Airlines India, Indian Airlines

Qatar Airways passengers who fly first class from Istanbul to Doha until Sept. 30, 2006 will earn 4,000 bonus qualifying miles (Qmiles) on their very first trip. The bonus Qmiles they earn will be enough for a free ticket from Doha to any destination within the Gulf Co-op Council (GCC).

Passengers can redeem their Qmiles for free flights and upgrades on Qatar Airways or for free flights with any of its partner airlines including bmi, Asiana Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and All Nippon Airways.

This offer is valid only for Qatar Airways Privilege Club members residing in Turkey. To be eligible for bonus Qmiles, flights must be taken any time through Sept. 30, 2006 from Istanbul to Doha. Offer valid for bookings in F, P and A class only. Bonus Qmiles can be earned only on the first flight taken in First Class during the offer period.

remember grocery shopping with my mother as a young child and watching the cashier hand her a handful of S&H Green Stamps. She would carefully paste them into her Green Stamp book at home and I assume she redeemed them for exciting prizes once they were full. Some of you may remember saving your Green Stamps, too.

With the advent of the Internet, new rewards programs are coming out all the time. The concept is the same, which is providing an incentive to shoppers to maintain their loyalty.

Today, many manufacturers reward customers on the spending they are already doing by giving them an opportunity to record special codes from the product packages at their Web site. The codes are logged as points, and when the customer’s point balance is high enough they can redeem their points for exciting prizes.

Although I have heard of various point programs over the years, I have not taken the time to participate, until I noticed a program advertised on one of my favorite products.

Coca-Cola recently introduced an easy rewards program called “My Coke Rewards” at www.mycokerewards.com. Because I buy this item already, and I always buy it on sale, any prizes earned from points would really be free to me. I do not have to pay postage to mail any special forms, I do not have to take the time to address an envelope, and it only takes a few seconds to enter the code from the package. Why not?

I am now on the lookout for easy point programs like these. Although I’ve only found a few so far, I expect more companies will begin these programs because they are easier for their staff to manage as well. And I expect rewards programs like these will be more successful than past programs that required more effort, so other companies will get involved.

Before I sign up for any program, I try to get an idea of how valuable their program is. For example, if I need to spend hundreds of dollars on their product in order to earn a $5 video rental coupon, it really isn’t worth my time to participate. If the only prizes they have are large prizes that require a high number of points, it probably isn’t worth my time, either.

Rewards programs that have a wide range of prizes including very small prizes appeal to me. If I compare the value of the points earned at My Coke Rewards (as compared to what I had to spend to get them) to airline miles earned toward a free airline ticket, the My Coke Rewards points have a much higher value. I could spend $300 on an airline ticket that only earned me 500 miles (when I need 30,000 miles to get a free ticket worth $300), making an airline mile worth about one penny each. At 500 miles per one-way trip, I will probably never earn enough airline miles to earn a reward as an average traveler.

Each 12 pack of Diet Coke earns 10 points, and the least expensive reward that appeals to me is a “rent one, get one rental free” coupon for Blockbuster for only 26 points. That coupon is worth $4.23 at my video store, and I would earn it after buying only three 12-packs of Diet Coke and still have four points left in my account. I pay an average cost of $2.50 per 12-pack on sale, so I am earning $4.23 in rewards for $6.50 worth of Diet Coke spending. When I redeem my points for that particular reward, each point is worth 16 cents, quite a bit more than the value of the airline mile at one cent.

QANTAS frequent flyers will be able to use their points to pay for costly taxes and surcharges when redeeming domestic flights.

Loyalty program members are now slugged about $100 in charges for a supposedly free return flight to Sydney.
The charges include $62 in fuel levies, government taxes and airport fees.

Other airlines also force their frequent flyers to pay the extras.

But from November 1, Qantas will allow its frequent flyers to cover the cost by using extra points, not cash.

It is believed the airline is considering a flat rate of about 6000 points for each domestic-sector booking.

This means about 28,000 points will be needed for a return flight to Sydney.

Qantas will consider extending the idea to international flights after evaluating its use by domestic frequent flyers.

A redeemed return flight to London costs about $400 in taxes and charges.

Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti said yesterday that the rising costs were compromising the frequent flyer scheme.

“It’s not an ideal way to treat your loyal passengers,” he said.

“The feedback we’re getting is that people would prefer to pay for these charges with points rather than cash.

“We give people choice.”

Flyers who wanted to pay in cash would still be able to, he said.

Qantas’s move will put pressure on rival Virgin Blue to adopt a similar policy for its Velocity reward program.

Qantas members redeem more than three million seats a year, including in upgrades.

Airlines have been forced to increase their fuel levies because of soaring oil prices.

The levy for a one-way flight on Qantas or Jetstar is $31, and up to $98 for an international sector.

Virgin charges $19 domestically and $35 for its Pacific services.

The airline recently resisted an industry trend to increase the levy, but said it would consider fare rises.

For Limited Time, Customers Can Fly to Cancun for Only 20,000 AAdvantage Miles

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The shimmering, white sandy beaches of beautiful Cancun, Mexico, just got a little more accessible, thanks to a new offer from American Airlines, a founding member of the global oneworld® Alliance. For just 20,000 miles, American Airlines AAdvantage® members can get a roundtrip MileSAAver(SM) award to Cancun — a savings of up to 10,000 miles. This special award is valid for travel between Cancun and the continental United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

The Cancun MileSAAver award special is valid for travel from Aug. 21, through Dec. 13, 2006. Travel is valid on flights operated by American Airlines, American Eagle or AmericanConnection® airlines.

“Cancun has always been a popular award destination for our AAdvantage members,” said Kurt Stache, President - American Airlines AAdvantage Marketing Programs. “We are pleased to provide our members the opportunity to enjoy all Cancun has to offer at a tremendous savings.”

Visit http://www.aa.com/offers for complete details and rules or call AAdvantage Reservations* at 1-800-882-8880 to book your award today.

*$15 USD service fee applies to award travel booked through AAdvantage Reservations.

Terms and Conditions

The Cancun award special is valid for round-trip travel only on flights between Cancun, Mexico, and the Continental U.S. (including Alaska), the Caribbean (including Bermuda and The Bahamas), and Canada, which are marketed and operated by American Airlines, American Eagle or AmericanConnection® airlines. Award inventory is subject to seat availability and capacity controls. Seats for award travel may not be available on all flights. Standard AAdvantage award travel terms and conditions apply. Any taxes and fees associated with award travel are the responsibility of the passenger and/or AAdvantage member. For complete details about the AAdvantage program, visit http://www.aa.com/aadvantage .

AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc., and MileSAAver is a service mark of American Airlines, Inc. American Eagle and AmericanConnection carriers are regional airlines associated with American Airlines, Inc. American Eagle service is operated by American Eagle Airlines, Inc., or Executive Airlines, Inc., each of which is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines’ parent company. AmericanConnection service is operated by Trans States Airlines, Inc., Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., or RegionsAir, Inc., each of which is an unaffiliated independent contractor. Schedules are subject to change without notice. American Airlines reserves the right to change AAdvantage program rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers at any time without notice, and to end the AAdvantage program with six months notice. American Airlines is not responsible for products or services offered by other participating companies.

About American Airlines

American Airlines is the world’s largest airline. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® airlines serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 3,900 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American’s award-winning Web site, AA.com, provides users with flexible fare-search options, the ability to check in for flights and a lowest-fare guarantee. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve more than 600 destinations in over 135 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc.

Microsoft Corp. Tuesday unveiled a partnership with a rewards software and services company to support its incentive program for subscribers of its Live Meeting Web conferencing offering. Microsoft Corp. Tuesday unveiled a partnership with a rewards software and services company to support its incentive program for subscribers of its Live Meeting Web conferencing offering.

Incentive Logic Inc., a Scottsdale, Arizona-based company that offers what it calls an “online e-loyalty platform,” is providing the software engine for certain aspects of the Rewards Program for Microsoft Office Live Meeting, according to the companies, which did not disclose the terms of the agreement.

The Microsoft Live Meeting rewards program is leveraging Incentive Logic's platform to reward subscribers for holding qualified Microsoft Office Live Meeting sessions, participating in surveys and sharing testimonials, according to the companies.

Incentive Logic is adding several facets of its rewards software to support the Live Meeting program, including eligibility and registration, analytics, refer a colleague and one-to-one promotions that automatically deliver subscriber-specific promotions, according to Incentive Logic.

Incentive Logic also is providing custom-branded reward catalogs, as well as strategic design management, account administration, reward fulfillment and real-time reporting for Microsoft's Live Meeting incentive program.

The Rewards Program for Microsoft Office Live Meeting is designed to reward Live Meeting organizers with points that can be redeemed for incentives such as gift cards, airline miles, merchandise and charity donations, according to the program's Web site. Rewards program members earn points every time they use Live Meeting.