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Aussie first crashes and burns The first serious attempt to sell Aussie frequent flyer points has been nipped in the bud before getting off the ground. An upcoming eBay auction of one million Qantas frequent flyer points has been pulled off the Internet marketplace after a letter from the airline�s lawyers. A US-based seller was proposing to sell a �white envelope� along with points for the American Airlines Aadvantage program. But closer inspection revealed the idea was to have the points redeemed from the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, which is linked with the American scheme through the One World alliance. Before the item was pulled off eBay, the highest bidder offered US$16,100, or almost $30,000 for the package. The seller was to set up a Starpoints account and transfer the amount of Aadvantage points needed to claim one million Qantas Frequent Flyer points. The buyer would then change their address details to redeem the points from the account. The seller reportedly earned the points through a frequent guest program at a chain of American hotels. Qantas says it intervened in the auction because the transaction would contravene the terms and conditions of its frequent flyer program, namely that points can not be bought, sold or exchanged. Penalties included ticket cancellation and charges for flights already taken. Qantas policy only allows point redemption between family members. They do it overseas The situation is different overseas, and particularly in the US, where point swapping and selling is a common occurrence. For instance, Cathay Pacific has just cut a deal with a Canadian point exchange program called Points.com. Under the program, Asia Miles frequent flyers can now exchange their points with other programs such as Air Canada, American Airlines and Delta Air which also participate in the scheme. Giving points away is also common. One US-based frequent flyer magazine has been offering frequent flyer point vouchers as competition prizes for some time now without much hassle. The vouchers (issued in the magazine owner�s name) are accompanied by short letters explaining that they had not been bought or bartered for. The system seems to be working fine. Turning a blind eye While Qantas acted quickly in the million points auction, they seem to tolerate the common practice of auctioning Qantas Club Member's Guest Passes (which are also not transferable). At the time of writing, there are 5 separate auctions of these precious passes on eBay. Double standards? Perhaps, but its probably more to do with Qantas encouraging any type of promotion of its Qantas Club.
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Open Seats When we went to press, Qantas was still offering economy and business award flight seats on routes between Sydney and Auckland. Domestically there were no seats available in November but spots were still available in December on some Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne destinations. Virgin unites Virgin Blue and United Airlines are code sharing down under and that means bonus point-scoring opportunities for frequent flyers. The announcement that the two airlines would share codes on flights between Brisbane and Sydney came through late last month. US-bound passengers can fly Virgin from Brissy to Sydney and then pick up a connecting United flight to the US and accrue frequent flyer points for the domestic leg. The airlines plan to extend the initiative to other Australian cities over the next few months. �The code share will also enable our valuable frequent flyers and members of Star Alliance frequent flyer programs to accrue Mileage Plus points on the Australian domestic routes to the US, as well as on the international sector and beyond flights when flying United,� United Airlines Australian General Manager Stephen Pearse said. Point bonanza If you�re disappointed about the one million Qantas Frequent Flyer points auction being pulled off eBay, here�s the next best thing � and it could prove cheaper. The airline is running a competition until the end of March next year with the winner taking home a cool one million Qantas Frequent Flyer points. Four runners-up will receive 250,000 points. To be in the running you have to book a flight on line. You can make as many bookings as you like and it applies to private or commercial clients. Young ones Singapore Airlines� KrisFlyer is offering a clever little program to get the young ones hooked on the benefits of frequent air travel. KrisFlyer�s junior division � for those aged two to 12 years � is called Young Explorers and it allows them to collect and redeem points just like the big people. The program offers special promotions, a regular newsletter and an opportunity to qualify for special member status. Take off bonus US Airways and Delta say they�ll give 1,500 bonus miles to passengers flying between Reagan National and La Guardia Airport in New York if their planes are more than five minutes late in taking off. It�s another carrot to dangle before the travellers after all airlines servicing that route started offering triple miles points. Ouch! American Airlines must be feeling the pinch with the announcement that some of its award claims will increase to 25 per cent in May next year. Redeeming domestic award flight will jump from 40,000 to 45,000 miles while AAnytime Premium Class redemptions will increase from 160,000 to 190,000 points. |
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3. THE PRESS ROUNDUP |
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Fees rise The Aussie credit card market is getting tight and sweaty. ANZ, the leader in credit card loyalty programs, has announced it�s increasing the annual Qantas ANZ Visa Card fee from $27 to $40 ($67 to $95 for Gold Cards). And then there is the $55 (up from $33) Reward Program fee per card. So all up we are looking at a 60% increase! Increased costs of providing the rewards and administration costs are being blamed for the membership fee rise. �Our dilemma is that the cost of running reward programs has risen to the point where these programs are not sustainable in their current form. We were faced with a decision to either significantly change the programs or keep them operating in their current form and pass on some of the increased costs,� ANZ Managing Director Consumer Finance Brian Hartzer said. Maybe its time to consider a more cost effective solution. Need help? Consult our Bulletin Board or join the Frequent Flyer Club which offers individual support to its members. Paradise postponed The launch of the Paradise airline scheduled to begin flights between Perth and Bali has been postponed following last month�s Bali bombings. Meanwhile Australian Airlines � the discounted Qantas offshoot airline � has last month commenced its Asia-bound flights. Extra Virgin Virgin Blue will begin a new, direct daily flight service between Perth and Brisbane. The additional service will start on December 12. Just in time for Christmas, some would say. Money talks Southwest Airlines is reportedly the only US airlines to have made a profit after the last financial quarter. The reminder of the American aviation industry is heavily in the red with some airlines losing more than $900 million. Southwest continued its 30-year record of moneymaking, posting a profit of almost $75 million. The US airline industry has appealed to Congress for assistance. Freaky flyer A new movie starring Adam Sandler tells the story of a man who starts collecting frequent flyer points by purchasing copious amounts of pudding. It�s called Punch Drunk Love and no doubt would appeal to those who put a bit of thought into making the most of collecting frequent flyer points. The movie is doing the theatre circuit in the US, but there�s no word yet on whether it will come down under. We actually featured this story two and a half years ago! See Item 3 in the April 2000 Frequent Flyer Gazette. Checkout changes New head of US Transport Security Administration James Loy has made a few common sense changes at the check in. He�s cleaned out some of the more irritating rules such as having to ask passengers if anyone else has handled their luggage and letting people walk through checkpoints with coffee cups. But travellers will still have to take their laptops out of their bags at the airport � to prove they�re real and not explosive-carrying devices. Net nannies Rumours are floating about that some US airlines are looking to install wireless Internet terminals in airport lounges to be used by passengers whose flights have been delayed. The plan is to hook up the waiting travellers to the world-wide web so they can work, or just play while waiting for the delays to be sorted out. This follows a US government survey which showed that up to a third of flights are running behind schedule.
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Online bonus Purchase and fly on a United round-trip between Australia and the US after reserving and booking your travel online and you�ll score 1,000 bonus miles for your first round-trip, and 500 bonus miles per flight segment (1,000 bonus miles round-trip) for that and every subsequent ticket you book online until March 31, 2003. United-marketed code-sharing flights are not eligible. 1,000 air points higher Booking trips online will get you up to 1,000 points extra with Air New Zealand�s Air Points program. The offer is open until January 15, 2003. Economy bookings earn 500 bonus points while First and Business classes earn 1,000 bonus points. Qantas bonus offers Stay at least two consecutive nights and you'll earn double Frequent Flyer points at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts in Latin and South America. Valid for bookings until January 31, 2003. Ski in Canada for two weeks at the Big White and Silver Star resorts and earn a bonus 10,000 points for each person travelling. That�s on top of the 2,000 bonus points normally offered on this type of Skimax package � making a total of 12,000 points per person. But there are tight time restrictions on bookings (ending November 14) and travel (between mid January and mid February next year). Score 1,500 points when you buy the Qantas Wine Club Show Winners Dozen for around $150. Check the Qantas website for details. Earn 5,000 bonus points when you fly from Perth to Singapore, Melbourne to Los Angeles or Sydney to Auckland between November and mid-December. This offer is available even if you're connecting from another international or domestic service and applies to all classes. Skywards special Emirates and SriLanken are offering between 2,500 and 5,000 points for new members who join their Skywards program. To claim the bonus you must take your first flight within six months of joining. Frequent Flyer Club offers Don�t forget to check out the special deals we�ve secured for our Frequent Flyer Club members. They include ticket discounts and savings on hotel accommodation, so go to frequentflyerclub.com.au as soon as you�re done reading this great newsletter! Fly buys Collect 1000 bonus points with every Connoisseur Gift Hamper purchased from Coles. This offer ends December 29. Buy specified Microsoft products from Harris Technology and collect 200 Fly Buys bonus points. Offer ends November 30.
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| � THE AUSTRALIAN FREQUENT FLYER,
2002 |