<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Freebies for Frequent Fliers

By JESSE DRUCKER and RAFER GUZMAN
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


Last month, Thomas Anantharaman nearly threw away a free vacation to Hawaii.

Just as he was set to toss his American Airlines frequent-flier statement in the trash, he suddenly noticed that the mileage requirement for a summer vacation he'd been planning jumped by 20,000 miles -- unless he booked soon. "Now I guess I'm doing it in the coming winter," says Mr. Anantharaman, a college professor in Madison, Wis.

Warning to frequent fliers: Start reading the fine print. After a post-Sept. 11 bonanza in mileage offers, airlines have quietly started imposing an array of new restrictions making life harder for frequent fliers. True, some carriers recently eliminated blackout dates. But others have changed the rules on everything from upgrade certificates to higher mileage requirements for free tickets, in some cases by as much as 25% more. During the past few weeks, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines raised the award levels for most domestic coach flights to 25,000 miles from 20,000. (And, unlike on most airlines, you're still stuck having to stay over on a Saturday night.)

"I feel betrayed by an airline I used to admire greatly," says Andy Hyde, a publishing executive from Nashville, Tenn., and a Continental platinum member.
</font>