Are you planning a mileage run? Four reasons to rush to the airport

There are only a few weeks left in 2009, and frequent travelers across the country are staring more intently at their mileage statements than Santa does at the naughty/nice list. The stakes are high: miss the elite cutoff, and a year of upgrades, accelerated check-in and other perks disappear. For passengers who see gold or platinum status levels within reach, year-end “mileage runs” can make a great investment. Pay for a cheap flight, even if it is just for a night or a same-day return, and use this benefit for the next twelve months on upgrades and services that would cost a fortune otherwise.

With the low prices airlines are offering these days to bring passengers back into the cabin, the return on your investment in a “mileage run” is higher than ever. But, it’s not all to the flyer’s benefit … there’s an upside for the airlines, too. They get loyalty.

Randy Petersen, founder of FlyerTalk.com, a website for frequent travelers, told USA Today, “Whenever someone doesn’t requalify for elite status, they become free agents. And in tough times, airlines don’t want to gamble that some of their best customers will leave.” He puts the number of elite-level passengers at 7.3 million of the 210 million passengers who belong to at least one loyalty program.

So, the airlines are rolling out the red carpet for mileage runners. Here are four mileage run deals to kick around with the end of the year approaching.

1. Through December 15, 2009, American, Continental and United are doubling the elite-qualifying miles they give their passengers. So, a shorter mileage run goes a little further.

2. In the middle of next year, Continental and Untied are going to give each other’s elite passengers unlimited upgrades (based on availability) on domestic flights — and premium coach seats, too. So, if you hit the right status on either airline this year, you’ll gain even more for your efforts.

3. Starting in the spring, Delta will let you roll over extra elite-qualifying miles and credits you don’t need to reach a status level to the next year. So, you don’t have to worry about starting from zero when January 1, 2011 rolls around.

4. Delta is also adding a new top level — diamond — that will include even better perks, including free Sky Club membership.

For the frequent business traveler, especially, reaching a high elite level involves so much more than bragging rights. It defines your lifestyle for the next year — from how early you need to get up on Monday morning to your mood when you get home Thursday or Friday night. But, there are better measures to watch than up-ticks in frequent flyer accounts. My friend and former coworker from the road warrior days put it best: “The only thing better [than accumulating airline and hotel status levels] is watching them expire.” Yeah, nothing tops getting off the road for a while when you live that life.

Small town in Israel hopes to get tourism boost from mermaid sightings

The small town of Kiryat Yam, near Haifa in Israel, may have a mermaid living in its waters. At least, the town council hopes they do. They say that dozens of people, in separate incidents, have reported seeing a half-girl, half-fish creature that jumps like a dolphin and plays in the sea at sunset.

The council is now offering a $1 million reward to anyone who can prove the mermaid does exist. Capturing her is not necessary; the council will accept photographic evidence. As a ploy to boost tourism, it seems to be working. According to ABC News, visitors are packing the shores each evening, trying to catch a glimpse of Israel’s Ariel. A rep for the town council says it is not a hoax to bring in more visitors, but adds “I believe if there really is a mermaid, then so many people will come to Kiryat Yam, a lot more money will be made then $1 million.”

So, who wants to go to Israel with me? i just need to pack my Little Mermaid costume and my Nikon.

Status seekers pulling back

It’s not just the travel companies’ bank accounts getting hit in this market – loyalty programs are getting spanked, too. The management consultants, investment bankers and attorneys – now fewer in number than a year ago – who accumulate elite status quickly aren’t spending as much time on the road. With considerably less travel time being logged, the folks who used to have platinum status on multiple airlines and in multiple hotels aren’t hitting the same levels they have for the past several years.

A study by Colloquy, which conducts marketing research for loyalty programs, showed that loyalty program membership dropped 28 percent in the travel industry. In 2007, the average traveler belonged to 2.8 of these programs. Now, it’s down to merely two. Lower- and middle-income men are being cited as the source of the decline, as they’ve been hit harder by layoffs.

Additionally, active participation in loyalty programs is down almost a third. This year, the average traveler is participating actively in 1.5 programs – a year ago, it was 2.2. Among the wealthy, this type of engagement fell 13 percent – from 2.3 programs down to two.

According to Colloquy, travelers are focusing on fewer programs and looking to get as much as they can out of them, rather than spread around their travel with the knowledge that they’ll have enough to reach and maintain high statuses with several travel companies.

Got hotel points? Now is the time to use them!

Hotel award availability has long been the kind of thing that made actually getting to use your hard earned hotel points nearly impossible.

This Summer is different, and for reasons I’m not entirely sure of. I’m going to guess that hotels are seeing record low bookings, and are perfectly happy to get any guests.

Most of the large hotel chains have a ton of award availability, and a lot of it is available for dates that have historically been impossible to redeem on.

Even the upcoming memorial day weekend shows plenty of availability, and to make things even better, there are plenty of free rooms in cities that are usually filled to capacity for major events (like Indianapolis).

So, if you have any spare hotel points lying around, now is the best time ever to start using them – forget that whole “staycation” thing. Gas is still relatively cheap, and if your only expenses will be food, entertainment and gas, then you’d better have a good reason to stay home.