March 13, 2002

12:47 PM

Start saving!US Airways announces that for just 10 million frequent flyer miles, you can get a free trip to space! "There's just one catch: The rocket and the launch pad don't exist. So don't ask for time off quite yet."
posted by stew560 (7 comments total)

Yesterday, Slashdot had a thread about this.
posted by bloggboy at 1:31 PM on March 13, 2002

I think some people may end up getting screwed by this. It reminds me a great deal of this fiasco.
posted by OneBallJay at 1:49 PM on March 13, 2002

Around the time of Apollo 8, Pan Am started taking reservations for round trips to the moon. Don't know how long the waiting list is these days.
posted by skyscraper at 1:55 PM on March 13, 2002

I would wish US Airways would retract this annoucement until there's actually proof they'd have the means to follow up on their claim. There are many charities who can take frequent flyer miles as a form of donation. Wishes With Wings is one that comes to mind. However, this thinly veiled publicity stunt on US Airways part may cause some ignorant ..uhm, unrealistically hopeful people to honestly believe they could save enough miles to get into space by the time commercial space travel becomes viable. This may mean less frequent flyer miles donated to worthy charities.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:20 PM on March 13, 2002

Oh good, well that means that if you go from Boston to LA and back every day for the next five years, you can earn 10,000,000 miles. Honey, pack my backs and a box of twinkies (Twinkies are space food you know), I'm going to the moon!
posted by BlueTrain at 2:27 PM on March 13, 2002

Don't forget your Tang and Space Food Sticks BlueTrain!
posted by jonmc at 6:09 PM on March 13, 2002

Pan Am accepted some 90,000 "reservations" for moon flights -- essentially a promotional gag -- beginning in 1969, but their bankruptcy in 1991 mooted the entire thing. The current Pan Am is a completely different airline startup that bought the name.
posted by dhartung at 8:55 PM on March 13, 2002