[ SHOWGSD-L ] K-9 Frequent Fliers
- From: "arycrest@xxxxxxxxxxx" <arycrest@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 12:38:44 GMT
This was on ATT's news this morning and figured a lot of you would be
interested in reading it.
Four-Legged Frequent Fliers
Updated 7:21 AM ET March 21, 2005
When Jackie Fogel travels, she's more concerned with her travel companions'
comfort than her own. That can make life difficult, because those companions
are often traveling in the cargo hold.
Fogel, a professional dog handler, flies four to five times per year to dog
shows around the country with her champion-caliber dogs. She's been showing
dogs for 25 years, and in that time she's learned some valuable lessons on what
to expect when traveling with animals.
In the past it was not uncommon to see kennels arrive at destinations looking
beaten up or even broken. And one dog flown to her Wisconsin home for breeding
disappeared for several hours when it was accidentally sent to Minneapolis
instead of Milwaukee, Fogel says. She now refuses to fly into Los Angeles' LAX
with dogs because of a mishap years ago with the top-ranked Bedlington terrier
in the country.
"We don't know what exactly happened, but he was so shell-shocked that he slept
for 17 hours straight the next day. I couldn't even show him," she said.
These days, Fogel sticks with Midwest Airlines because she believes the carrier
exercises great care in handling her dogs. And due to a recent addition to the
company's frequent-flier program, she earns extra miles and bonuses for
traveling with her dogs.
Midwest is one of two airlines, along with United, to give frequent-flier
benefits for animal travelers. The pet benefits were added early this year as
airlines across the industry revamped their fare structure and frequent-flier
programs amid an industry-wide earnings slump.
The Midwest program awards pets one free round-trip ticket for every three paid
round-trip flights. Members of the Midwest Miles program can also cash in
15,000 miles in exchange for a free round-trip pet fare. United's program
offers travelers 1,200 bonus miles when their pets travel with them.
Already Seeing Benefits
Both programs went into effect in mid-January, and Fogel has already earned two
round-trip pet tickets on Midwest, flying three dogs to a show in Denver and
two to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. Fogel said she no
longer worries about their care, as Midwest pampers the dogs in heated rooms
before boarding them onto planes and treats them to in-flight carob-chip doggie
cookies emblazoned with the Midwest logo.
So much for the days of shell-shock. The dogs were comfortable enough on their
New York trip that Fogel's Bedlington terrier, Clark, who like his superhero
namesake goes by the stage name "Champion First Class Superman," won best in
breed at Westminster.
"When I'm flying without the dogs it's less important. But I always try to fly
Midwest if I'm going to a show," she said.
Pet airfares average about $150 for a round-trip ticket, so people like Fogel
who frequently transport animals have the chance to save hundreds of dollars
with the new benefits. Midwest charges $75 per travel stage to transport a pet,
and United's fares range from $80 per stage to $200 per stage for animals in
large kennels.
Frequent-flier benefits are one of the key tools airlines use to hold onto
customers, and in many ways the competition in such programs has become just as
heated as the traditional fare wars.
"It's becoming extremely important to them as a marketing tool," said Terry
Trippler, a former travel agent and now CEO of the airfare information Web site
travelairfare.com. "Like the matching airfares, it's become a runaway train.
Airlines are offering triple miles or things like that to promote a certain
destination, or travel at a certain time of year."
Dog Lover Created Midwest Program
Some airlines prefer not to handle animals -- Southwest Airlines doesn't allow
pets on any flights -- and the pet program is thus far unique to Midwest and
United. Midwest's program was conceived by fellow dog handler Susan
Kerwin-Hagen, a marketing manager at the airline accustomed to dealing with
many of the traveling headaches Fogel has faced.
After handling show dogs for more than 30 years, Kerwin-Hagen was eager to make
sure the pets were treated properly in addition to earning mileage points for
their owners.
"We take the time to train our people to handle pets and do things like talking
to them to make sure they're feeling OK," she said.
The incentives are apparently working. Midwest saw the number of pet passengers
jump 75 percent in the month after the program was announced. The total number
of traveling pets is up 25 percent for the year, and Midwest hopes to double
the 3,000 pet travelers it carried last year.
"We have a lot of passengers who want to travel with their pets, and good
customers can have four legs, too," Kerwin-Hagen said.
United estimates that it carries about 150,000 pets per year, a group that has
included such unusual passengers as two silverback gorillas and a beluga whale.
A United spokesman said it's too early to tell if the frequent-flier program
has enticed more passengers to fly with pets, but spokesman Robin Urbanski said
the company is considering extending the offer beyond its original May 27
expiration.
"A lot of people really consider their pets a part of the family, and more and
more people want to take the whole family along when they travel," he said.
Gayle
Ringer - Honey - Kelly - Mac - Slider - Bo
Bridge Kids - Andy - Abbey - Tasha - Tex - Echo - Yukon - JR - Too - Niki
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