US Airways has matched United’s policy of charging $25 dollars to check a second bag. I don’t think they will be the last. Here’s a link to their policy.

Flying in winter can be tricky. You never know what may happen. I’d planned a quick trip to North Carolina for a couple of weeks. I booked on Delta via Atlanta, not because it was convenient, but because 1) it was cheap; and 2) I wanted to pad my miles balance. There ya’ go.

Well, the forecast turned south earlier this week, and of course, Washington gets a winter storm on the day I want to travel. We boarded right on time, and were ready to go. Of course, we had to de-ice, so there was a bit of a delay with that. Unfortunately, while we were getting de-iced, the tower pronounced the current weather conditions to be “moderate” freezing rain. And Delta (and probably most other airlines) doesn’t fly in moderate freezing rain. The captain explained things pretty well, closing out his announcement with “it could be 10 minutes, or it could be 2 hours.” That wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we weren’t already on the plane and worse yet, 20 feet from the gate!

In any event, the weather gods smiled on us, and within about 20 minutes, the freezing rain turned to “light.” Unfortunately, we had to de-ice again. Not that de-icing is a bad thing, but it did add another 20 minutes or so to our delay. In other words, we were running one hour late. We blasted off in short order right after the second de-icing session and bounced all the way to Atlanta. The Captain asked the flight attendants to remain seated for the entire flight, so no beverages.

We touched down in Atlanta just about 10 minutes prior to the departure of my connection. Needless to say, I wasn’t going to make it. But here’s where Delta really came through. As we taxied to the gate, I surfed to the Delta.com mobile site on my blackberry, and found that Delta had already rebooked me to the next flight about two hours later, and placed me in first class. I was working on a tight schedule, but it’s surely better having something lined up than having to fish your way through a long line of people to get rebooked. I didn’t even rush off the flight. I strolled to the nearest Delta Crown Room to confirm my new flight. The first words out of the agent’s mouth were “I’m sorry.” And the next words were “I will take care of you.” Frankly, I think that’s pretty damn cool, and is one of the reasons I like Delta. Within one minute, I had my new boarding pass in hand, and soon found myself enjoying a glass of Cabernet, which is complimentary in Delta’s Crown Rooms. Things weren’t so bad after all. And I will remember the way Delta handled this when I need to travel again.

I’ve given the recent announcement by US Airways regarding elimination of the 500 mile minimum some additional thought, and I’ve reached a few conclusions:

1) There are a handful reasons that I no longer fly US Airways, and this is NOT one of them
2) US Airways is not the only airline on earth to only award actual miles flown
3) US Airways MAY not be the only U.S. airline to implement this policy

I think the jury is still out on whether or not this sticks. As I said, there are other airlines that only award actual miles flown. But that doesn’t mean that this policy change will be successful. US Airways still has to compete with the domestic airlines, and this change may be one that the other carriers don’t feel is worth the hassle. While I’m sure that the carriers would love to do something about getting the large and ever-growing pool of unused miles under control, I can’t help but think that the number of miles generated by the 500 mile minimum pales in comparison to the miles generated through “alternate” means such as credit cards.

So…this will be interesting to watch, and you can bet that I’ll be watching.

I just thought I’d kick this post off with that catchy headline. I’ll say it again, the frequent flier sky is not falling. I know it’s hard to believe given this week’s announcement from US Airways that they are eliminating the 500 mile minimum and now flights will only earn the amount flown. In other words, the 200 or so mile Shuttle to LaGuardia will now only earn 200 miles instead of 500 miles. And there always seems to be some pundit preaching about how the confluence of tight capacity and high demand have whittled away at frequent flier seat availability. And my favorite is when the news shows interview some slouch at the airport who complains about having x number of bazillion miles that they can’t use. And I always think to myself, “that’s because you’re not trying!!!”

Perhaps I’m the luckiest SOB on earth, but I have to tell you something. I have never failed to redeem frequent flier miles for the award I’ve wanted. Yes, you read that correctly. NEVER. I’ve flown first class around the country and across the pond on miles. Other times, I use miles to upgrade tickets that I purchase…..and earn more miles!

Just this week, I took a look at availability on United from IAD to London. While I couldn’t find seats on every single flight, there was no shortage of availability at the “restricted” level on the days I wanted to fly. I’ve had even greater luck with American AAdvantage, and that’s one reason why I continue to stick with AA and the AAdvantage program. Of course, my having worked there for 10 plus years provided me with some insight into how the program works that others might not have. But there is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there to support that American has the best award availability of all the airlines.

In any event, I just felt like blabbering. I’ve had enough of the world is ending for frequent flier miles posts and wanted to say something. Pick the program that works best for you and start earning miles.

I’m writing from one of my favorite coffee shops near our new home in D.C. If you’re ever in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in D.C., check out Sticky Fingers Bakery. The coffee is hot and the wi-fi is free. And I like free wi-fi!

In any event, I’m in kind of a mood. Not unhappy by any means….just in a mood. Reading Will Allen’s blog just now got me to thinking…. I miss the road. I don’t travel nearly as much as Will Allen, or anyone else for that matter. My work previously kept me on the road about 25 percent of the time. But since accepting a promotion back in the summer, I haven’t traveled at all for work, and I miss it!

I don’t want to be a real road warrior like Will and so many others. Hell…like I was several years ago. But I do miss the changing scenery of business travel. I miss the new faces, places and friends that one sees on the road. I miss my friends at the airport. Yes, travel enough, and you will get to know some of the staff at your home airport. And what a difference having someone who knows you at an airline can make!

On March 1, I will lose my American AAdvantage elite status. At the end of March, my Admirals Club membership expires, and I won’t be renewing. No need to really. I don’t travel that much, and when Lady Astrojets and I do travel for pleasure, my American Express Platinum card will get us into the Admirals Club as well as the Continental, Delta and Northwest clubs when traveling on those airlines. But nonetheless, I’m still just a little down about the whole thing. I’m ready to travel again, and I don’t know when I will. Yes, I must be sick….. I miss the road.

If you haven’t heard, US Airways announced via email early this morning that it will eliminate the 500 mile minimum from it’s Dividend Miles program, and all flights will now earn only actual miles. This means travelers on a 180 mile shuttle flight will now only earn 180 miles as opposed to the usual minimum of 500 miles.

I’m not sure how I feel about this, but it certainly devalues Dividend Miles versus other frequent flyer schemes if the other airlines do not match. The change goes into effect on May 1 for tickets purchased on or after March 8th. There are two reasons for such a lead time: 1) computer systems need to be reprogrammed, and 2) it gives US Airways time to test the waters and see if the other airlines match.

Frankly, I think that there is at least a small chance that the other airlines will latch on to this. The pool of miles versus available seats is just way out of whack, and the airlines are searching for ways to reduce that pool. This could be interesting.

Now…I know exactly how I feel about the other change announced by US Airways this morning. On May 1, US Airways will implement a “quick ticketing” fee of $50 dollars for Dividend Miles reservations made within 14 days of departure at usairways.com. Making the award reservation with a US Airways phone agent will cost you $75 dollars. These fees are nothing but pure money grabs, and frankly, insult the intelligence of travelers by suggesting otherwise in this day of electronic tickets which cost nowhere near $50 dollars to issue. American is one of the worst offenders in this regard, charging $75 dollars when making a reservation with less than 21 days until traveling, and $100 dollars at 6 days or les s prior to travel! Such fees almost made sense in the day when you had to call the program and have an award certificate sent to you prior to ticketing. But now they are nothing more than pure profit!

United Airlines is implementing a $25 dollar service charge for checking a 2nd bag. You can read the details of United’s new policy here. In summary, you will pay $25 dollars to check more than one bag unless you are an elite Mileage Plus member or have Star Alliance Silver or Gold status. Passengers who purchase refundable fares, including First or Business class fares, will also be exempt.

While United is first out of the gate with this, don’t expect them to be the last. Expect the big airlines to follow United’s lead on this one in pretty short order. If I’m wrong, I’ll admit it here first.

Airline mergers are all the rave now. In reality, they are talked up by Wall Street suits in order to generate fees. Trust me, they don’t really do all that much for you and me. In theory, I lean Republican. I’m all for business combinations, and frankly, airline mergers look pretty good on a spreadsheet. But when the rubber meets the runway….that’s where airline mergers go wrong. They are great in theory, put pretty difficult to pull off in practicality.

Just because airline A flies A320′s and airline B flies A320′s doesn’t mean that they have common fleets. The galley layouts are usually different, the seat layouts are usually different, and the engines can even be different. And I won’t even talk about combining organized employee groups….that deserves its own post…or perhaps a book.

Believe it or not, I’ve been tinkering with what to say about this subject for days now. I worked for one great big airline that bought two airlines while I was working for them. One rather small (Reno Air), and the other, not so small (TWA). From a high-level, these deals looked good on paper. Reno operated a small fleet of MD-80′s, American operated the world’s largest fleet of MD-80′s. What’s a few more airframes of the same type? Well, no two airlines’ aircraft are the same, even if they are the same type. The Reno buyout led to the great sickout of AA pilots, impacting thousands of travelers for days.

Then there was TWA. A deal that was only done in response to the United-USAirways merger. Of course, who knew that the United deal would falter, and then 9-11 would happen? As we now know, AA wound up shelving TWA’s St. Louis hub for the most part. And even worse, most of
TWA’s employees wound up on the street as the industry and the airline downsized. Ah, the memories.

In any event, it sounds as if a Delta-NWA deal is in the works. While the whole thing could fall apart, I expect that something is going to get announced. And when it does…look out. Expect the rest of the industry to look for a partner to tie up with in short order. I imagine that there is a general view that if deals don’t get done under this Justice Department, they won’t happen. So most execs see this as their last shot at making something happen. Go ahead and pop the popcorn. It’s going to get cute. I have more to say….. as soon as I organize my thoughts.