“He knew he had the miles and thought he had plenty of time.
Yet when Greg Marzolf tried to redeem frequent-flier miles early last year for a ticket to Colorado over Christmas — several months away — the Pendleton, S.C., resident said US Airways told him the return flight was off limits.
That’s a blackout date, they said. What gives, Marzolf wondered.
As it turns out, US Airways — Charlotte’s dominant airline, with more than 80 percent of daily flights — has flagged several dozen dates on which travelers can’t use Dividend Miles. Some apply to U.S. travel, while others are for overseas flights.
As the cost of tickets continues to climb, travelers who hope to cash in frequent-flier miles are finding more hurdles to getting a free flight.
Besides requiring more miles and making fewer seats available, airlines have expanded blackout dates so they can keep seats open for paying customers, said David Stamey, director of consumer and industry affairs for the International Airline Passengers Association.
“The restrictions have gotten tighter,” said Stamey, whose group promotes passengers’ rights and provides discounts on hotel rooms, rental cars and insurance. “You don’t get to redeem your miles, sadly, for the trip you would like to take.”
Policies on blackout dates vary by airline. United Airlines and American Airlines said they don’t have blackout dates. Southwest Airlines, like US Airways, posts dates on its Web site.
Travis Christ, vice president for sales and marketing at US Airways, said the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier shares those dates so customers can better plan their frequent-flier travel. The dates are off-limits for miles, he said, because US Airways can fill planes with paying passengers.
“It’s pretty simple economics,” Christ said. “Those are very high demand days, and we want to be upfront with our customers.”
If US Airways made even a small number of seats available for frequent fliers, he said, it would have to make up that lost revenue somewhere else.
“You’re pushing down on the balloon, and it’s going to pop up somewhere else,” he said. “There’s no free lunch.”
Forget Thanksgiving
Some blackout dates are obvious, such as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday afterward. US Airways also has blacked out every Saturday from June 14 to October 11 — nearly four months — for flights to and from Europe.Other dates in March and April are in high demand because of school spring breaks and the Easter holiday, Christ said, adding that blackout dates are studied by the airline’s revenue management division.” (via www.charlotte.com ) by JEFFERSON GEORGE
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