I thought of posting this in response to Raul's question on the best airline out of Seattle; although he's made a choice and I don't have a vested interest in any airline, I thought I'd mention that Northwest has been especially generous in giving bonus frequent flyer miles. There is word on the Flyertalk board that NW is offering a Fly Free Faster promotion for the third year in a row. A URL has been designated, but the rules won't officially be posted until May 15: . People should read the terms and conditions carefully, but last year they gave 10,000 bonus miles to those who registered and did the following:

1. One qualifying activity, which included the choice of a flight, changing phone companies, or getting a NWA Visa card.

2. Five non-airline partner transactions, which could be hotels or car rentals, or also small purchases from the nwa.com mall or meals at restaurants listed in . Idine has partnerships with most U.S. airlines; for people who dine out much in U.S. cities, it's a good chance to get miles by signing up with the program of their choice.

This activity would need to happen from June through August. This bonus, in addition to the miles from the activities themselves, is a nice opportunity to get miles similar to what one would get from a transatlantic trip with little expense, possibly for things you'd be doing anyway.

Andrew Missouri