{"id":350,"date":"2008-06-24T14:41:44","date_gmt":"2008-06-24T19:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/06\/american-airlines-adds-frequent-flier-fee\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T19:43:01","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T01:43:01","slug":"american-airlines-adds-frequent-flier-fee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/06\/american-airlines-adds-frequent-flier-fee\/","title":{"rendered":"American Airlines adds frequent-flier fee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ontheroad\"<\/a>Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com<\/a><\/strong>, a
\nnon-commercial Web site for business travelers.<\/em><\/p>\n

LOBBY LIFE<\/strong><\/p>\n

More interesting hotels in interesting places<\/strong>:
\nNotwithstanding the softening in the market, new, renovated and
\nreflagged properties in the pipeline continue to open with breathtaking
\nspeed. In Dallas<\/strong><\/a>, for example, the former National Bank and SPG
\nbuilding has been opened as The Joule<\/strong><\/a>. The 129-room hotel’s
\nmost notable feature: a rooftop, cantilevered pool that hangs over the
\nbuilding. The hotel is part of the Starwood Luxury Collection. …
\nSpeaking of Starwood, the old Sheraton Atlanta at Colony Square has
\nbeen transformed into the W Atlanta-Midtown<\/strong><\/a>. The property has 466 rooms and typical frivolous flourishes familiar to W guests.<\/p>\n

In Chicago<\/strong><\/a>, the old City Centre hotel has been reborn as the Doubletree Chicago<\/strong>
\nafter a $21 million renovation. The 500-room property’s public areas
\naren’t totally done, but it’s not a total loss: There is an Einstein’s
\nBagel shop at street level. … In New York<\/a><\/strong>, the city’s overpriced
\nlodging landscape gets two new competitors. An old standby across from
\nLincoln Center, the Empire<\/strong><\/a>, has been renovated and reopened with 413 rooms. And the newly built, 24-story Holiday Inn-Manhattan<\/strong>
\nhas opened in the Chelsea neighborhood. … And nearly three years after
\nHurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the old
\nGulfport Beachfront Hotel has reopened as the Courtyard by Marriott Gulfport<\/strong>. The property now has 148 rooms<\/p>\n

AIRPORT REPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n

BA finalizes schedule for its Heathrow T5 move<\/strong>: British Airways<\/strong>
\nis still recovering from the disastrous opening of Terminal 5 at
\nLondon\/Heathrow in late March. But it passed its next test, when
\nflights<\/a><\/strong> from New York and Phoenix moved on June 5. According to a new
\nschedule posted by the airline on its Web site, most of the rest of its
\nHeathrow service will switch to T5 by the end of the year.
\nWashington\/Dulles<\/a><\/strong>, Chicago\/O’Hare<\/strong><\/a>, Dallas\/Fort Worth<\/a><\/strong> and Toronto
\nflights, for example, move to the new facility on September 17.<\/p>\n

Two new airport hotels<\/a><\/strong> of note: a 320-room Crowne Plaza has opened
\nat Changi Airport in Singapore. The property is connected to Terminal 3
\nby covered walkways. And a 168-room Holiday Inn has opened at Accra
\nAirport in Ghana. The 7-story property is newly built. … The Z Market
\nhas opened at Dallas\/Fort Worth<\/strong><\/a> near Gate 33 at Terminal B. The
\noperation is being touted as a combination convenience store and
\nupmarket deli. It sells take-out food created by Tim Love, best known
\nfor his Fort Worth restaurants Lonesome Dove, Duce and Love Shack. … In
\nthe midst of the cutbacks at Alaska\/Horizon, there is an interesting
\nnew route to report: a daily nonstop between Billings, Montana’s
\nlargest city, and Helena, the state capital.<\/p>\n

MILES & POINTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

American adds a fee for almost all AAdvantage Awards<\/strong>:
\nEffective June 21, the "free" award ticket is essentially dead at American Airlines<\/strong><\/a>. That’s when the carrier imposes a $5 "processing"
\nfee for claiming an American AAdvantage award ticket online. Only
\nExecutive Platinum members are exempt. (If you claim a ticket by phone,
\nthe cost is $20.) The airline claims that the online fee is being
\nimposed to offset the cost of technology upgrades. Meanwhile, American
\nis also bumping up the cost of many award seats. Most increases are
\nmodest, in the 5,000-10,000-mile range, although a few premium
\ninternational awards as up as much as 20,000 miles. The mileage changes
\nare effective on October 1. … Porter Airlines, which flies to the
\nUnited States from a hub at Toronto’s City Island Airport, has launched
\nthe VIPorter frequent flyer program.<\/p>\n

NEED TO KNOW<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why NyLon matters<\/strong>: There’s lots of fallout on the New-York London route<\/strong>.
\nAll three all-business airlines<\/a><\/strong> on the so-called NyLon run have now
\nfolded (Maxjet last December, Eos in April, SilverJet last week). American Airlines<\/strong><\/a> is dumping its New York\/Kennedy-London\/Stansted route and the airfares<\/a><\/strong> paid on the remaining service from the British (Virgin Atlantic<\/strong> and British Airways<\/strong>) and U.S. carriers (American<\/strong><\/a>, Delta<\/strong><\/a> and Continental<\/strong><\/a>) are dropping. Of course, if you don’t travel<\/strong><\/a>
\nbetween New York and London, you might wonder what all the hubbub is
\nabout. Well, here’s what it is about: According to Britain’s civil
\naviation authorities, about 1.4 million passengers flew between the
\nUnited States and the United Kingdom in March. Almost 25 percent of
\nthem (349,000) flew between New York’s two airports (Kennedy<\/a><\/strong> and
\nNewark<\/a><\/strong>) and London’s three facilities (Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton).
\nWith that amount of market concentration, it’s no wonder everyone
\nobsesses over NyLon.<\/p>\n

Read more "On the Road with Joe Brancatelli" at
\nroadwarrior.orbitz.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n