By Keith L. Alexander
Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Brad Sexton, a marketing executive for Revolution Studios in Santa Monica, Calif., tried to redeem 45,000 miles last week on Delta Air Lines for a first-class ticket from New York to Los Angeles for a trip he planned for this summer. But he was told that there were no available seats on the popular route until Feb. 1, 2007.

Delta, however, gave him alternative: He could have the ticket -- if he cashed in 45,000 more miles, bringing the total to 90,000.

"This is ripping people off," a livid Sexton said yesterday.

Like Sexton, frequent fliers who have not already reserved their seats for a summer trip within the United States may find that it might be a little too late.

That's because the number of free seats that the airlines make available to frequent fliers is expected to decline this summer compared with last summer as the airlines park planes, cut less-profitable domestic routes and fly smaller aircraft in an effort to reduce fuel costs and boost revenue.

That decline has caused the number of seats reserved for frequent fliers to be reduced. Last summer, the airlines filled 80 to 85 percent of their seats with passengers, both paying and those redeeming miles. This summer, the airlines are expected to cut their domestic capacity on average by about 2.6 percent, according to the Air Transport Association, the Washington group that represents the nation's largest airlines. That reduction means that an average 120-seat aircraft that was already nearly sold out last summer would fill up three more seats this summer.

"I've already started hearing complaints from frequent fliers who say that they've been trying to redeem their miles for summer travel and haven't been able to do so," said Tim Winship, publisher of Frequentflier.com.

It's a difficult time to be a loyal customer to an airline. Airlines are trying to find a way to honor their frequent-flier trip requests while keeping seats available for paying customers. And as airlines continue to cut flights, finding ways to honor those requests are becoming even more challenging.

The percentage of seats that remain available to frequent fliers after this year's reductions is hard to identify because airlines do not reveal how many seats they make available on each flight for reward redemption.

US Airways, which is in the process of combining its operations with America West, has cut its capacity by about 14 percent versus last year. Scott Kirby, US Airways' executive vice president of sales and marketing, said summer bookings are already "much better" than last year. That means seats left open for frequent fliers, especially on popular routes and times, could be more difficult to find.

"My recommendation is to book now. There are going to be certain flights that, at peak travel times, are going to [have] a limited number of frequent-flier seats available," Kirby said.

Other airlines have already cut their flights. Last month, American Airlines cut its domestic and international flights by 4 percent compared with February 2005. During the same period, Northwest Airlines cut its domestic flights by 13 percent and its international flights by 11.3 percent.

The airlines are expected to increase flights for the busy summer months, but only slightly, an average of about 4.1 percent, according to the Air Transport Association.

And as airlines are cutting flights within the United States, industry observers say the best option to find seats this summer may be internationally. That's where airlines have cut the fewest flights and have actually added flights, especially to destinations within Europe, Asia and South America.

Frequent fliers should also be more flexible in finding flights during the week and using alternative airports, such as Gatwick Airport instead of Heathrow International, when flying into London.

"There's definitely more opportunities internationally than domestically," said John Heimlich, Air Transport Association economist.

Northwest Responds : In the past week, more than 55 BizClass readers copied me on e-mails they sent to Northwest Airlines in response to the carrier's decision to charge $15 fees for exit and aisle seats as part of its latest revenue-enhancing test.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch maintains that during the past few weeks, sales of the seats were running "ahead of expectations and are growing."

That growth seems to be in contrast with many of the e-mails that came into BizClass. In fact, only one agreed with Northwest's move. Henry Pabian of Canton, Ohio, called the charges "insulting." Penny R. Graham of Eau Claire, Wis., called it "ridiculous" and Robert W. Bentley of Port Townsend, Wash., said the charges were "the latest insult to long-time frequent fliers." And Lisa Vignerot of Stafford, Va., said "we passengers have to draw a line in the sand about all this nickel-and-diming."

Many of you e-mailed the airline at northwest.airlines@nwa.com . But it seems Northwest also created a separate account for members of its frequent-flier program. That address was choiceseatcomments@nwa.com . Ebenhoch says both addresses are still being monitored.

Northwest does seem to be responding to its customer e-mails, and many of you forwarded those responses to me. A review of the responses showed that each one was signed and addressed to the travelers by several different Northwest customer-care employees, including Gloria Krammer, Fawn Uhrig and Carl Tast. But several times the body of the response followed a template: "We regret any disappointment with our coach choice paid seat assignment program that we recently began testing" and "to that end, your feedback is appreciated as we examine this new product." But some travelers, such as Ira J. Waldman of Los Angeles, received more personalized responses because they commented on other areas of Northwest's operations, such as its carry-on luggage policies.

So, for those of you who wondered if Northwest was receiving your comments, it seems the airline is. But whether Northwest is listening remains to be seen.