Airlines Seek to Unload Frequent-Flier Miles

From the Washington Times Monday comes a story discussing why airlines, United Airlines in particular, are suddenly choosing to unloading miles from their "books" at an accelerated rate. For example, United recently offered discount award redemption's, and effective August 1, 2009 eliminated all "close-in" processing fees. Are United Airlines and other carriers putting customer service back into focus, or is there something more at play here? Read the full story here.

Fare Sales Often Lost in Translation

In this Washington Times post, writer Nicholas Kralev explains how the U.S airline industry continues to mislead customers when they advertise airfare sales.  A banner advertisement of cheap flights to Orlando, for example, is followed by fine print stating the price is for each direction based on round-trip purchase. Kralev asks, "So if a round trip is required to get the quoted price, why aren't fares advertised in the actual amount you need to pay for a round trip?" Read the rest of the story.