If customers do snag an award seat but it's at the last minute, some airlines charge for that. Since December 2009, Continental has charged up to $75 for ... Piles of miles grow tougher to spendAs ways to fatten frequent-flier accounts jump and seats are cut, many feel the crunchHOUSTON CHRONICLEJune 19, 2010, 12:35AMWant to earn frequent-flier miles? Take surveys, use your credit card or overnight in a hotel. Consumers don't have to board flights to earn them. Yet, with so many members sharing in the mile-accrual frenzy, it's getting harder to score free airline seats. "They've given away these frequent-flier miles for anything and everything," San Diego-based business traveler Michael Tracy said. That's made it "impossible" for him to cash in his United Airlines-accrued miles for an award seat, said Tracy, who flew to Houston recently on United's Star Alliance partner Continental Airlines. In the wake of the global recession, airlines cut the number of planes they fly, and flights are now nearly full. Those fuller flights mean airlines can earn revenue for seats instead of giving them away, experts said. At the same time, it's become increasingly easy to earn miles as airlines have teamed up with credit card companies and other partners to reward consumers for purchases. "There are too many people earning more miles chasing fewer seats," said George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog, a low-fare alert site. He recently tried to book a flight using his miles to Europe, and no seats were available. "I've sort of given up," Hobica said. Seats that once only cost 25,000 frequent-flier miles round trip never seem to be available and consumers have to spend twice as much for the same award ticket, he said. Houston oil company worker Gary Rath found that out when he recently tried to book an award ticket to Savannah, Ga., and discovered that far more miles were needed than he was willing to spend. "It was actually cheaper to pay than to use the points," said Rath, who was en route to Denver out of Bush Intercontinental Airport recently. Continental spokeswoman Julie King said if passengers are flexible on travel dates and destinations, they can find award seats. Last-minute chargesIf customers do snag an award seat but it's at the last minute, some airlines charge for that. Since December 2009, Continental has charged up to $75 for bookings within 21 days of departure. American Airlines also charges up to $100 for booking an award seat within three weeks of a reservation. Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines eliminated fees of up to $150 for award tickets redeemed within 20 days of departure. Last summer, United also eliminated its last-minute booking fee. US Airways charges up to $50 to use frequent-flier miles. Last year, Continental's OnePass participants redeemed 1.3 million round-trip tickets, down from 1.6 million in 2008, according to the company's annual report. United Airlines, which plans to merge with Continental by year's end, awarded 2.1 million flight awards last year, compared with 2.3 million in 2008. That mirrored industry trends. In 2009, award redemption fell 14 percent to 11.7 million flight awards redeemed on American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, United and US Airways, FlyerTalk founder Randy Petersen said. That was in comparison to 2008, a record year for redemption because of the faltering economy, he said. "It was miles or money. If you're worried about the economy, you start redeeming your miles," Petersen said. Many fly on awardsAmerican Airlines had the greatest percentage of passengers flying on award tickets at 8.9 percent, followed closely by Delta at 8.5 percent and then United, Petersen said. "Almost 10 percent of the people are flying for free. I don't know of another business that gives away 10 percent of their inventory and people still aren't happy," Petersen said. "The airlines are still comfortable with giving rewards away, but it doesn't seem like that satisfies demand." American created the first such frequent-flier program in 1981, and now many airlines offer their most loyal customers rewards such as free seats, upgrades and merchandise. Then airlines started giving customers miles if they spent money with partner electricity providers, grocery stores and other retailers. "The majority of miles earned are earned not by flying the airline but by partner activity," said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks Co., a consulting firm. Financial institutions also offer credit cards branded with the airline name. The banks buy frequent-flier mileage in exchange for card-carrying customers paying with airline-branded cards. "The airlines have been realizing a tremendous windfall from the sale of these miles," Sorensen said. Surveying the airlinesHe recently worked with ezRez Software, which provides software for the travel industry, on a survey that found a large gap in airline award seat availability. The survey was conducted weekdays during February and March and included a Saturday night stay. It sought two award seats for the largest markets for each carrier. After 6,160 booking queries on 22 airline websites for travel between June and October, Southwest offered the best award seat availability with 99.3 percent success. In contrast, queries on US Airways ranked last, with only 10.7 percent of searches resulting in the availability of award seats. US Airways did not respond to requests for comments. Delta also ranked low, with 12.9 percent of searches resulting in available award seats. Delta's frequent fliers redeemed about 11 million award seats last year, and it had one of the highest award redemption rates per revenue mile flown in the industry, said Kent Landers, a Delta spokesman. The carrier is upgrading its award calendar to make it easier to redeem frequent-flier miles, and that change should be done by November, Landers said. Not just flight rewardsMany passengers join frequent-flier programs not simply for the award tickets, but for other perks. "I use them to upgrade, especially for my family," energy company worker Tracy Lattimer said. She flew from Brussels, Belgium, to Houston earlier this month and spent 40,000-plus of her Continental miles as well as another $500 to upgrade from her $1,100 economy seat for her round-trip flight. Such trans-Atlantic seats at the front of the plane can cost $6,000. International upgrades are where frequent-flier programs are still worth it, Hobica said. But he and other travel consumer experts now recommend that customers who fly domestic economy class consider trying cash-back credit cards instead of cards that earn frequent-flier miles. Earn cash awards with such credit cards, and then use those to buy tickets on any airline, he said. The newest trend is for consumers to accrue miles with everyday banking, said frequent flier guru Petersen, who recently started promoting Capital One Bank's rewards checking accounts as a paid spokesman.
|
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Frequent fliers find the free trips are fewer
Del.icio.us
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Email
(43)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Comments