Between April 15, 2009, and June 15, 2009, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members will earn Double Miles on all qualifying Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines flights.

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It’s not part of the preflight instructions, but some of Northwest’s best customers say it would be accurate.

In online forums and in notes to airline executives, Northwest’s Platinum Elites — the people who fly upwards of 75,000 miles per year — are protesting coming changes in the airline’s WorldPerks frequent flier program.

The changes come as Delta Air Lines digests Northwest’s operations, which it bought last year. Elite fliers on Northwest say new fees are looming for them, along with higher mileage requirements for free flights on some routes.

By complaining, they’re hoping history repeats itself. Last fall, Delta backed down on some new fees it had planned to charge on its flights, fees that are assessed for passengers taking Northwest flights.

Among the elite fliers, “the sentiment is basically, it’s not going to happen,” said Ben Plantan, a marketing executive in New York who takes about 10 international trips a year on Northwest.

An e-mail to Northwest Platinum Elite fliers last week tipped off customers to a new fee they find particularly onerous — paying up to $150 to change a reservation they booked using frequent flier miles. The memo said the new charges start March 1.

Delta acquired Northwest in October, and the airlines announced in December that they plan to merge their frequent flier programs by the end of this year.
Complaints from Delta’s high-mileage fliers last fall prompted the Atlanta-based airline to reverse a decision to adopt a fee for premium seats. Northwest still has the fee. At some point, that difference still needs to be reconciled.

In the most recent dust-up, Northwest elite fliers’ frustration is palpable in online postings at Flyertalk, a frequent flier forum. One posting is a detailed, six-page letter to Richard Anderson, Delta’s CEO, and Ed Bastian, CEO of Northwest.

Another elite flier wrote: “I think the only effective way for us, the very frequent fliers, to be successful, is to vote with our feet.”

Up to this point, the two airlines had “done a fairly good job” of splicing together their programs, said Randy Peterson, editor of Inside Flyer magazine, which covers frequent flier and other airline loyalty programs. “But I’m surprised by this move,” he added. Other airlines exempt their elites from these types of fees, he said. ” (via www.twincities.com) by John Welbes

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Only Southwest Airlines (LUV) allows fliers to rebook their flight at a lower fare and refunds the difference on a credit card.

Most other airlines make up the difference with a voucher for a future flight. A change fee — ranging from $75 to $150 for a domestic flight — may apply.

Southwest’s refund policy is the most consumer friendly, a USA TODAY survey of airline policies shows. Besides giving fliers money back, the airline has no change fee.

United, (UAL) JetBlue (JBLU) and Alaska (ALK) also do not charge a change fee but reimburse with a voucher that can be used up to one year from the issue date. Continental, (CAL) Delta, (DAL) US Airways (LCC) and Northwest issue vouchers but charge a change fee.

Frequent flier Rich Szulewski, of Memphis, says the refund policy benefited him and his family last year, when, “on a whim,” he checked the price of a Memphis-Orlando ticket on Northwest a week before departure. The price had dropped $175 below what he had paid for each of three non-refundable tickets. ” (via usatoday.com) by Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

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“Know if your carrier adheres to this rule — it could be your saving grace
Even though U.S. airlines have weakened the Rule 240 clauses in their contracts of carriage, it still pays to have a copy with you to show the airline’s ground service agents what your rights are when your flight is badly delayed or canceled.

Before the deregulation of the U.S. airline industry in 1978, every U.S. airline had to follow the same set of rules — including those dealing with “irregularities” such as canceled flights.
In those days, airline fares and routes were regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board, the predecessor to today’s Federal Aviation Administration.
One of these rules, number 240, specified that if an airline couldn’t get you to your destination on time, it was required to put you on a competitor’s flight if it would get you there faster than your original airline’s net flight. Airlines were even required to put you in first class if that’s all that was available.

They rarely advertised this perk, however, since airlines naturally didn’t want to fork over scarce cash to fly customers on a rival carrier. But seasoned road warriors have always known they could approach the counter and say the magic words “240 me” to be put on the next flight out.

Airlines formed after deregulation — such as JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit — were never required to follow these rules. Even so, some of these newer airlines may attempt to put you on another airline if there’s no other choice.
“While we don’t have a traditional Rule 240, we will purchase confirmed seats as necessary on another airline to get customers to their final destination in the event of irregularities within our control,” Todd Burke, JetBlue Airways’ vice president for corporate communications, told Airfarewatchdog.com.
In addition, if there’s a “significant delay,” JetBlue’s compensation may include a “partial or full refund,” in addition to accommodation on another airline.

However, in recent years, as “legacy” carriers such as American, United, and Delta have struggled to remain profitable, and some have slashed costs to emerge from bankruptcy, many have quietly weakened their Rule 240s.

United Airlines, for instance, no longer states in its contract of carriage that it will fly you in first class on a competitor, if that’s all that’s available, although it will transport you in coach class on another airline.

Although Delta Air Lines still has a Rule 240 in its contract, it no longer makes any mention of transporting passengers on other airlines in the event of a flight disruption.

Continental Airlines will upgrade a delayed passenger only on its own flights—not on a competitor’s—and only if doing so will get you to your destination earlier than would otherwise be the case.

US Airways has nothing in its terms of transportation concerning Rule 240, though spokesperson Amy Kudwa said the airline still applies the rule on all flights except international flights.

The good news is that Northwest Airlines still has a very traditional contract, little changed from the days of regulation. It will put you on another airline, in first class if necessary, if your original flight is delayed 60 minutes or longer.

It’s important to emphasize that these rules generally apply to situations within the airline’s control, such as mechanical problems. But if the flight irregularity results from a “force majeure event” such as bad weather, a riot, or a work stoppage, then all bets are off. And the legacy carriers may not have agreements with their newer competitors such as JetBlue and Southwest, so that they might not re-route you on those carriers.

Even if you are flying an airline that adheres to Rule 240, its employees may be reluctant to rewrite your ticket on a competitor because of the financial implications of doing so. So it pays to print out and carry a copy of the contract of carriage and present it to the gate agent if necessary.” By George Hobica (via msnbc.msn.com)

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Answer: As airlines look to cut capacity, a lot are rescheduling passengers on other flights — but some aren’t advising passengers of the changes ahead of time, according to Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com.

But before you even get to the airport, there are several things you can do to prevent a potentially messy experience.
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Banas recommends signing up for alerts through your airline or a booking Web site (such as Orbitz, Travelocity or Expedia) to keep you informed about your flight and any changes. These alerts, which can be directed to an e-mail address, cell phone or PDA, are especially important as your flight time approaches, Banas said.

If your flight is canceled completely for a reason within the airline’s control (read: not weather), Banas suggests being prepared with some information that can get you on another flight as soon as possible.

First, take a look at flights leaving around the time of your departed flight. It’ll save you time and effort at the airport if your flight gets canceled, and will give you a leg up when negotiating for a change to your ticket.

She also recommends printing out the airlines’ “Contract of Carriage” before you arrive at the airport. This contract will spell out what your rights are in the event of a canceled flight.

Fact File
A look at U.S. airlines’ domestic capacity cuts

AirTran Airways: Plans for capacity to fall 7 percent to 8 percent between September and December.

Alaska Airlines: Its parent company has said the carrier’s fourth-quarter mainline capacity will be cut by 5 percent compared with 2007.

American Airlines: Plans to cut its U.S. flying by up to 12 percent after the busy summer travel season ends.

Continental Airlines: Its plans include reducing flights in the U.S. this fall by about 10 percent.

Delta Air Lines: It has said it intends to cut domestic capacity by 13 percent during the second half of the year. A spokeswoman said a good portion of that would come during the fall.

JetBlue Airways: It has said it expects September capacity to be down 10 percent and does not expect to grow next year.

Northwest Airlines: It is planning to cut fourth-quarter consolidated domestic capacity by 7 percent to 8 percent.

United Airlines: Fourth-quarter mainline domestic capacity will shrink 16 percent compared with the previous year.

US Airways: It will reduce capacity 6 percent to 8 percent on domestic flights in the fourth quarter.
Source: The Associated Press
Although each airline has a slightly different contract of carriage, most airlines will rebook you on a flight within four hours of the original flight. If the airline can’t rebook you within that time, you can ask for a hotel voucher. Food vouchers are also negotiable.

When you get word of that canceled flight, Banas recommends calling the airline right away. Standing in the customer service line with hundreds of other passengers will likely cause you more headaches and might not get you the speedy change you would like. Instead, Banas suggests doing both: Dial the airline on your cell phone while you’re standing in the customer service line.” ( via www.msnbc.msn.com )

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World Perks Visa Signature Card

or Platinum World Perks Visa Signature Card

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Some summer vacation travelers may have sticker shock if they’ve looked at airfares lately, and those higher prices are prompting more consumers to try to cash in frequent flier miles.

Tom Parsons, CEO of bestfares.com, warned Wednesday that some Twin Cities travelers could pay double what they did to fly last July. Northwest Airlines and other big carriers have been raising fares in response to record oil prices.

Travelers have been sitting on a mountain of frequent flier miles that can be turned into millions of free tickets. But many chose not to redeem those miles when they could buy round-trip tickets to the East Coast for as low as $200. Now that some prices have doubled, using the miles makes more sense.

“If people want to avoid buying a higher fare, perhaps they are more likely to turn to their miles as money in the bank to redeem,” said Jay Sorensen, who just completed a study on frequent flier programs.

At Northwest, Bob Soukup, managing director of WorldPerks marketing, said frequent flier redemptions are up about 10 percent in recent months. “As the fares are going up, WorldPerks miles do become more valuable,” Soukup said.

The increase, he said, has been driven by a program introduced in February called PerkChoice, which allows a customer to pay for a trip half in cash and half in miles.

“We are continually trying to improve the program, to make it easier for our members to earn their miles and burn their miles,” he said.

Enrollment for Northwest’s WorldPerks Visa card program, which generates airline miles for purchases made with the card, is up 19.3 percent this year — another indicator of strong consumer desire to earn miles.

Northwest and American, the world’s largest airline, both indicated that about 7 to 8 percent of their passengers typically are traveling on award tickets from their frequent flier programs.” ( via ) by LIZ FEDOR, Star Tribune

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