On the same dates Dec 20-28 for TPA-HNL-TPA you could get a Standard Award on United Mileage Plus for 60,000 miles.

Your have six schedule choices for the outbound trip, two of these have one stop and the rest are two stops.

You have five schedule choices for the return of which three are one-stops.

Those are your online options. Probably can get more options by calling.

December 27, 28, 29 are available for Saver Awards, 35000 miles, for the return. But the latest December date you can get the outbound saver award is the 12th.

Forgot to mention that there is a chance that you can get a Saver Award on the 20th if you called Mileage Plus. They would check availability on their Star Alliance partner USAirways.

Or they might be able to find availability on their partner Aloha Airlines. An eonomy award on Aloha is 35,000 in economy or 60,000 in first class.

And on Jan 10-18, you can get Saver awards from Tampa to Honolulu. Or to Kona on the BI, or to Kahului, Maui. For Lihue, Kauai you would have to return on the 17th or 16th but you could move your departure to the 9th.

Well, you better book soon.

"In 2001, over four times as many miles were earned as were redeemed, and miles do not expire so long as members have earned or used them in the past three years. As a result, airlines' liability surged to almost 8 trillion miles by the end of 2001. At the current rate of redemption, it would take 23 years to clear this liability even if no new ones were issued."

The difference between miles earned and miles redeemed is growing, not shrinking.

Selling miles is a great business for airlines.

At the same time American released these figures for 2005:

<i>In 2005 136 billion miles were redeemed to claim 4.5 million awards.</i>

and this is just one airline.......

And that's the point. Miles aren't <i>earned,</i> they're <i>sold.</i> Those trillions of miles all represent cash that's been paid to airlines for services they haven't yet had to provide, and in thousands - millions - of cases, never will. In the meantime, they've got your money and you've got your... miles.

Of the trillions of miles on the books, I suspect a sizeable portion will never be used. If people are really just buying the lowest fare of the moment, they will probably never accrue enough miles on a single airline, or even an alliance, to buy much of anything. Also, those of us who hang out at Fodors may forget that we, as frequent tourists, are a very small portion of the populace. I suspect that most airline passengers are like my kids; they just need a way to get somewhere, and have no intention of getting into the frequent flying game. I am sure their miles expire without use, and will continue to do so until they develop an interest in travel.

I view my miles as earned, not sold, because there is no alternative to taking them when you fly; if one could buy a cheaper ticket that did not earn miles, then one would be buying the miles by buying the more expensive ticket.

I still think the best plan for the tourist is to find an airline that goes where you want to go, balance that convenience against the quality of their frequent flyer program (I think price of tickets is no longer an issue, as they seem to be pretty much the same everywhere), and then stick with that airline until something changes. We live in Ohio, where Continental offers good service; if we lived on the west coast, I would probably look elsewhere.

There are definite advantages to getting elite status; I suspect that those posters who are demonstrating how easy and often they get reward travel are top-level elites, and why shouldn't they receive better service when they have contributed enough revenue to earn that status?. Even as lowly silvers, my wife and I get upgraded about 50% of the time on domestic flights, even though I usually buy the very cheapest tourist tickets.

Get on the ball, Continental! We're flying home from San Diego tomorrow and you haven't upgraded us yet, and this on an H fare!

I wonder where are all the people that were saying they would pay extra as long as the airlines gave them extra room?

I guess not....

MaxJet was an all business class setup with tons of room and great service. The airline offered very reasonable fares. As low as $1000, ~$1500 average. Not that much more than the legacy airlines charging for the cramp econ seats.

Feel bad for all the employees. Not that there is a good time for losing ones job, but this timing is particularly bad.

Wishing them the best and hope they find new opportunities in the new coming year!


Merry Christmas All!

Apologies for the above...wrong thread.

US airline safety is regulated by the FAA. I don't think there is a big difference in any of the airlines the OP listed.

My thoughts. I swore off AA years ago. Nashville was a hub then which went out if it's way to hire the RUDEST employees to grace airline travel ever!! So I fly them as my last resort!

Next to last resort, USAir. The fact that the employees are miserable tends to be reflected in service. (My fav was last December when the baggage handlers just quit loading luggage LOL!)

I am still heistant on JetBlue during the potential of winter storms.....

Pesonally I find SW has the nicest employees and the most user friendly policies. THat said since I live in ATL most of my flight are on Delta.

On any given day your flight can be the &quot;meltdown&quot; with delays, rude employees etc. All you can control is your reaction to the meltdown.