Short Trips Lead to Big Rewards : Triple-Mileage Deadline Has Air Travelers Hopping

United Airlines Flight 295 from Chicago to San Francisco stops in Oakland and often picks up only one passenger for the 11-mile hop across the bay, usually someone making a flight connection in San Francisco.

But 14 people boarded in Oakland for the short trip last Thursday, returning the next day. On Friday, there were 24 of the bay-trippers; Saturday’s total was 50 and on Sunday there were 57.

“By Thursday, we’ll probably sell out the plane,” a Boeing stretch 727 that seats 147, Joseph Hopkins, a United spokesman, said.

He added that much of United’s normal business at this time of year is flying passengers to warm weather vacation spots--with Southern California and Florida prominent among them. But now, besides the unusually high loads of United passengers flying back and forth across San Francisco Bay, the flights of many airlines are going out full to such places as Des Moines, Iowa, Austin, Tex., Syracuse, N. Y., and Lincoln, Neb.

What is motivating these travelers--especially those who are spending $64 each way for the trans-bay ride that lasts only a few minutes? The answer is simple: They want to meet the airlines’ March 31 deadline to qualify for frequent flier triple-mileage awards.

Delta Airlines led the way three months ago by announcing a triple-mileage program that limited the bonus awards to tickets bought with American Express cards. Other airlines quickly followed suit, with essentially identical terms except that they did not include the American Express card requirement.

To qualify, passengers must fly--and pay for--one round trip or two one-way segments any time between Jan. 1 and midnight Thursday. Then, for every flight they take during the rest of 1988, they will earn triple the normal mileage granted by their frequent flier programs. The mileage can be converted into free trips and other prizes.

The last-minute surge of passengers is assessed by the analysts interviewed for this article as damaging to the airlines. In fact, they said they believe the triple-mileage programs themselves are ill-conceived pricing promotions that will require the airlines to greatly increase the number of free flights they hand out this year and in the future.

Program Called Costly

And that will be costly. Julius Maldutis, airline analyst with the New York brokerage firm of Salomon Bros., estimated that the current triple-mileage programs will result in lost sales to the airlines of about $940 million. The airlines counter by saying that the programs are generating more revenue than they will cost in future lost sales.

As a result of the 11th-hour rush by frequent fliers to get in on the deal, United said, last weekend was one of the airline’s busiest in a long time. In fact, United set a record last Friday for the number of passengers who flew out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The airline carried 49,594 persons out of O’Hare that day, 97 more than the old record.

United’s planes last weekend, the weekend of Palm Sunday, ran between 80% and 83% full, compared to last year’s Palm Sunday weekend (April 10) of 73% to 78%. A month ago, on the weekend of Feb. 26-28, the company’s planes were 65% to 71% full.

Hopkins said United’s advance bookings indicate that this Thursday will be a very heavy day; it is the last day that travelers can get in under the triple-mileage wire.

Other Reasons for Travel

The airlines concede that other factors contributed to the surge of business last weekend: College spring breaks are under way, many people take time off for trips during the Easter-Passover season and the economy appears healthier than many observers had expected, encouraging people to travel. Still, the triple-mileage deadline added an extra incentive.

Most air carriers are experiencing the same surge.

Continental Airline provides a good example--its single daily round trip between San Diego and Los Angeles. The flight usually carries between 20 and 25 local passengers (those not going farther). But bookings for today and Wednesday are nearly double the usual figure. The round-trip fare for the flight is $78.

“Most of the reservations are for going up and back in one day,” said Bruce Hicks, a Continental spokesman. “It is unlikely that these people are flying for any other reason but to get into the triple mileage” on Eastern/Continental’s OnePass frequent-flier program.