I think the new program is great for business men who are traveling short distances, but for someone who has just gotten their 20,000 miles and was looking forward to traveling anywhere in the US. I was abit taken back when I found out that they has raised the amount of FFmiles from 20 to 30,000, for the same thing you use to get for 20,000 miles!!! I just about had a kitten. I'm told I can travel anywhere within 750 miles now for 15,000 FFB miles. Woopie! So where is the justice in that. I joined TWA FF miles and also have the EAB charge card, to the tune of a annual fee of $25.00 a year. I used that for everything we purchased. You will note that I said used. I am going to drop this like a hot rock. I know that TWA was the only one left that was giving free tickets for 20,000 miles, after all thats why I joined. I also found out that their are some flights that are not straight through. No one tells you this when you purchase the ticket. You have to figure this out by yourself, by means of the length og time it take to get you where you are going. My husband and I also found out by being on one of those unfortunate trips, when we were told of our stop off in Sarasota by the pilot as we were getting ready to leave. I think I have had about enough. Maybe I'll try thr friendly skies.

You have every right to be disappointed that TWA is raising its mileage requirement. However, you should make note of a few things:

1. According to the information sent me, the "old" miles (yours) will be redeemed at the old levels (20,000 miles) through April 30, 1999. That gives you a year to claim the award, and probably another year to use the ticket. Surely there is someplace you'd like to go in the next two years.

2. Possibly there is another airline that would be a better choice for you, but mileage accumulation by credit card is an excellent bargain. Consider: You say you're paying $25 a year for your credit card. The "street value" of miles (that's the more or less pro forma dollar value that's attached to them) is about $20 a thousand. So if you charge $1500 a year, you're ahead of the curve. Naturally, the miles actually have no value until you use them, which is why those who charge heavily on affinity credit cards do quite well.

3. Perhaps there is another airline that makes nonstop trips from where you are to where you want to go, but you should understand that intermediate stops and plane changes are very much a routine part of flying these days. Ever since the airlines instituted their hub and spoke systems years ago, frequent travelers simply take stops and changes as part of what you must do to get to where you're going. Nonstops are a bonus and they're great if you can get them, but it's not fair to blame an airline for its route structure. It's still faster than the bus!

i agree that twa's route structure leaves a lot to be desired, but sometimes it can be a blessing for those of us MileMaxers with too much time on our hands. i took a roundtrip this past weekend from atlanta to washington,d.c. for $108 on twa. the atl-stl-iad-stl-atl trip awarded me 4,000 miles (or 8,000 with the double mile aviators promotion they are now having). then with twa's elite 50% bonus (another 2,000), it will be a total of 10,000 miles.

also, twa is pretty generous with their upgrade certificates. they only require a certificate for the non-stop distance between your departure and destination airports (atl-iad = 543 miles). one 500 mile certificate (with a 50-mile buffer) gave me first-class all the way from atl-stl-iad!! with delta, the same flights would have cost me 1,600 miles in certificates since they only use 800-mile "segment" upgrades (not valid for the least expensive fares, which is what i had purchased).

all the programs have their good and bad features. just figure out which program(s) has the features you want most, which airline seems to treat you the best, and show them your loyalty.

For MileMaxer:

That's a nice trick, but the lady who wrote the original post is clearly looking for the shortest distance between two points, not the longest or the one that will put the miles engine into overdrive.

As for me, I enjoy collecting and using miles in the normal course of living--my wife and I still have nearly a million between us and we've probably used at least that many over the years. But intentionally cramming myself into four more crowded airplanes to go someplace via an itinerary invented by the Marat de Sade ain't my idea of a fun weekend.

But, to each his own. Glad you came up to these parts and hope you enjoyed DC.