Best and Worst Airlines for Redeeming Frequent Flyer Miles

Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines top the list for award availability, with Delta and US Airways rounding out the bottom of the list in a recent study. See the following Yahoo! news article, taken originally from the Wall Street Journal:

http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/109543/the-road-to-redemption?mod=family-travel

The article encourages considering using miles for upgrades, rather than outright "free" tickets. The decline of available award seats is attributable to the glut of mileage earning opportunities and airlines' tight-fistedness. Of course, they would rather sell you a seat than give you a seat for miles that may not have even been earned flying their airline. Still, persistence, flexibility, and long range planning are all key to scoring an award seat.

United and Continental to merge

In an announcement Monday, May 3rd, Continental Airlines will merge with United Airlines, becoming the new "largest airline in the world" if the merger is approved by the government. The new airline will be called United Airlines. In an e-mail to frequent fliers, United claimed that all cities currently served by Continental or United would continue to be served by the combined airline. Continental left the Delta/Air France led Skyteam alliance last year for United's Star Alliance. The bottom line for consumers is a further decrease in competition and choice. In recent years, America West has been absorbed by US Airways, Northwest Airlines has been folded into Delta Airlines, and now the Continental name will also soon disappear. It is a sad day for the airline industry, already reeling from over $2 billion in losses during the volcanic ash induced shutdown of most of Europe. Evidently, airlines see mergers as their only path to survival.