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Top Document: FAQ: Air Traveler's Handbook 3/4 [Monthly posting] Previous Document: [3-10] Exchanging Currency Next Document: [3-12] Premier FF Membership See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge American Airlines introduced frequent flyer programs in 1981 to encourage customer loyalty. The other major airlines quickly followed suit. Together, the 70+ frequent flyer programs give out more than 10 million free tickets annually. Most programs (e.g., United, American, USAir, and Northwest) will give you a free US domestic roundtrip for 20,000 miles, a ticket to Hawaii or the Carribbean for 30,000, a ticket to Europe for 40,000 and a ticket to Australia or Asia for 60,000. Each airline, however, has its own set of rules and somewhat different mileage levels. Delta requires 30,000 miles for a free US domestic ticket. Given joining bonuses and mileage promotions, one can sometimes reach this with one overseas flight. Northwest and USAir give you a minimum of 750 (Delta, 1000) miles for each flight segment. Northwest will give you two one-way tickets for 20,000 miles. NWA will not preissue boarding passes the day before the flight. Some airlines will award two tickets for less than twice the mileage needed for one ticket. For example, it is possible to get two tickets to the Carribbean from Continental for only 40,000 miles. Note: The minimum number of miles required for a US domestic roundtrip ticket will increase to 25,000 on United, USAir, and American on 8/1/94, 1/1/95, and 2/1/95, respectively. Since the travel certificates are good for one year, be sure to redeem your frequent flyer miles a few days before the deadline, or you'll have to earn an extra 5,000 miles for a free ticket. Other changes include an increase to 45,000 miles for a free first-class US domestic ticket on American, an increase to 50,000 miles for a free roundtrip ticket to Europe on United (as of 2/1/95), and a reduction in the minimum number of FF miles awarded per leg from 750 to 500 on Northwest. Northwest has also announced that it is dropping out of the American Express Membership Miles program (1 miles per $1 spent) on 3/31/94 or 4/30/94. Current members of AmEx Membership Miles are Continental, Delta, Southwest, and USAir. Northwest is switching to an arrangement with First Bank Visa (800-948-8300) and has already dropped their deal with Bank One Visa. Delta, Continental, USAir and Southwest are staying in the program. (Call 1-800-AXP-MILE for more information.) United will stop its practice of automatically mailing out award certificates at the 20,000 mile mark on 10/1/94, and will issue them only upon request, just like all the other frequent flyer programs. Northwest will allow frequent fliers to obtain a US domestic ticket for 20,000 miles (instead of 25,000 miles) as of 2/1/95 only if they travel from mid-September through mid-November. If you're using a frequent flyer ticket and traveling with a companion, give the award ticket to your companion so that you can rack up more miles on your paid-for ticket. Moreover, paid tickets are upgradable, while free tickets often aren't. Delta has established a "Rapid Redemption" program that allows you to redeem your frequent flyer miles for free tickets when buying a ticket by phone or at a Delta ticket office. There is a $60 charge, however, for this service. (The charge is per transaction.) You can still redeem the old way without the extra charge. Frequent flyer miles can also be exchanged for upgrades at no extra charge. Northwest's frequent flyer records do not seem to record flights that were changed after ticketing, so check the records carefully. However, Northwest recently installed a new phone system (1-800-327-2881) that lets you request a review of tickets to adjust your account. Air Canada 1-800-361-8253 Partners with Austrian, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, First Air, Singapore Alaska Airlines 1-800-654-5669 Partners with Northwest, TWA Aloha Airlines 1-800-486-7277 AAdvantage (American) 1-800-882-8880 Partners with TWA, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Canadian Cancels miles after 3 years. America West 1-800-247-5691 Partners with Virgin Atlantic Canadian 1-604-270-7587 Partners with Air France, Lufthansa, American, Qantas (for flights between Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, and Canada). Continental 1-713-952-1630 Partners with Air France, KLM. Delta 1-800-323-2323 Partners with Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Japan Air Lines (no economy), KLM, Lufthansa, Singapore, Swissair Restrictions: US/Canadian residents only, only with voucher, travel must originate in US. MarkAir 1-800-MarkAir (1-800-627-5247) 500 miles for signing up, free travel starts after 10,000 miles. Midwest Express 1-800-452-2022 Northwest 1-800-447-3757 Partners with KLM. TWA 1-800-325-4815, 1-800-221-2000 Partners with American, Alaska, Air India, British Airways United 1-800-421-4655 Partners with Air France. Travel must originate in US. Also partners with SAS, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Aeromar (Mexico), Antillean Airlines (ALM -- to Caribbean), Aloha Airlines, Ansett Australia, Ansett New Zealand, British Midland, Emirates (Middle East), Gulfstream International (Caribbean), Sunaire Express (Caribbean), Transbrasil, and TW Express. Mileage is given only for the legs connecting a U.S. city to Europe for theses airlines. If you are continuing onward to say Asia, you will not receive mileage on United on the leg from Europe to Asia. USAir 1-800-872-4738 (frequent traveler service ctr) 1-800-442-2784 (international award travel) 1-800-428-4322 (US domestic reservations) Partners with British Airways and AF. British Airways 1-800-955-2748 Lets you combine the mileage for up to four family members. Partners with USAir. Hawaiian Airlines Gold Plus 1-800-367-7637 Mexicana Frequent Flyer 1-800-531-7901 USAir has a frequent flyer program for undertakers (or is it a "frequent dier" program?). Ship 30 corpses with USAir, and you get a free US domestic round trip ticket. If you catch an earlier flight, make sure that your frequent flyer number is recorded, even if you gave the number when checking in for the first flight. Frequent flyer numbers do not necessarily transfer from one record to another when you change flights. If this happens to you, send a copy of your ticket receipt and boarding pass to the airline to get your mileage recorded. (You may be able to just call the customer service department and tell them the ticket number from your receipt, instead.) It pays to ask about your frequent flyer number every time: when you make reservations, when you check in, and when you arrive at the gate for each flight segment. If you exchanged miles for a certificate but find you can't use it, some programs allow you to redeposit the miles back into your frequent flyer account, sometimes for a fee. Another option is to exchange the certificate for an "open" ticket. Such a ticket has a fixed origin and destination, but leaves the departure and return dates unspecified, and can be used for up to a year from the date of issue. With the recent mileage increases in frequent flyer programs, this alternative is especially attractive, since it effectively extends an expiring certificate for up to a year. If you want to use a free frequent flyer ticket, be sure to get the tickets well in advance of the flight. Seating for free tickets is usually limited on most flights, and tends to fill up fast. If you find that there are no seats available when you want to fly, try another airport. It may pay to drive 50-100 miles to catch a free flight from a smaller airport, even if you have to pay for long-term parking. Most airlines will transfer frequent flyer miles to your heirs upon your death. If there are enough miles for an award, the awards can be issued in their names. Otherwise the miles may be transferred to their accounts. User Contributions: 1 cheap viagra Feb 25, 2021 @ 2:14 pm https://genericviagragog.com buy viagra without doctor prescription Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:Top Document: FAQ: Air Traveler's Handbook 3/4 [Monthly posting] Previous Document: [3-10] Exchanging Currency Next Document: [3-12] Premier FF Membership Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: mkant@cs.cmu.edu
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:12 PM
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