The Savvy Traveler - Rudy's Views March 13,1999

Rudy's Views: The New Currency - Frequent Flier Miles

frequent flyers double miles for a few weeks as an apology for the AA pilots' surprise sick-out in February. And a little company called MileNet went out of business recently. It promised you could earn miles while browsing the Internet, but apparently the concept didn't fly. At one point, when its servers crashed, it apologized by giving members 100 extra miles.

It's as if airline miles are becoming a new kind of currency. Companies buy them from the airlines to lure customers. Frequent flyers gift family and friends with them. I think we're just a few years away from being able to offer someone 75,000 miles if we're at fault in a fender bender.

An actual rate of exchange could develop. Let's say your lover walks into a restaurant and sees you on a date with someone else? Whoops, I'd say 100,000 miles would constitute a valid grovel. Forgot Mother's Day? 25,000 miles should calm the waters. Late for work? Transfer 5,000 miles to your boss.

Miles are so much more genteel than cold cash. You HAVE to throw money at bills or taxes; miles, well, they can take you away to someplace fabulous. Which is exactly what we're going to do, as we head out on this week's journey. Oh, and if you go through our entire web site, you'll find an extra 500 miles in your frequent flyer account this month.

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