Who would have guessed that my favorite topic is about the all-mighty – well, once all-mighty frequent flyer mile? Probably any of you that read my thoughts and comments on the topic. Well, in a partnership with the venerable business travel journalist from London, Roger Collis, I’m heading that way with the On The Fly blog, that is commenting on the general topics and conditions of business travel. As a result, you will be able to read my remarks for On The Fly at the soon to launch (really, just a few days away) rogerandrandy.com where you’ll find that Roger and I go at it personally and professionally on the topic of business travel, sometimes agreeing, many times not but at least providing readers with a different and new perspective of opinions.

Toward this change, I’ve decided to change the name of this blog, hosted by BoardingArea.com to that of Mileopoly, playing of course with the topic of frequent flyer miles and as well with the idea they are a monopoly on loyalty among travelers and that perhaps securing an upgrade or a free award may be more like a game than anything else. Of course millions of members have found some pleasure with the chase.

So, head of to Mileopoly here:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/mileopoly/

or head off to my new business travel only blog here:

http://rogerandrandy.com/

(to launch in mid-September)

I’m perusing though The Wall Street Journal today and noticed a news piece that mentions a plan by US Airways for a public offering. Since this blog is not about the general financial market, but rather about the topic of frequent flyer miles, something mentioned in the article caught my eye. It mentions that Derek Kerr, the CFO of US Airways “was considering selling frequent-flier miles to its credit card issuer …” That would be Barclays’ (since Bank of America is exiting the picture) and would be similar to virtually every other major airline that has sought or is seeking liquidity in a tight credit market. Chase recently bought $600 million of advance frequent flyer miles from United Mileage Plus and Chase has worked similar deals with Continental as has American Express and Delta, etc. So, no ground breaking story there. BUT. But, it begs the question of would this be a smart move by Barclay’s and that answer is mixed. If we look at the recent decision (a very bad decision IMHO) by US Airways to dimiss the value of their elite-level program for it’s most frequent flyers, that decision may come back to haunt US Airways in this matter. While US Airways can claim that they have detected little or no loss of elite flyers to other airlines now offering a much richer elite level program, it is always difficult to know if those saying they are or have left will actually do so. So, one can easily determine there is some loss, thought perhaps not the complete loss that might be depicted on various Web sites and passenger action groups like SaveDividendMiles.com. But, there is little doubt that there is some bleed to the elite ranks at Dividend Miles.

It should come as no surprise that elite members have the highest concentration of program credit cards and of course typically the highest annual spend. This means that with the exit of any elite flyer because of this change to the elite-level program of Dividend Miles, there will likely be an exit of critical spend for Barclays and their relationship with US Airways. So, with very needed revenue from the elite flyer gone, so goes very needed revenue from the bank of Barclay’s. What exactly does not US Airways understand in this whole picture.

So, I think that the very next move for SaveDividendMiles.com to suggest to those registered for that effort, is to let Barclays know exactly how they feel about the “value” of the US Airways Dividend Miles program given their latest “cutback” of benefits. If US Airways won’t listen, then maybe they will take a call from the Chairman of Barclay’s Bank when they are discussing this advance purchase of miles as indicated in the WSJ article. In some respects, I hate to suggest such actions because it may put US Airways in a situation they had not anticipated, but, the reality is that they themselves put themselves into this situation by blaming their elite flyers – that it costs to much to keep their loyalty. Elites are much more than about the BIS (butt-in-seat) miles that most connect the programs to.

Now, taking this topic a little farther, I wonder if US Airways has been doing much thinking lately about this. If they made the right decision, then it has not had any effect at the Rio Salado headquarters. But, if SaveDividendMiles.com has some merit, then perhaps there is a solution almost at hand. Use the advance purchase of miles by Barclay’s into a plan to return the elite-level benefits to the rightful owners and simply angle in a take-up of the Barclay’s card for that requirement. In other words, acquire the Barclay’s card and we’ll pretend that nothing ever happened and we’ll even retro back any elite bonus miles to Aug. 6th. Small favor to fix a huge problem for US Airways. BUT. And there’s that word again. US Airways and Barclays should not and I repeat, NOT, grow complacent that this is a fix for this change. It’s a temporary band-aid, but it’s one that i think is even easier for other programs to adopt than the complete exit of elite bonuses – and I’m not wild about suggesting that.

SO, moving along on my plastic thoughts idea, the above got me thinking about the nearness of the Delta-Northwest merger which by all accounts is done with, just awaiting the “paperwork.” In InsideFlyer, I wrote that in a variation of the cola wars, it was likely that American Express would win the shootout of the credit card supremacy battle over US Bank on the exclusive spending sponsor for SkyMiles. I was thinking recently that that suggestion might not be exactly true. OK, I thought that in the heat of the battle of the words being poured out about all the airline mergers at that time. Now that I’ve had a chance to think a little more, I’m thinking that there should be two banks in the new SkyMiles program. I would suggest to SkyMiles (hey, this is free advice, just like I’m giving to US Airways above…) that they convince American Express that’s it’s OK to not be the Supreme Commander of the plastic wars with Delta. While American Express has a very excellent product – they aren’t a bank. That’s right, while SkyMiles can pummel you with offers to acquire a “credit” card, they don’t perform at all in offering you a “debit” card and if you’ve read anything up on that topic, debit is very much alive and well. In fact, in a report I read recently from the Federal Reserve (don’t you read their stuff?), I noticed that from 2003 – 2006, that credit card use remained steady at 23% of total spend (vs. debit cards, checks and ACH/EBT) over those four years while debit card use rose from 19% to 27%, besting credit card use and trailing only slightly checks at 33% and they should overtake that in the next two years. The facts indicate that debit card use is extremely high and if you look over at American, Continental and United, you’d see that they all have a bank issued debit card that earns frequent flyer miles. It would be foolish for Delta and even for American Express to ignore this very positive partnership, one in which both US Bank and American Express could live equally happy since it would be given that they do not compete on the same product offer. Now, American Express MAY believe that they can convert possible debit card users in the SkyMiles membership base to their credit card, but I’ve got to say, “it ain’t so.” So i suggest that both brands of partnerships and SkyMiles and WorldPerks executives think about this and make a good decision for all members of these programs. And there is more to this. US Bank can offer other types of products and services in the financial area that American Express can’t or doesn’t, so no one has to blink.

And that my friends are my thoughts on plastic.

I’d like to introduce you to perhaps the best new business travel blog in the universe. Called The Middle Seat Terminal, it comes from the words of one of the best ever journalist to cover the topic, Scott McCartney who pens the weekly The Middle Seat column for The Wall Street Journal and his new trusty sidekick, Journal reporter Matt Phillips. When reading the tag-team approach to the topic, it works as well if not better than Batman and Robin and even the early Siskel and Ebert days before they became the recent Ebert and Roeper (infamous movie review duo’s).

The new blog tagline states that it “unpacks” news for travelers and it does that, in a style new to what you may stereotype The Wall Street Journal for. For instance, I doubt that you’d find the following two stories in the Journal: Bad Trips: Man Tries to Open Door at 35,000 Feet and Someone Built a Concorde Out of Legos. But it hasn’t gone all Hollywood, it retains a sincere baseline of stories such as Why Buy Airline Stocks? and Which Airlines Could Face a Cash Pinch in 2009?.

As well, it uses and unpacks news from other media sources, all with insight and a light touch of humor. In referring to a story in The Kansas City Star, it says this, “Here’s the link to the KC Star’s story, although – fair warning – a really annoying ad launches over the story.” Would The Wall Street Journal really warn you about an annoying ad in their analysis of the news of travel? Here they do and I love the differing writing style of both writers to the blog.

Trust me, you’ll still find the best of analysis of the normal Middle Seat column combined with the levity of blogging. And interestingly enough, I found in it’s early days so far, a story with two slightly different recaps. For instance in today’s newspaper column, How US Airways Vaulted to First Place, it examines how US Airways made changes to soar in their on-time performance. In the blog, it looks at the same topic though expands it to comparing the change to that of a football coach with the right playbook, the right equipment, the right facilities, the right people in the right places. And the blog analysis is more on the leadership it requires for a turnaround, ala Continental and Delta, than on the process of the change, ala the newspaper column. I love this “rest of the news…” type approach and find the combination of news and comment to be perfect.

On the blog’s initial launch – nothing could be more perfect and with the suggestion it become a must read for you is that the blog is entirely free to read, not bundled in the pay-per-view that some sections of the online version the The Wall Street Journal has.

http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/

I recently read that The European Parliament, concerned that many airlines are misleading passengers and that people end up paying a lot more for travel because of the extra fees that travelers haven’t been made properly aware of, agreed to ban airlines from marketing fares that do not include the taxes and surcharges that these travelers have to pay. While the airlines have until the end of the year to get in line with this change, it does seem like the U.S. in it’s dodgy approach to fair pricing of products like air travel again continues to slip behind in any leadership to this growing problem. We as travelers are getting a bit fed up with this practice and all we’ve ever asked for is “what will this trip cost us to travel?” Seems reasonable wouldn’t you say? But unfortunately it continues to fall on deaf ears in Congress.It takes more than one person to say, “I’m mad as hell and not going to take this anymore…” 

ExpressJet Airlines is suspending its service as of September 2, blaming high fuel costs. ExpressJet is the latest airline to suffer from higher costs of fuel, though likely it also had competition woes as well.This means that JetSet members better get going to redeem any awards they may have earned and plan to use them prior to the September 2nd date. While it seems the airline will continue to fly as a Continental Express partner, I don’t see anything coming our way to convert those credits into OnePass miles – such is the hard reality of competition these days. This airline has done something that no other did – actually provide a warning to potential and current passengers and in this case, members of their frequent flyer program. Of the past five frequent flyer collapses, all were without warningand all members completely lost their inventory of  miles, points and credits. How can ugly get uglier? Looks like we’re going to find out. Makes that fuel surcharge on award tickets a little less important today. Yes, I’ve got credits in the JetSet program and now need to figure out – do I try and fly them more to reach the next award level or just cut my potential losses? Interesting challenge … 

When Delta recently announced they were adding fuel surcharges to frequent flyer program redemption, it was virtually the last remaining resort for this type of fee. As we know, for quite some time Delta and many other airlines had added fuel surcharges for paying passengers. With the new fee scheduled to go into place on Aug. 15th and US Airways’ into effect on Aug. 6th, some frequent flyers will be surprised to know that they truly were the last resort for this action. Back in April, Delta started to add fuel surcharges for it’s employees flying on “buddy passes.” While those fuel surcharges are about half what frequent flyer award members will be paying, they certainly are humble in comparison to what revenue/paying passengers are paying. So despite what you might think of this latest wrinkle, knowing that Delta charged their own employees a fuel surcharge before members of its SkyMiles program is something worth knowing.

In 2006 when Continental introduced their new Presidential World MasterCard, it was unique for two reasons: it was the first contemporary card that included airport lounge access and it also, while not the first, included the ability to earn EQM’s toward elite status based on card spending. The unique angle there was the EQM’s were flexible and could last years, thuogh you only earned 2,000 of them per $25K spend.

Fast forward to 2008.

I’ve stumbled on something that I think answers many a question I get over the year: There will soon be a credit card in which you can actually earn your total elite status without flying. But not wanting to concentrate just on that fact, let’s take a look. Called, Delta Reserve, this new generation credit card has plenty of bells and whistles and just may replace the Platinum that has so long been a must-have for the road warrior. Essentially for $450 a year (hold the blood pressure, let me explain what I know of this cost) you get Delta Crown Room membership which for us regular folks starts at $400 a year anyways (OK, I really have the miles to prove some form of metal elite with Delta and can get my Crown Room membership at $375 a year (that’s Silver Medallion for you in the know)) and that’s a key. If you are going to spend that kind of money for a lounge membership this might be something you consider. OK, so you pony up $450 for a card that included airport lounge membership that has a nice unique name that no one – NO ONE – else has right now (I have 3 “Platinum” cards right now and none of them are THE Platinum Card (from American Express).

Back on topic, sorry. The key reason for this card is that for every $30K of credit card spend you will earn 15K of MQM’s (that’s Delta talk for elite qualifying miles). So, spend $60K a year and guess what … you’ve got enough MQM’s for Silver Medallion with Delta which is also respected over at Continental and Northwest. But what I like most of all with this new card is that you can actually gift the 15K MQM’s. Friend in trouble of not requalifying? Hello gift guy/gal. And don’t get me started on what may show up on eBay at the end of the year so that others don’t have to do the “mileage run blues” at years end to requalify.And of course this card will include the new Pay With Miles program which is a nice addition to getting the free seats you want if you know how to use the system.

Now, I don’t know all the details and there may be more but the card as  I understand it is to be announced later in April and there may be other fine print things that I haven’t been able to uncover yet, but I have no doubt this card is real and coming and for the right person may just be the ticket to getting into the lounges and into the elite programs with far less travel than ever imagined.

Now, as to the argument that this is bad news for those who actually earn elite by flying. Well, I’m one of those guys and will elbow my way to the upgrade list with the best of them. I don’t feel too threatened. Obviously this could only get someone to Silver just by spending. It could get the Golds to Platinum – which may be worth it’s cost anyway – but given there are hundreds of thousands of flyers I’m already fighting with daily, a few more doesn’t harm me especially if Delta feels this card can raise enough $$$ to keep them flying. Fact is, I can spot the guy with the spending card for elite and if anything, they are always good when I need someone to carry my bags around! Just a joke….. 

So, back to the top. This is certainly a new generation of what Continental started two years ago and as far as I can tell, is certainly worth a look over once it becomes real later in April. I like the name … Reserve. But I do know that this will never replace my love of mileage runs in December to requalify for elite!

P.S. I expect some new plastic fantastic from AAdvantage/Citibank if this keeps up.

OK, I’m no bonus virgin and have certainly earned my fair share of big bonuses in my time. But a different sort of “Mileage Run” really caught my eye. Mileage … as in car miles. Maybe it should be referred to as an “Odometer Run,” a “Rental Run,” or even a “Car Hop.”  Over on FlyerTalk.com, member Mrp Alert decided that the best way for him to pump up his miles was to take advantage of some of the ongoing car rental bonus offers being offered. While in the 80s, car rentals were often seen as the way to best the programs with thousands of bonus miles, they have taken a far back seat in recent years with changes such as earning only 50 miles per rental day being somewhat standard. Hardly something that turns my motor over on bonus day. So this member does his math and plots out a course of action, along with a goal: 100,000 Miles in 45 Days Renting Cars.

His challenge to himself: Can I accrue 100,000 miles in 45 days exclusively from renting cars. Why 45 days, you may ask? Well, Northwest Airlines started a promotion on December 10 and my first scheduled National rental was around December 15. Meanwhile, Continental started a promotion set to end January 31. The dates were defined, the challenge of topping up my BMI, Virgin Atlantic, and Continental Frequent Flyer Accounts was set, and I am ready to compete.

I’ll give you the break down of his success as of January 31:

Estimated Total Miles Earned: ~101,596

Estimated Total $$$ Spent: $1,209.53

Cost Per Mile in Cents (CPM): 1.19

Total Rental Days: 74

Total # Cars Rented: 28

Average Rental Length: 2.64 Days

Max Cars Rented At Same Time: 6

Average Cost Per Rental: $16.37

Most expensive cost per mile: 2.98 cents per mile

Least expensive cost per mile: 0.41 cents per mile

Mean cost per mile: 1.17 

OK, now, some of you will probably call the authorities to have this person  sent to the frequent flyer funny farm, but let’s take a look at his smart math. He spent $1,200. But he earned enough miles to be used in the $5-7,000 range for travel tickets. when used internationally in the right class of service. Savings? You do the math. My favorite part? There’s no doubt this guy could help his kids with their math homework and my favorite moment of all this: when he had six rental cars out at a single time. And there are those that say miles aren’t as much fun as they used to be? Well, meet Mrp Alert.

As most frequent flyers know, there’s nothing more valuable … or personal than the type of membership card you have with any given travel loyalty program. Of course we speak of the elite cards with all those precious reminders of rare minerals and metals. But two programs have just recently taken the concept of “you are your card” to new levels. Both Starwood Preferred Guest and InterContinental Hotels Priority Club have new personalized cards which most members have yet to learn about. So let’s learn.

Priority Club:

Customized member card. When you log into priorityclub.com, click on the “Customer Support” tab located about half way down on the right. From there, click on “Member Materials” and finally to “Customize Member Card.” This allows you to replace the card you currently have with a custom card which will allow you to have printed on the back of your Priority Club Card, the membership numbers from any of 52 other loyalty programs, including other hotel programs and “other.” You can have up to 10 programs listed on the back of your membership card pre-printed with your choice of the abbreviation of the program and your membership ID number. I think this is pretty nifty and good use of that space on the back. Leave it up to Priority Club to continue to explore these boundaries, after all they are the hotel program that allows you to redeem their points for hotel stays at other hotels like Marriott or Hilton.

Starwood Preferred Guest:

Now, we know that SPG is one of the best programs for branding and very memorable hotels like the W. Well, they have brought that same attention to the personal touch to their membership cards for their Platinum AND Gold members (Note: not all Gold members are eligible). Referred to as “Design Your Own 2008 SPG Card,” it allows these elite members the opportunity to create their own member card for the first time ever by choosing the choice of 16 different properties that reflect the Starwood experience or for us regular folks, our travel inspirations. Among those you can choose from: St. Regis Aspen, W Maldives, Le Meridien Bora Bora. I don’t know about you but yes, they are on my Bucket List for frequent flyers, especially the W Maldives. If you haven’t seen this yet or forgot or just need a reminder, go here to test out your membership to qualify:

Choose Your Card

Here’s my two faves if I could … (I didn’t re-qualify at the level required)

OR

The Season? Wasn’t that last year when we referred to it as the “Holidays?” Uh, not if you’re a frequent flyer.From Jan. 1 through roughly March is “the season” for frequent flyers when  we find out just how well we did last year with our loyalty choices. I know, many frequent flyers focus on their miles, but it’s the hardware that really counts. Hardware. You know: gold, platinum, silver, bronze, all those lovely metals and jewels, including diamonds. You think they are only a woman’s best friend? Sorry, we frequent flyers have best friends as well.Last week I got my first hotel reward of the season when I got my credentials for re-qualiflying for Priority Club Platinum Elite with the side of “Ambassador” thrown in. Cool you might say? Well, to be frank, I was extremely disappointed in my performance last year. I had a choice to remain top elite in several programs or super elite in one or two and I went for a broad assortment of elites. Why so glum? Well, I just barely missed Royal Ambassador with Priority Club. Hey, it’s not to be ashamed of to be at the Ambassador level, but when others I know invite me over to their room at an Inter-Continental Hotel stay or other and the goal is to raid the mini-bar, well, they are bragging and I have to let them because over in my nicely upgraded room, I’m paying for the mini-bar. There’s really nothing like this elsewhere in a benefit that allows a Royal Ambassador this benefit: Complimenary mini-bar [including the alcohol]. Stay refreshed with as many items as you like, free-of-charge.It’s somewhat an obsession on mine because years ago i screwed up “royally.” I had made Royal Ambassador for a single year and unfortunately it was one of those years in which I had scaled back my travel, I’m thinking right after 9/11 and as a result I did not get to enjoy the “raids” as I had hoped. For whatever reason I had thought I was still a member and did the mini-raid on a stay the following year and upon checkout was faced with a mini-bar bill that easily exceeded my room rate. You could have blown me over with a feather and the only good thing was that I was not traveling with anyone so was only faced with personal rejection and despair, no witnesses (until now)But I’ve been back on the road as best I can to manage my miles and points for the best laid plans of Platinum and beyond and this morning was surprised and relieved to get via email a note from United Mileage Plus that I had been invited into the exclusive Global Services program. I have worked my way up over the years, first as a Gold member, then 1K for several years and now this. With United being the largest carrier out of Colorado Springs and of course Denver, it does help, but I have other loyalties as well. I actually took some notes during a recent trip in which I note my mental condition at the gate when wielding such vast power as the ultimate elite. I’ll post that later on because for just a moment, I truly was a Master of the Universe which is not typically like me as I come from meager roots of 22F, having earned and flown and studied my way toward the front cabin.Anyway, welcome to “The Season” and with more elite cards to come, this is truly my favorite time of the year.