The Consumer Memo, 7/28: Delta cuts fares, upgrades frequent-flier program

Fares on saleDelta Air Lines Inc. cut the price of some round-trip tickets by at least $100 for travel between Aug. 18 and Nov. 19 in an effort to fill planes after the peak summer travel season ends, according to FareCompare.com. Tickets must be bought by Aug. 14 and at least 21 days before the travel will occur.
Frequent-flier perks
Free travel on United Airlines and frequent-flier perks at Delta Air Lines Inc. will soon come with fewer strings attached, signaling a renewed interest by carriers in retaining repeat customers at a time when airline loyalty is waning.

Starting Thursday, Chicago-based United will drop fees ranging from $75 to $100 per ticket that it had charged passengers to cash in frequent-flier miles for trips booked less than 21 days in advance. Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, said members of Delta’s SkyMiles program who meet the minimum flying needed to obtain elite status will be allowed to roll over their excess miles to the next year, much like cell phone customers who are allowed to roll over unused minutes from one month to the next.

Mutual fund fees
Putnam Investments plans to introduce performance-based fees on its growth-stock and international funds as part of a price-cutting program aimed at attracting investors.

Putnam will lower management fees by an average of 13 percent on bond funds and 10 percent on asset-allocation funds, the Boston-based money manager said Tuesday. Some changes will take effect Saturday Aug. 1, and others will require fund shareholder approval, the company said.

Barnes & Noble Wi-Fi
Customers of Barnes & Noble will receive free in-store Wi-Fi to download and preview any of the retailer's 700,000 eBook titles and other materials. Services will be provided by AT&T. The book seller has offered Wi-Fi in its stores since 2005 buy on a pay-for-use basis.

BMW rebates
BMW is offering a $4,500 rebate on its two diesel models in the U.S. to win customers who can’t qualify for the government’s fuel-economy trade-in program. The discounts apply to the 335d sedan and X5d sport-utility vehicle, the most-efficient autos sold in the U.S. by BMW. The rebates began last week and run through Aug. 31.

Chrysler clunkers
Chrysler said its dealers attracted the most potential buyers in two years this past weekend because of a government trade-in plan for less fuel-efficient vehicles.

About 70 percent of those who visited the dealerships said they were attracted by the federal credit of as much as $4,500 to trade in older vehicles to be scrapped, Chrysler said.

Apple “Cocktail”
Apple dealApple Inc. and the four major recording labels are working on launching in the fall a music offering code-named “Cocktail” that aims to add value to digital albums sold on the online iTunes Store. The new package will include liner notes, artwork and potentially cell phone ringtones and music videos in a unified software package that the labels hope will boost sales of albums, instead of just single tracks.