Hello Florida travelers and beach bums!

I found a nice little article relating to travel and frequent flier miles.
Not a bad little read.

School has been ok so far and can't wait to travel again. The Mrs. is now 3 months along and been sicker than a dog.

Looking for more ways to better the site. I am contemplating a few things while I test out Yahoo YPN and put up some picks.

Anyhow, here is the article...

South Florida Business Travel by Mike Seemuth


Make the most of your frequent-flier miles


Treat frequent-flier miles from bankrupt airlines more like cash than savings. Make them go as far as possible now rather than accumulating them indefinitely.

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines are the latest troubled carriers to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a promise to honor the frequent-flier miles they have issued -- though they could be relieved of their obligation to honor miles and other liabilities under bankruptcy court supervision.

Short of declaring its frequent-flier miles worthless, a bankrupt airline also could devalue its miles by restricting redemption opportunities through stingier rules or reduced flight schedules.

So a customer with fewer than 25,000 frequent-flier miles from Delta, say, should consider redeeming them to upgrade a purchased ticket to a higher class of service instead of saving miles to reach the 25,000 minimum required for a free ticket.

Remember that redeeming miles for a ''free'' ticket can entail out-of-pocket expenses, including the government-imposed September 11 Security Fee of $10 per passenger. Airline fees also may apply. Delta, for example, will charge a customer $50 for using Delta SkyMiles to acquire a seat on a flight 14 days or fewer in advance of the departure date. (There is no charge 15 days or more in advance.) Other airlines with frequent-flier programs also charge various award-travel fees.

Spending miles for upgrades today rather than saving them for free tickets tomorrow not only minimizes exposure to a future devaluation but miles also may go further when redeemed for an upgrade. Airlines assign varying values to their frequent-flier miles depending on what they are redeemed for, starting at about a penny per mile.

To compare how far your miles would go when spent on a free ticket or an upgrade (or anything else miles can buy), divide the dollar value of the two by their prices in miles.

For example, Northwest recently offered round-trip flights from Miami to Detroit for $360 in coach class and $840 in business class. Redeeming 25,000 miles for a coach seat on that flight would be worth 1.4 cents a mile ($360 divided by 25,000). Redeeming 5,000 miles for a one-way upgrade to business class would equate to an exchange rate of 4.8 cents a mile (the $480 price difference between the two classes divided by 5,000).

Getting upgrades also may be preferable to redeeming miles for membership in an airport lounge club. Membership in one, Delta's Crown Room Club, is available to members of Delta's SkyMiles program at exchange rates of less than a penny per mile.

Trading and transferring miles are alternatives, too, but neither is free. Transaction fees usually apply when miles issued by one airline are traded for those of another airline, through an exchange such as website Points.com, or when miles are transferred from one account to another within the same frequent-flier program.

Til next time

Joe