, especially if you use it on an expensive trip (as my parents did last year, Honolulu to Boston). And using this card for virtually everything you buy (groceries, gas for the car, etc) can really add up. With the other things (phone, car, hotel), I don't usually go out of my way to use a mileage partner, but that will certainly help sway my vote in case of a tie (for example, Dollar Rent a Car is a Delta partner but Budget is not, so if Dollar and Budget are charging the same, I'd go with Dollar). -- David Mueller / HNL davidm@smail.info http://www.quanterium.com *** Read the Airline List FAQ at http://airlinefaq.tripod.com ***