Now this isn’t something that happens very often: an airline fee gets eliminated. You can now book American’s Business ExtrAA flight awards with no service charges:

Effective October 8, 2012 Business ExtrAA members are no longer required to pay the Reservation Service Charge when booking Business ExtrAA flight award reservations. As we continue to improve our program, you will see more benefits that make your Business ExtrAA membership more rewarding.

American’s Business ExtrAA is a loyalty program that allows businesses to earn points for company travel that can be redeemed for flights, upgrades, Elite status, Admirals Club memberships, and other awards.

Employees still earn their full, individual AAdvantage credit for their travel and if you’re a business owner or your self employed, it’s a great way to double-dip and earn both points and miles.

Business ExtrAA awards have to be redeemed over the phone, and until recently, the telephone reservation fee was $25.

It’s always seemed like a flaw that they didn’t just waive the fee, or provide an online alternative that would give you a way to avoid the $25 charge.

Not only is it nice to see them improve an already good program, it’s kind of cool that I’ve seen that rarest of events: an airline fee that goes away!

Go here for complete details.

Photo: Man Bites Dog
Credit: joeymanley on Flickr

I’m on vacation this week so sorry for the shorter than usual posts, though you’re probably enjoying a break from the usual Oklahoma references and Lubbock put-downs.

American just launched the voting phase of their second annual BusinessExtrAA “Flights, Camera, Action” promotion:

VOTE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN 25,000 AADVANTAGE MILES.

American Airlines recognizes that access and connectivity while traveling are critical to small businesses. So we asked small business owners to create a video telling us how the connections they make through travel help their business soar.

Vote for your favorite video and you’ll have a chance to win 25,000 AAdvantage miles.

Your vote will help select the top 3 videos from each category, who will vie for the First Prize in each category. The Grand Prize winner will be chosen from these 3 First Prize Winners and will win 80 tickets on American Airlines and exposure to thousands of potential customers.

To enter:

• Visit aa.com/flightscameraaction

• Complete all required fields on the online entry form;

• Follow the instructions to view and vote for 1 posted video in each of the 3 categories (“Established”, “Non-profit” and “Start-up”), that you believe best illustrates how the connections made through travel impact the Entrant’s company and you will receive 1 entry for each vote for a maximum of 3 entries per email address per day.

• On or about September 26, 2012, a random drawing will be conducted from among all eligible entries received.

Voting ends at 11:59 a.m. CT time on September 14, 2012.  Go here to enter.

Last Friday I offered a reader giveaway with a winner being selected in a random drawing on Monday morning. Well, it’s already Monday morning (wow, the weekend went by quickly) and the results are in:

Congratulations go to The Traveler!!  You’re the lucky winner of an AAdvantage logo pencil cup and a 10% AA discount code.

Thanks to a reader for sharing an extra discount code (thanks WIS!) and the AAdvantage folks for providing the pencil cup!  And thanks to everyone that participated!

Speaking of giveaways, Monday’s Frugal Travel Guy Deal of the Day is sponsored by AAdvantage. So go here to share you favorite American Airlines related advice for a chance to win 2,5000 AAdvantage Miles!

Last Friday, The Weekly Flyer had a great post reminding readers about the American Airlines Business ExtrAA “Flights. Camera. Action.” video contest.  The promotion offers small businesses a chance to win free travel:

Upload a short video to American Airlines telling them how the connections you make through travel help your business soar – and you might win up to 80 round-trip tickets for your company and exposure to thousands of potential customers.

The first round is about to end, and soon 27 videos will be selected to advance to the next round and viewers will get a chance to vote and help select nine finalists.

The deadline to enter is coming up on August 10.

Last year, there were several interesting submissions: some from mobile app developers, a company that specializes in gondola tours, film production companies, non-profits, even a company that sells a kit so that you can grow your own mushrooms using recycled coffee grounds.

One video that you didn’t see last year was this submission from a nudist resort in Palm Springs, California.  I came across it while I was looking for some vacation ideas material for the blog.

(Faced with the choice between covering the 1,500  bonus AAdvantage Miles offer from FTD or nudity, I asked myself “what would  a cable news executive do”….)

Actually, there’s no nudity in the video, thought not surprisingly it still didn’t make the finals.  The owner of the Terra Cotta Inn writes:

We have always said that nudist resorts need to start acting mainstream to be more accepted in America and this TV commercial is a start.

Well sadly our commercial was not selected. We saw many of the semi finalists and most were not of the quality of ours. So share this with all your nudist friends, facebook friends, etc. Let the world know that nude recreation is very popular and let American Airlines know that they should have approved this entry for their contest instead of being so afraid of nudist resorts.

They also invite anyone that has a good idea for “mainstreaming nude recreation in America” to contact them.  I can think of a couple of things they might try: offer AAdvantage Miles with each stay, or maybe invite Loyalty Travler out for a review!

Business ExtrAA is the American Airlines rewards program for small business, and there are two new promotions worth mentioning:

Earn Up To Triple Business ExtrAA Points

For U.S. domestic non-stop travel between New York and select cities, register using promotion code APR12NYCBONUS by June 30, 2012 and travel between May 1 and June 30, 2012 to earn:

• Triple points for travel on First Class, Business Class or Main Cabin Full fares
• Double points for travel on Other Main Cabin fares

Travel between New York and these cities:

Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Dallas/Fort Worth
Detroit
Indianapolis
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Miami
Minneapolis
Nashville
Norfolk VA
Orlando
Pittsburgh
Raleigh Durham
San Diego
San Francisco
San Juan
Seattle
St Louis
Tampa
Washington DC.

Points are earned at a rate of 2 points per $10 spent on travel and round-trip domestic awards are available for 2,000 points. (Something to note – until recently, flights origination out of DFW and Miami earned points at half the rate – only 1 point for every $10.  As of April 1, flights originating from both airports earn 2 points/$10).

Registration is required before travel. Go here to sign up or for complete details.

National Small Business Week

The U.S. Small Business Administration proclaimed May 20-26 as National Small Business Week. American Airlines appreciates all that small businesses do for the U.S., promoting innovation, job creation, and economic competitiveness.

To celebrate, we will offer your company a one-time bonus of 300 Business ExtrAA points if you fly anywhere on American Airlines between May 20, 2012, and May 26, 2012.

Sign up here using promo code NSB300BONUS.  Registration is required before you travel.

Check your email inbox for this new targeted offer from the American Airlines Business ExtrAA program:

Give Your Business a Boost. Earn 1,000 Business ExtrAA bonus points – that’s halfway to a round trip ticket!!

The American Airlines Business ExtrAA program has teamed up with VerticalResponse to offer your business the marketing tools you need to stay competitive — plus you will earn 1,000 Business ExtrAA bonus points after your first purchase of $5 or more before May 31, 2012. With 1,000 bonus points, you will have a great head start on your next round-trip ticket!

Your company can benefit from a variety of VerticalResponse solutions to help expand your business in a dependable, affordable way, with proven results. Try them out for free with a no-risk trial.

Open your business to a whole new audience with marketing programs including:
Email Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Event Marketing
List Building and Management
Postcards
Online Surveys

A 1,000 points is pretty sizable. It’s halfway to a round-trip domestic ticket. It’s an upgrade to first class with enough points left over to get a day pass to the Admirals Club.

I visited the promotion page and took a look at their services and prices and VerticalResponse has some pretty cool tools, and spending $5 is pretty easy.

For $5 you can send out a mailer to about 300 clients. Or for the same price, you can send out 6 post cards. Either way, VerticalResponse had some nicely designed templates and an online assistant to walk you through the process.

Again, it’s a targeted offer. Here’s the fine print:

You received this email because you have opted in to receive emails for Business ExtrAA Account News and Information.

*Based on Economy PlanAAhead award valid for the Continental U.S., Canada and Mexico. All taxes and fees, including reservation fees, assessed at the time of ticketing are the responsibility of the passenger.

This offer is available only to recipients of the email sent by American Airlines to select Business ExtrAA® members and is valid through May 31, 2012. Promotional bonus points available for new VerticalResponse customers only, who provide the requested information using the enrollment site provided via link from this email and complete a qualifying purchase with VerticalResponse of $5 or more between January 26, 2012, and May 31, 2012.

Points will post to your company’s Business ExtrAA account 6-8 weeks after promotion ends

Go here for complete details.

Saturday is the OU-Texas game and here in Dallas the weekend started yesterday. Friends and guests started arriving Thursday, so it’s been a busy week. I’m ready for Monday so I can get a little rest!

BusinessExtrAA is a loyalty program from American Airlines that offers companies a chance to earn points that they can redeem for travel, upgrades, Admirals Club memberships, even AAdvantage elite status. And through January 2012, companies located in the state of New York and in Illinois can collect enough extra points that they earn 10 free trips for spending just $20,000:

It’s Easy to Enroll – and to earn free tickets for your company!
Enroll online for free and receive your company’s Business ExtrAA account number instantly.
Your company can quickly earn 2,000 Business ExtrAA bonus points – enough for a free round-trip ticket1 – when you:

Enroll your company in the Business ExtrAA program using referral code EARN10.
Have any employee fly one round-trip between October 4, 2011, and January 31, 2012, using the company’s new Business ExtrAA account number.

Want to earn up to 10 free tickets? Here’s how!

If your company spends $10,000 on qualifying flights between October 4, 2011, and January 31, 2012, your company will receive enough bonus points for 5 free tickets. Or spend $20,000 or more and earn the equivalent of 10 free tickets!

Fly and Spend Bonus Points (non cumulative) Number of FREE tickets1
First round trip 2,000 pts. 1
$10,000 10,000 pts. 5
$20,000 20,000 pts. 10

Employees can help your company earn bonus points by:

Adding your company’s Business ExtrAA account number in their reservations.

Updating their AA.com profile to automatically include your company’s Business ExtrAA account number for future bookings.

Plus, employees will still earn their personal AAdvantage miles, so everyone will benefit from doing business as usual.

Here are some of the terms of this offer:

This is a targeted offer valid only for new Business ExtrAA member companies based in New York or Illinois. Business ExtrAA companies located outside New York or Illinois, or with enrollment date on or prior to October 4, 2011, are not eligible for this offer. Offer valid between October 4, 2011, and January 31, 2012, and available only to new Business ExtrAA accounts.

Minimum round-trip fare of $250 applies for promotion qualification. Retroactive ticket requests may not be eligible for promotional points.

Go here to join using bonus code EARN10 or to register for this offer.

Have a great weekend! Go OU!

Yesterday I wrote about some of my favorite videos in the “Lights. Camera. Action.” contest that’s being sponsored by American Airlines and SCORE.

We asked small business owners to create a video telling us how flying benefits their business. Vote for your favorite and you could win 25,000 AAdvantage miles. Your vote will also help one company win up to 50 round-trip tickets and exposure to hundreds of potential customers.

Voting ends at noon central time on Friday, so you still have time for two more votes.

Among the several videos competing for votes are submissions from non-profit organizations, so for those that might want to cast a vote for a good cause I’ve put together this list (in no particular order):

Organization:  BLUE LOOP

Founded in 2005 by Pam Henry, mother of a child with type-1 diabetes, BlueLoop is a FREE online & mobile tool that connects the critical network of diabetes caregivers using instant messaging (via text & e-mail). Our goal is to stay FREE and reach families, schools & clinics around the world.

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Organization:  GREENERPUP
Greener Pup is a line of eco-friendly dog beds made of designer fabrics created by animal activist, celebrity interior designer Kari Whitman. Greener Pup beds are kind to the earth and give 100% of profits to Ace of Hearts Dog Rescue, saving thousands of abandoned and abused animals from euthanasia!

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Organization:  HOPE FORCE INTERNATIONAL
Hope Force International (HFI) equips and mobilizes thousands of volunteers for service into disaster and crisis areas around the world. HFI deploys responders on a moment’s notice when disaster strikes – most recently into the devastating tornado aftermath of Joplin, MO.

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Organization:  LIGHT OF THE WORLD CHARITIES
Light of the World Charities provide free surgical & dental care to the poor & sick, train local medical professionals, establish state of the art facilities & donate medical/surgical supplies & equipment to improve the quality of life worldwide.

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Organization:  LOYOLA PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Loyola Productions is a Los Angeles-based, nonprofit creative media company that capitalizes on the Jesuit tradition of innovation and excellence in communication. We create thought-provoking industrials, documentaries, web series, and mainstream TV and films that entertain and inspire.

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Organization:  MOBILE MEDICAL DISASTER RELIEF
Mobile Medical Disaster Relief operates internationally serving in the poorest communities with healthcare, water purification, sustainable agriculture and community development.  MMDR also immediately responds to international disasters where medical relief is necessary.

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Organization:  PLAY RUGBY, INC.
Play Rugby USA is an extraordinary wellness and prevention resource: Tackling the challenges facing America’s youth. As a fully credentialed 501(c)3 NPO we have partnered with 180 schools across 4 cities to impact the lives of 10,000 young people. Our mission is: “developing youth through rugby”.

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Organization:  PROJECT HARAMBEE, NFP
PROJECT HARAMBEE (Swahili “all pull together”) is a nonprofit organization assisting people in sub-Saharan Africa affected by HIV. Our development projects include small business funding, craft sales, scholarships, children’s health improvement & education links between groups here & in Africa.

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Organization:  REDISTRIBUTE
ReDistribute is a groundbreaking philanthropy that creates Hollywood films, puts them into theaters and then gives EVERY PENNY OF OUR PROFIT TO CHARITY. End of story. Period. With our first film, we expect to give over $40 million to Education Charities throughout the US.

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Organization:  SAFE TEAM
S.A.F.E. TEAM program is implemented to support family engagement and a safe-learning environment in every school so all students can achieve academic success. The goal is for each adult family member to volunteer at least one day of the school year and at school-related events.

Go here to see all the videos or for more information.

American Airlines and SCORE partnered together to give small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations and opportunity to win free travel in the  American Airlines Business ExtrAA “Flights. Camera. Action.” contest:

We asked small business owners to create a video telling us how flying benefits their business. Vote for your favorite and you could win 25,000 AAdvantage miles. Your vote will also help one company win up to 50 round-trip tickets and exposure to hundreds of potential customers.

Voting ends Friday and for fun, I decided to put together of list of some of my favorites with the first (and only) AAdvantageGeek Video Awards:

Award:  Best Direction - For best production quality, interesting editing, and best use of music.

Winner:  YAK FILMS.
The first time I saw this video, I was compelled to watch it again. I’ve watched it several times since then. Very cool. Nicely done.

Runner up:  PARALLEL MEDIA.
High quality video, looks like a television ad you might see while watching a golf tournament.

Award:  The Importance of Being Earnest – Given for sincerity and believability.

Winner: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT ADVOCATES
Straight forward approach.  I know people that would pay a lot of money in order to come across this authentic.

Runner up: EXHIBITVIEW SOLUTIONS, LLC
Perfect pitch. Can’t fake this kind of enthusiasm or energy. Very appealing.

Award:  Hometown Favorite – Given to a Dallas-Ft. Worth company or organization

Winner: GONDOLA ADVENTURES, INC.
I live in Dallas and until I saw this video, I didn’t realize that the DFW metro area was the center of a budding Gondola industry.  If courage had been a category, this guy would win it for singing in a video.

Award: Former Hometown Favorite – Given to an entry from Oklahoma.

Winner: KSBI-TV
I’m originally from Oklahoma. And when I saw this video I recognized the man in front of the camera. He’s Vince Orza, former Oklahoma City television personality, political candidate, entrepreneur, restauranteur, and the man I consider the “Father of Fried Cheese Sticks” in the Sooner state. Back in the 80′s he started a casual dining chain, sort of a cross between Chili’s and “Uncle Moe’s Family Feedbag“, so for sentimental reasons, KSBI-TV gets a vote from me.

Award:  Most Original Concept

Winner: BACK TO THE ROOTS
This is highly original: Grow your own mushrooms kits made from recycled coffee grounds.

Award:  Humor

Winner: BANDWIDTH MARKETING
If you like your humor dry (I do) you’ll enjoy this video.

Runner up: CHISPA MARKETING, INC
Goofy and fun.

Award:  Cool idea – Recognizing an idea, product or service that I wish I had invented.

Winner: BUZZTABLE
How about using your phone instead of a table buzzer the next time your waiting to be seated at a restaurant. Very clever.

Runner up: LUX ART & DESIGN
Cool use of technology. Nice video too.  I wish I had one at home.

Don’t forgot voting ends Friday, so you still have time to earn a few entries.  If you’re saving your vote for a good cause, I’m working on a list of submissions from non-profit organizations.   To see all the videos or to vote for your favorites, go here and feel free to come back and share your picks in the comment section.

American Airlines and SCORE, the non-profit organization that helps small businesses by providing business owners with training and mentoring programs, teamed up in June sponsor a video contest for entrepreneurs. The 50 semi-finalist have been announced and starting today AAdvantage members have a chance to vote for their favorite video and to submit and entry for a chance to win 25,000 AAdvantage Miles:

Public voting runs through Aug. 26. Most prizes to winners will be delivered via the Business ExtrAA program – American’s business-to-business loyalty rewards program, in which companies can enroll at no cost.

In addition, voters will be eligible to enter a sweepstakes up to once per day for a chance to win 25,000 AAdvantage miles – the equivalent of one round-trip domestic Plan AAhead Award Economy Class ticket.

For more info, or to view the videos and cast your vote, visit www.aa.com/flightscameraaction.

I’ve never been a fan of conference calls, they’re usually boring and last much longer than they should, but I’ll admit conference calls are useful.

I’d rather speak one on one over the phone, or better yet, meet face to face and earn some miles, but now at least, it’s possible to earn AAdvantage Miles with conference calls and web meetings.

FreeConference offers toll-free dial-in number conferencing and desktop sharing services and they’ve got a loyalty program that allows you earn points that you can exchange for AAdvantage Miles:

With the FreeConference Loyalty Rewards Program, you’ll earn one airline mile for every dollar you spend. The FreeConference Loyalty Rewards Program automatically gives you airline miles, for a service you’ve already been using. You can accrue miles when you use our Premium 800 service, or any of the FreeConference Select features such as Recording or SharePlus Desktop Sharing. Conduct your business with FreeConference as usual and watch how fast your miles accumulate!

They also offer miles with Delta (who cares) and United. Here’s a brief explanation from their website of how it works:

First, enroll in the FreeConference Loyalty Rewards program.

Accumulated miles will be tracked automatically for each dollar you spend.

Each reward is set at $200 of spend ($200 spent is equal to 200 airline miles).

You’ll be sent a receipt for each purchase, and a notification email each time you cross an award threshold.

Your accrued miles will be deposited to your designated airline account within four weeks.

They even offer Facebook integration, which is really cool. I’ve been using GoToMeeting for the screensharing and conference calls, but plan to give FreeConference a try. They don’t require any contracts, it’s a pay as you go service, so I’ve got nothing to lose.  I’ll let you know how it works out.  Go here for more information.

Now I just wish someone would invent a way to earn miles for watching Powerpoint presentations.