Business travelers all across America have reacted with shock and dismay to news that all airline frequent-flyer programs will be terminated within the next two weeks.

A total of 15 airlines – all 13 frequent flyer programs in the United States, as well as the two programs in Canada – abruptly scuttled their programs in a frenzied one-hour period late yesterday afternoon. You Is Airways touched off the wave of cancellations at 4 p.m. with a terse statement that its frequent flyer program would bite the dust on April 31. Within minutes the other 15 airlines had announced they too were getting off the frequent flyer merry-go-around.

Concerned that the moves could send airline stocks plummeting and transit shock waves throughout the economy, governments around the world halted trading in all transportation stocks. The exception at press time appears to be the Trading Stock Exchange in Republic Of*. (*Note: National flag carrier, Republic Of Airlines does not have its own frequent flyer program)

As a result of the cancellations, members of frequent flyer programs must book any outstanding award trips by midnight April 15. All award trips claimed must then be completed by April 31.

The 16 airlines, expecting a last-minute rush of award requests, will keep their Web sites open around the clock. Most of the carriers are even installing additional award redemption kiosks at the airport and automated recordings on their pay phone service centers, in an attempt to offset the anticipated onslaught of phone calls.

“Like most other airlines with mounting frequent-flyer liabilities, “says Ricardo Sanderson, president of Deter Air Lines, “we have been looking for quite some time for a way to get off the hook. Everyone wanted out, but nobody wanted to be first. But once one carrier tested the water, we all tore off our clothes and plunged in”.

Lend Til-Then, president of Untied Airlines, said his airline has devised a way to soften the blow for its members. Each member redeeming an award will be given 80,000 bonus miles, “he says. “Those miles, like all others currently in members’ accounts must be used by the April 15 deadline.”

Ironically, a spokesman for You Is Airways now says that carrier cancelled its frequent flyer program in error. He explained the Airline’s Super Strategic Planning Objectives Committee, more commonly referred to as ASSPOC, held a secret meeting early yesterday morning to look at the ramifications of a series of scenarios. A number of options were considered ranging from scrapping the program in its entirely to awarding quintuple mileage in all months containing the letter “R”. The committee recommended the latter choice, but notes from the earlier discussions were handed erroneously to the company’s public relations department and they in fact were confused because of the pending ground crew merger with Air Apparent Airlines of Dallas.

For airlines, there could not be a better time than late April for travelers to claim free trips. Most people have run their credit cards to the limit to pay for March Spring Break vacations, and are now forced to make a minimum payment on their credit cards before they can charge their summer vacation. Most planes over the next two weeks would be flying almost empty. By filling the seats with flyers traveling on free awards, the airlines can pay off their debts to members without cutting into revenue payloads.

There is, the possibility that not all members will be able to get space by the April 1 deadline. Barry Sellme, president of SOS Airways, says capacity controls should not be a problem. “Even if you can’t get on a flight,” he says, “keep in mind that the e-ticket emails are suitable for framing and can make lively conversation, especially with someone who may have lost their miles when Pan Am discontinued their original program back in 1987.”

A spokesperson for FlyerTalk, a frequent traveler travel community, said “The Web site has burnt out the search tool looking for answers as distraught travelers who are afraid that since both the IRS and airline award redemption deadlines are on the same date, either the IRS or the awards will have to wait.” At least the IRS will give you an extension.

The stock of hotel companies has rocketed as it assumed that travelers would use the hotel guest programs as a substitute to earning free travel with the airlines. In fact, Dam Perks, vice president of Hil-A-Ton Hotel properties noted that new memberships were coming in at 500,000 a minute with no end in sight as travelers are aware that they can still earn free airline tickets by staying at a hotel. Stock trading for StarWouldNot Hotels has been halted because the share-price trading has paralyzed the system.

Meanwhile, economists are divided on how the demise of frequent flyer programs will affect the Western economy given the current financial situation. The most pessimistic forecast comes from Harvard University economist John Kenneth Goldbrick. “Without bonus miles, no business person in his or her right mind is going to go through the hassles and frustrations of taking your shoes off for the TSA,” he says. “And without business travel there will be no business conducted. The world could be facing a depression equal to that of the 1930s.. uh, today.”

However, newly elected president Arock Nomama foresees little long-term effect from the curtailment of business travel, “Entrepreneurs will simply find new ways of carrying out international commerce, possibly by way of using their Blackberry phones.” He did however leave open the possibility that his new government would consider a bailout of this situation with T-MARP (Troubled Mileage Asset Relief Plan).

For up-to-date information on the cancellation of frequent flyer programs, please contact the airline of your choice. Someone will likely remind you that it is April Fools Day.

It looks like the surprise first noted in the 2009 Medallion-level benefits for the SkyMiles program is having a slight delay but nonetheless, it is coming and the surprise is complimentary upgrades when traveling on an award ticket. (AKA: the lotto benefit). Originally scheduled for release this spring, looking at this timeline for the integration of the two frequent flyer programs, you’ll see a note about information being released in July:

Communicate launch date for when SkyMiles Gold and Platinum Medallion members will be eligible for Complimentary Medallion Upgrades on Award Tickets.

The concept is not new. In the nearly 28-year history of frequent flyer programs, there have been a program or two that did offer this type of benefit to their elite members, but truth be told, it is few and far between. So, if you are a SkyMiles or WorldPerks member who is looking for some good news, perhaps this is something worth looking forward to.

For all members, the timeline linked to above should help you keep up with the schedule for the integration of the two frequent flyer programs over the next year.

After a number of years spent writing about all kinds of travel things, mostly my love of miles and points, I occasionally come across something to pass along to my readers … other than advice about their frequent flyer program.

One gentleman that I have spoken at length with over the years is Steve Sickel, the SVP Marketing and Much More at IHG, who continues to squeeze great things from Priority Club. Steve wrote me a note about how the hotel industry is having its struggles and that they have a new “friends and family” program coming from their employees. Somehow I made the list for this special hotel deal and after reading the note a few times, it seems cool to pass along to my friends … and flyers.

So here’s the deal – I’m not wasting any time and just booked four rooms at Holiday Inn and am thinking of changing another rez to InterContinental.

Go travel and save yourself some money:

http://ihgfriendsandfamily.com/stevesickel

The rules: Good at over 4,100 IHG hotels worldwide for any reservation made between February 23 and May 31, 2009 for bookings made up to one year in advance of stay.

And, like me, tell them that Steve Sickel sent you!

Just in time to save a mile or two comes news that United Mileage Plus, one of the largest frequent flyer programs in the world, has lowered their popular 25,000-mile domestic U.S. award to only 20,000 miles. Good news and bad news. The good news is that this award is available for travel though May 21, 2009, which means if you act fast you can travel to a Spring Break destination for a 20 percent discount in miles. The bad news … members must book their travel by March 18, 2009 to get in on this special award price, which means you need to get going and go fast with your planning.

There does seem to be a caveat since United mentions “non-stop domestic award flights” which would mean that if you think you can fly roundtrip through 43 different hubs along the way (sound like a “mileage run”?), you can forget about it. Other things to consider before jumping on the 20-percent mileage saving bandwagon:

• Award travel booked and ticketed less than 21 days prior to departure is subject to an additional non-refundable close-in processing fee of up to $100 per award ticket
• Changes to travel dates are permitted in advance, though changes may be subject to additional fees
• This reduced award offer cannot be applied to previously issued tickets

All the other usual rules for this type of award redemption apply.

I think this may be of great interest to the Mileage Plus members who just aren’t quite there yet for an award in terms of their available miles. For others, saving 20 percent or 5,000 miles is nice, but I would not suggest you go flying just to burn your miles for this.

It’s nice to great and if the award fits, then fly it.

Details: Reduced Saver Award for 20,000 Miles

In the latest of a long run of skirmishes between the law and frequent flyer miles, the Frequent Flyer Depot has just lost all seven of their claims and contentions against American Airlines in this case:

Opinion: Second Court of Appeals, Selling Frequent Flyer Miles

A dispute that went on for years, it was the opinion of the court that indeed the American Airlines AAdvantage program had every right to police the efforts of companies like the Frequent Flyer Depot from soliciting their members to buy and sell their miles.

Reading through the transcript reinforced what I have warned various members of frequent flyer programs over the years, “Since 2005, American has stopped travel on tickets sold by Frequent Flyer (Depot) by freezing the accounts of AAdvantage members who American discovers have improperly sold their reward points to a third party.” Yikes, not sure if you are feeling lucky but there is certainly a risk. What else is interesting in this case is the admission of George Pirkle, one of the defendants, that “… American successfully discovers and stops travel on Frequent Flyer’s (Depot) transactions only between about three and four to ten percent of the time.” So, there you have it, once an airline starts to monitor one of these “coupon brokers,” members on average are busted from three to ten percent of the time once they sell their miles. Not sure if those odds sound good to you considering the resulting freeze on your account, but consider you are again warned of the consequences.

The things I do when researching the entire topic of frequent flyer miles. Read this and you’ll find out.

It’s no secret that March Madness is called such for a reason — reportedly 41% of the U.S. population are college basketball fans. What that means is with the NCAA Basketball tournament just weeks away, just about everyone will be watching the games a little closer, trying to find their sleeper, or Cinderella team. Additionally, researchers have also found that 27% of employees participate in March Madness office pools. The majority of these workers are men, as only 8% of women have participated in the workplace pool. Surveys show that almost half of them spend at least 30 minutes at work to fill out their brackets. With bracket pools ranging from $5 to $25 per person, office pools are now worth an incredible $2.5 billion dollars.

And that little place in the middle of the desert in Nevada? They expect between $80 and $90 million to be bet on the college games, though this year with the economy in the dumps, it will likely be less. According to news reports, Americans wager between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion on the NCAA tournament via online sportsbooks or betting Web sites despite the grey area of legality.

So, what does this mean and how is it tied into the topic of frequent flyer miles? Well, it’s because if you have your sights set on winning the big one this year and often find yourself winning the office pool (and even if you don’t) then let me show you how to turn that passion (OK, that skilled observation of winning basketball teams) into some frequent flyer miles.

If you’ve never heard of Bookmaker.com, then let me introduce you now. It is an online gambling Web site that allows you to wager on the March Madness tourney, in addition to possibly winning frequent flyer miles from playing online poker, casino games and even the racebook (the horses). And it’s not all about college basketball. You can bet on other basketball games, baseball, soccer, tennis, hockey, and even handball and motor racing. If that’s not enough, then consider you may hit the betting line by betting on who will win the next season of Dancing With The Stars.

Essentially you sign up and become a Gold, Platinum or Diamond member and by betting, playing different games, winning and reloads, you earn BetPoints which can be redeemed for actual and real frequent flyer miles with American AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, Northwest WorldPerks, United Mileage Plus or US Airways Dividend Miles.

And, to add to my point earlier, they will even host your office pool for March Madness if you are just now thinking about it.

Here’s the rub. I’m not a gambler by any means and would warn anyone reading this to consider your current enjoyment of the topic and would never recommend that you start playing the horses just for a chance at more frequent flyer miles. But if you are going to bet and enjoy it, then the question is, “Was it Connecticut to win the tourney with a side bet for LSU as the spoiler … or was it the miles?”

There have been a number of questions regarding the combined accounts of Northwest WorldPerks and Delta SkyMiles and what, if anything, will happen to the Delta SkyMiles Million Miler Program.

I’ve been snooping around and have it on good authority that by the year’s end, both accounts will be merged and the combined flight activity of the two accounts will count toward a newly revised Million Miler Program from SkyMiles. However, be forewarned that until the official merger date of the two programs later in 2009, there will be no combined activity that will get you the type of “lifetime” status that some members are hoping for. Here’s a review of the current SkyMiles program:

Million Miler Status

The Million Miler™ Program recognizes and rewards those customers who have flown an exceptional amount with us.

• Members who reach one million Medallion Qualification Miles are currently awarded complimentary annual Silver Medallion status.
• Members who reach two million Medallion Qualification Miles are currently awarded complimentary annual Gold Medallion status.
• Members who reach four million plus Medallion Qualification Miles are currently awarded complimentary annual Platinum Medallion status.
• Every time you reach a new level of Million Miler status you will have the opportunity to choose an exclusive gift by Hartmann™ as a token of our appreciation.

Million Miler balances are based on total Medallion Qualification Miles earned over a member’s lifetime.

The key here is to appreciate that the combined accounts will only count EQMs toward the Million Miler Program, not total miles earned or combined as the American AAdvantage program does. What is still up in the air is the continuation of the Hartmann gifts since most members are pretty well set with luggage and travel accessories and of course there is the budget cutting mandate that almost all companies face these days. A little recognition and the lifetime status are seen as enough of a perk these days so if the Hartmann perk is eliminated, we should still be pretty happy (though I do not know for sure that it will be cut).

Bottom line: even if you are currently merging accounts, do not assume and expect that this will create a new Million Miler status for you this year but certainly you can expect it for the next calendar year of elite status and this effects members of both programs once the EQMs are merged and accounted for.