Word: flyers
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Steve Graham got his by cashing in 270,000 of his 500,000 Northwest Airlines frequent-flyer miles and bidding for the prize package at a special auction organized by Northwest. "You can always use your airline miles for a trip to a great place like Fiji or London," says Graham, who travels once a week on business, accumulates about 100,000 miles annually and at one point had 1.5 million miles in his Northwest account. "But meeting B.B. King was the kind of unique, special experience that you just don't associate with an airline program...
...rooms, rewards now come in the form of highly orchestrated fantasies, charitable works and gobs of expensive merchandise. "It's a great time to be a member of these programs," says Randy Petersen, editor and publisher of InsideFlyer magazine, a monthly industry publication. Petersen, the foremost expert on frequent-flyer programs, has been analyzing and publishing information about these programs for the past 12 years. "There's more out there to earn than just free airline tickets," says Petersen, who earns close to a million miles annually from the 50 to 70 business trips he takes each year...
RETIRING. ROBERT CRANDALL, 62, rough and tough president of American Airlines for 18 years, who pioneered such innovations as frequent-flyer miles and supersaver fares; in Fort Worth, Texas...
...does the romance of shared routes, ticketing and frequent flyer miles lead to the pitter-patter of lower fares? Well, not exactly: "The alliances may simplify travel, but reducing competition always carries the risk of raising prices," says Kadlec. The market, after all, has a heart of stone...
...carriers say the start-ups flop because they are undercapitalized and poorly run, offering limited routes and flights, with no frequent-flyer clubs and other features. It is a circular argument, of course. The low fares of the upstarts are based on a cost structure that doesn't have such extras as frequent-flyer programs. And the big airlines force them to burn through their start-up capital by stepping up the price wars...