starMedia’s ‘Daring Traveler’ Reveals a Spicier Side of Three Great American Cities
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MIAMI, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ — starMedia announced today the launch of Daring Traveler, (), a new Webcast show developed for ford Flex, together with Zubi Advertising and C3RTM of Miami. The new video capsules are the third in a series of Webisodios programming launched this year by the Spanish-language Portal.
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“Users and advertisers alike have embraced our new Webisodios format,” noted starMedia COO Juan Jose Nunez. “They’re proving to be a most effective medium to feature comprehensive product information for our audience, in a fun and engaging way; we’ll continue to develop new, creative and entertaining content as a means by which our advertisers may better familiarize Spanish-speaking consumers with their products and services.”
Daring Traveler will introduce viewers to the most adventurous people and places across three of America’s hottest towns: Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Each week, host Pablo Lagno will take starMedia users along in search of authentic, one-of-a-kind experiences. The series organically integrates Ford’s newest cross-over vehicle, the ford Flex, seamlessly. The ford Flex itself has been cast as one of the show’s protagonist, playing the part of Pablo’s hip, trusted and loyal companion; together, they explore the funky and fun nocturnal spots around some of the country’s leading Latin cities.
“We are always looking forward to new options, as the role of interactive media and the advertising tools they offer continue to evolve,” noted David Rodriguez, ford Multicultural Marketing Manager. The starMedia Webisodios format successfully introduces consumers to the new ford Flex through entertaining content, tailored to better deliver our message; we have great expectations for this format.”
Daring Traveler is the third Webisodios series starMedia has launched; it is scheduled to run until the end of the year. The other recently launched Portal Webisodios are starMedia EntertaiNews and Toque Latino.
About starMedia.com
starMedia.com is a free-to-web global Portal connecting more than 24 million Spanish-speakers through the Internet as well as providing them with the most relevant and extensive information and services. starMedia has local operations in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Spain and throughout the United States (Los Angeles, Miami and New York); and, is wholly owned by Orange (), a subsidiary of the France Telecom Group .
starMedia
Auto Affordability Best in 28 Years Comerica Bank Chief Economist Reports
DALLAS, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The purchase of an average-priced new vehicle took 23.1 weeks of median family income in the second quarter, according to the Auto Affordability Index compiled by Comerica Bank. The latest reading is down 0.9 weeks from the first quarter and 1.9 weeks compared to a year ago. Including finance charges, the total cost of buying an average-priced light vehicle was $27,704 in the second quarter. Last quarter, it took fewer weeks of work to purchase a new car than in any quarter since early 1980.
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“With gasoline prices soaring, interest rates on car loans rising, and the economy wobbly, those consumers who are still in the market for a new vehicle are opting for less expensive models,” said Dana Johnson, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. “Excluding finance costs, the average amount spent on a new car dropped another $700 to $23,900 last quarter and is now at its lowest level in three years. Consumers also are holding down their monthly payments by extending the average maturity of their car loans to 63 1/2 months, an increase of about 2 months over the past four quarters.”
This report incorporates the latest data on consumer spending on light vehicles and on the terms available on auto loans. The history of the index is available upon request from Meaghan Derrick (214-462-6815 or ).
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada, China and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $66 billion as of June 30, 2008. To receive e-mail alerts of breaking Comerica news, go to .
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Comerica Bank
Living Cities Launches Innovative Loan Fund to Revitalize America’s Cities
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Living Cities, a collaborative consisting of 20 of the nation’s largest foundations and financial institutions, today announced the first closing of the Living Cities Catalyst Fund, a new vehicle to pool and invest flexible capital to revitalize America’s cities.
“The Catalyst Fund meets an important need in the community development field,” notes Frank DeGiovanni, Director of Economic Development at the ford Foundation. “It will look beyond real estate and housing development to finance organizations expanding their innovative activities in sectors such as workforce development, education, and access to healthy foods, among others. Financing for these activities often is difficult for organizations to obtain.”
Investors in the first round include The ford Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and DeutscheBank Americas Foundation. These founding investors have committed $20 million to the Fund in the form of Program-Related Investments (PRIs). PRIs are investments made by foundations that are intended to generate both social returns as well as financial returns.
The Fund will seek out highly innovative organizations and change agents acting in low-income urban communities and provide them with below-market rate loans and guarantees. Specifically, Living Cities notes four priority areas for these investments: improving education, building individual income and prosperity, promoting health and wellness, and enhancing neighborhoods.
With a pipeline of initiatives already under review, the Fund is slated to start making loans in the fall and expects a future portfolio of approximately 20 loans ranging in size from $250,000 to $2 million.
“The Living Cities Catalyst Fund will play a key sector-building role,” according to Doug Nelson, CEO of The Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Many foundations are exploring the use of PRIs to advance their agendas. The Fund is an excellent vehicle for new PRI-makers, enabling them to invest alongside the institutions that pioneered these investments and create a PRI portfolio without having to build specialized staff to underwrite and monitor individual investments.”
“Living Cities is about making markets work for underserved urban communities and their residents. The Fund will bring new capital to cities by providing a convenient vehicle for philanthropic investors who care about cities and, in turn, enabling organizations to expand their impact on the ground and leverage additional investment,” says Living Cities CEO, Ben Hecht.
About Living Cities
Living Cities is the most enduring philanthropic and private sector collaborative in the world, with investments in America’s cities totaling a half billion dollars over the past 15 years, leveraging over 15 billion dollars to revitalize urban America. Living Cities supports bold, promising approaches that take advantage of cities’ unique roles in America’s economic prosperity and that have the potential to transform the lives of low-income people and the communities in which they live. For more information, please visit:
Living Cities members include: AXA Community Investment Program, Bank of America, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, MetLife, Inc., Prudential Financial, The Rockefeller Foundation, Surdna Foundation, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. Affiliate Members: The Cleveland Foundation, The Skillman Foundation.
Living Cities
NALAC Receives $475,000 From the Ford Foundation
SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ — The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) was awarded $475,000 by the ford Foundation to support the NALAC Fund for the Arts and launch a new re-granting initiative designed to promote intergenerational cultural transmission and community participation in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
NALAC, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2009, delivers services to the national Latino arts and culture sector through a series of core programs that include direct funding support, leadership training, regional and national convenings, and field research.
NALAC Executive Director Maria de Leon said, “This grant will enable NALAC to provide much needed support to an innovative community of Latino artists and organizations whose work greatly enriches the cultural life of the nation and will promote exchange and collaboration among culturally and economically linked populations in the Americas.”
The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), launched in 2005 with major support from the ford Foundation and JPMorgan Chase, has awarded more than $379,000 in three years to 128 Latino artists and Latino arts and cultural organizations working in all artistic disciplines.
The new Transnational Cultural Remittance (TCR) initiative builds on NALAC’s longstanding leadership role in supporting artistic work that addresses issues of social justice, cultural transmission and economic empowerment. The TCR initiative will support the creation and dissemination of new artistic works that directly explore, engage and articulate the complex issues facing transnational communities in the United States, Mexico and Central America.
The NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittance initiative builds on NALAC’s experience administering the NALAC Fund for the Arts and its long-term commitment to arts and culture. Guidelines for the new NALAC Transnational Cultural Remittances re-granting initiative will be available later this year.
About the ford Foundation: The ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Russia.
About NALAC: Founded in 1989, NALAC is the only national Latino arts and culture service organization in the United States. NALAC’s core programs include the NALAC Fund for the Arts, the NALAC Leadership Institute, Regional Arts Training Workshops, the NALAC National Conference and El Aviso Latino arts magazine.
Support: NALAC receives support from the ford Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Southwest Airlines, MetLife Foundation, Heineken USA, Texas Commission on the Arts, The Tobin Endowment, San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, PEC United Charities, H-E-B, Our Lady of the Lake University, NALAC members and individual donors.
Contact: Maria De Leon
Phone: 210-432-3982
E-mail:
National Association of Latino Arts and Culture; NALAC
New Website Offers a Full Range of Eco-Friendly Rental Cars That Satisfy the Needs of Environment-Conscious Motorists
BURBANK, Calif., July 30 /PRNewswire/ — EQO has launched a unique new website dedicated to the rental of eco-friendly cars. Called eQocar, the new website features popular hybrid automobiles which are available to people who desire a new concept to transition them away from traditional norms of luxury and into eco-friendly vehicles () that minimize damage to our ecosystem. This is an exciting program for people who don’t want to compromise on luxury while remaining continually conscious of our environment.
The eQocar rentals are primarily targeted to motion picture studios, corporations, celebrities, affluent eco-friendly groups, concept car enthusiasts, conventions and travel. EQO is an environmentally-friendly car rental company that offers a full range of rentals that are luxurious, sporty, and chic and customer service centric.
A complete range of hybrid rentals is available
Rental vehicles available from eQocar include: Toyota Prius; Toyota Camry Hybrid; Lexus GS 450H; Lexus LS 600h L; GMC Yukon SUV; Tahoe SUV; Nissan Altima Hybrid; Chevrolet Impala Hybrid; (Coming soon) Chevrolet Volt; Chrysler Aspen Hybrid ; Cadillac Escalade Hybrid; Porsche Cayenne Hybrid; Porsche Panamera Hybrid and the new concept Smart Hybrid; and the Aptera, Fisker Automotive and Tesla concept cars. eQocar offers the world’s only complete range of rentals for environmentally-conscious drivers committed to minimizing their carbon footprints.
EQO is more than just a car rental group
The EQO family is more than just a car rental agency (). It is a group dedicated to all the aspects of environmental protection. In addition to eQocar rentals, this group also offers eQocar sales; eQolife, a local happenings and product sales portal and eQolibrium, a green community with blogs, news and more.
According to Charina Aliling, CEO of the EQO group, there is a fast-growing interest in evolving from a traditional lifestyle to one that is eco-conscious. Moreover, people are fast recognizing that being ‘green’ is important both now and to future generations. He adds that “our company’s philosophy is to make it practical for people to embrace eco-consciousness as well as to relate to and share their experiences with others who are equally concerned. Obviously, minimizing the pollution from automobiles is an important step. That’s what eQocar rentals is all about.”
Full information about rental hybrids is available at eQocars website: .
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Teachers Get Added No-Cost Protection with Liberty Mutual’s New Car Insurance Policy
BOSTON, July 30 /PRNewswire/ — Liberty Mutual, the nation’s eighth largest car insurer, today announces its new car insurance policy that provides added coverage and benefits for teachers without increasing the cost. The customized policy is first available to teachers and school administrators in Illinois, Minnesota and Nevada.
“Teachers — who we celebrate and reward for their commitment to educating our children — have unique insurance needs,” said Greg Gordon, senior vice president of Marketing at Liberty Mutual. “Yet the average teacher’s salary isn’t even keeping pace with the rate of inflation, so we’ve created a package of benefits that doesn’t stretch their pockets.”
Liberty Mutual’s customized educators’ car insurance policy offering is for full-time teachers and administrators at primary or secondary schools and accredited colleges or universities. The no-additional-cost features include:
– A Collision Deductible Waiver: The customer’s deductible is fully waived if a covered collision loss occurs while traveling on school business.
– A Comprehensive Deductible Waiver: The deductible is fully waived if the car is vandalized while parked at the school or at a school-sponsored function.
– Personal Property Coverage: Educational materials or school-owned property stolen from or damaged in the teacher’s car are covered at actual cash value up to $2,500, with a $50 deductible.
In addition, teachers and administrators who are members of one of Liberty Mutual’s more than 10,000 affinity groups - including more than 1,200 educational partners — could qualify for an additional discount. To learn about the new teacher’s car insurance policy or discount eligibility, contact any local Liberty Mutual office in Illinois, Minnesota or Nevada, or call 1- 888-823-5644.
For information on how teachers can apply for one of 15 master’s degree scholarships from Liberty Mutual, or earn a 15 percent discount on graduate professional development courses from Pearson, log onto .
Liberty Mutual Group
“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a diversified global insurer and sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2007 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2007 revenue. The company has over 41,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual () sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 10,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.
Liberty Mutual
Emmis Interactive Honored With Interactive Media Awards
CHICAGO, July 31 /PRNewswire/ — Emmis Interactive, Inc., the software and consulting company that empowers the reinvention of local media, today announced it received four Horizon Interactive Awards, a leading international interactive media awards competition.
“While this kind of honor is nice for Emmis Interactive, it’s gratifying to see our clients receive recognition and deserved exposure,” said Rey Mena, co-president of Emmis Interactive. “It is truly their success.”
Emmis Interactive was recognized for excellence with two gold, one silver, and one bronze award.
Gold awards: ford Fuel Team,
In an effort to market the new ford Fusion and generate qualified leads for Chicagoland ford dealers, the ford Fuel Team was born. Brand ambassadors at local events passed out online decoder cards that drove traffic to the microsite.
Puma French 77,
Emmis Interactive created this microsite and branded it as the Puma French 77 online Fashion Show to introduce and create buzz around the new line of apparel, sneakers and accessories.
Silver: DiscoverADay.com,
This microsite was developed for Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. and the six cultural districts of Indianapolis to increase local tourism from surrounding cities and residence of Indianapolis.
Bronze: Prison Break: Field to Freedom,
The “Prison Break” game was created to generate energy and enthusiasm around the premiere of the show’s second season on FOX.
Other winners this year include Microsoft, ABC Family and USA Network. For more information visit the Horizon Interactive Awards at .
The seventh annual, international competition saw more than 1,000 entries from 20 countries around world, and nearly all 50 states in the U.S. An international panel of judges, consisting of industry professionals with diverse backgrounds, as well as an end-user panel, evaluated 18 different categories ranging from online advertising to video games.
Since announcing it was going to market its services to radio broadcasters and other local media companies in late April, Emmis Interactive has announced partnerships with Renda Broadcasting, Big League Broadcasting, Lincoln Media and Corus, as well as announcing a licensing agreement with the iTunes Store to market its custom Storefront technology.
Emmis Interactive, Inc., an award-winning global software and consulting company, provides local broadcasters and publishers with profitable, sustainable interactive businesses. Combining years of broadcast and publishing experience with cutting-edge technology and unparalleled service, Emmis Interactive empowers local media companies with a comprehensive digital strategy to maximize the value of their media brands. Services include interactive strategy for executive management, interactive sales training, content management consulting, proprietary technology platform and hosting services, custom web-site design and interactive product development. Emmis Interactive Inc. is an Emmis Communications Company. For more information about Emmis Interactive, visit emmisinteractive.com .
In its seventh year, the Horizon Interactive Awards program was created to recognize excellence in interactive media production worldwide. Since 2001, the competition has received thousands of entries from countries around the world and nearly all 50 U.S. states. Each year, those entries are narrowed down to the best of the best to be recognized and promoted on an international stage for their excellence.
Certain statements included in this report or in the financial statements contained herein which are not statements of historical fact, including but not limited to those identified with the words “expect,”"will” or “look” are intended to be, and are, by this Note, identified as “forward-looking statements,” as defined in the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future result, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement. Emmis does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events or otherwise.
Emmis Interactive
Liberty Mutual and Carfax Team to Protect Consumers from Unknowingly Buying Flood Damaged and Totaled Cars
BOSTON, July 21 /PRNewswire/ — It happens all across the country: people purchase used cars without realizing they were totaled in crashes, floods and other disasters. These buyers end up paying more than the car is truly worth, often face steep repair bills, and — most alarming — are driving potentially unsafe vehicles.
To protect consumers from this fate, Liberty Mutual, the nation’s eighth-largest car insurer, is providing Carfax with its data on every car declared a total loss and sold for salvage for the past five years and going-forward. This information is then disclosed to the buyer on a Carfax vehicle history report.
“Varying state laws and a deceitful practice called ‘title washing’ allows salvaged cars to be sold without any documentation they were once totaled,” said Ted Gramer, Liberty Mutual executive vice president, Personal Claims. “In the aftermath of disasters like the recent Midwestern floods and hurricanes, consumers need added protection from increased fraudulent activity.”
Through the Liberty Mutual Rewards website, , Carfax is offering consumers a free flood check to quickly confirm if a vehicle they are interested in buying has ever been reported as flood damaged. Consumers also can purchase through the site a complete Carfax vehicle history report at a 25 percent discount.
“Liberty Mutual is the first insurance company to offer this protection to consumers, which complements our commitment to making our roads safer and reducing fraud in the used car market,” said Dick Raines, president of Carfax. “The addition of total loss information to our database helps both buyers and sellers of used cars. A Carfax Vehicle History Report combined with a mechanic’s inspection protects consumers from hidden problems and helps them find safe, reliable cars.”
Furthering its consumer safety responsibility, Liberty Mutual also recently announced its support of the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s VINCheck(SM) buyer protection program. Consumers can input any vehicle’s unique 17-character identification number (VIN) at to determine if a participating insurance company such as Liberty Mutual had previously declared the car a total loss.
About Liberty Mutual
“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a diversified global insurer and sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2007 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2007 revenue. The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual () sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in group sponsored voluntary auto and homeowners insurance programs, offering personal lines insurance through payroll deduction and direct billing to employees and members of more than 10,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.
Liberty Mutual Group has over 41,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
About Carfax
Millions of used car buyers and sellers each year rely on Carfax, the most trusted provider of vehicle history information. Using the unique 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) found on vehicle dashboards and title documents, Carfax instantly generates a detailed Vehicle History Report on any used car or light truck. Carfax Vehicle History Reports(TM) provide valuable information that helps used car buyers and sellers make better decisions. Free Carfax Vehicle History Reports are instantly available with vehicles listed in nearly every online marketplace by Carfax-subscribing dealers. For more information, ask your dealer or visit .
CONTACT: Glenn Greenberg
(617) 574-5874
Liberty Mutual
Reader’s Digest Reports on the Best and Worst States for Teen Drivers in First-Ever Analysis
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., July 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — car crashes are the number one killer of teens in the United States with July being the deadliest month. Each year, more than 5,000 teenagers die on America’s roadways, but these deaths do not need to happen. Shocking statistics, revealed in a new report in the August issue of Reader’s Digest, on sale July 22, highlight the risks teen drivers pose to themselves and others and the desperate need for states to pass stricter laws regulating teen drivers. As the report shows, more stringent laws usually result in fewer fatalities.
Reader’s Digest ranked all 50 states based on their laws in three areas: graduated driver licensing, which imposes certain restrictions on teens before they are fully licensed; seat belt use; and DUI (driving under the influence). Complete rankings, as well as the methodology used in the report and other information, are available at . The report also includes a ranking of states based on teen driving fatalities.
States were categorized as Best, Good, Fair or Worst. According to the report, the three states considered best for teen driving safety are: Alaska, California and Delaware. Among the worst are Montana, Mississippi and Arkansas, which also rank among the top ten states for the highest number of teen-driving fatalities per 100,000 teens. Reader’s Digest gathered data for this report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
As the report shows, a number of factors contribute to teen accidents, including:
— Speeding is a factor in 35% of crashes involving young drivers
— Cell phone use increases the crash risk by 300%
– Adding one passenger to a teen-driven car increases the fatal crash risk by 48%; adding a second increases it by 158%
– 87% of teen deaths involve distracted drivers; radios rank as a top distraction
– During nighttime, teens drivers are three times more likely to die in a crash than during the day
The younger the teen, the greater the risk. The crash rate for 16-year-olds is nearly double the rate for 19-year-olds. Yet, a recent study by Johns Hopkins University for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that comprehensive driver licensing laws decrease deaths among 16-year-old drivers by 38 percent.
“Car crashes kill far too many teenagers each year,” said Andrea Barbalich, Reader’s Digest Deputy Editor. “If we can save lives by passing laws that limit teen driving at night or require more driving time before teens can be fully licensed, then we should all mobilize to make that happen.”
Only 20 percent of high schools offer driver’s education today as opposed to 90 percent in the 1980s, putting the onus for keeping teens safe squarely on parents and state governments. Accompanying the report’s data are tips for teaching a teen to drive and a graphic illustrating the anatomy of a teen car accident, which highlights the factors that dramatically increase a teen’s risk of an accident.
“For decades, Reader’s Digest has been a vocal proponent of safer roads,” said Peggy Northrop, Reader’s Digest Editor-in-Chief. “This report is further evidence of our commitment to this issue and our hope that readers will respond vigorously to our appeal to lobby their state governments to pass tougher teen driving laws.” A sample letter for readers to send to elected officials is available at , along with links to additional resources on teen driving and lobbying state representatives.
Reader’s Digest reaches nearly 40 million readers each month in the United States and twice as many worldwide. Its U.S. website is . The magazine is published in 51 editions and 22 languages, and reaches readers in more than 60 countries. It is the flagship of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., a global publisher and direct marketer of products that inform, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world. Global headquarters are in Pleasantville, N.Y.
Reader’s Digest
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Adds Thrifty Car Rental as New Preferred Partner
DALLAS, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Southwest Airlines welcomes Thrifty car Rental as a new preferred partner to the airline’s award-winning frequent flyer program, Rapid Rewards. The partnership with Thrifty, effective July 11, 2008, will allow the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards’ program to acquire new Members from Thrifty and build additional brand loyalty with co-branded promotions.
To celebrate the kickoff, now through Oct. 31, 2008, Members can receive triple credit on a weekly rental of five or more days. (That’s 1.5 credits per transaction versus the standard 0.5 credit per transaction). For more information, including terms and conditions, visit or .
“This new partnership with Thrifty will bring tremendous value to our Customers and to the Rapid Rewards program,” said Ryan Green, Southwest Airlines’ Director of Customer Loyalty. “We are very proud to welcome Thrifty onboard to assist us in getting Customers to their favorite destinations.”
“We are simply elated that Thrifty is joining one of the premier rewards programs in the airline industry,” said Brian Carpenter, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. “We always felt Southwest Airlines and Thrifty would be a natural union for customers looking for exceptional value in the air and on the ground.”
Since 2004, Thrifty car Rental has sponsored Southwest Airlines’ “Star of the Month” Employee recognition program, providing a free car rental to every featured Employee. Thrifty’s sister company, Dollar Rent A Car, has been a Preferred Partner with Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards since July 1, 1999.
It is fast and easy to earn free travel through Rapid Rewards. Rapid Rewards Members earn credits by flying or using the program’s Preferred Partners, like Thrifty car Rental. It takes just eight roundtrips to qualify for an Award, but Members can accelerate their earnings by using the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Signature Card, doing business with any of the airline’s other Preferred Partners, or by purchasing Southwest’s Business Select fares when flying. Plus, once it’s earned, the Award may be transferred to anyone. The Award is free but subject to the U.S. government September 11th Security Fee of up to $10 roundtrip.
About Southwest Airlines
After 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate itself from other low fare carriers-offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a comfortable traveling experience. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying Southwest convenient and simple. Southwest Airlines , the nation’s largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 34,000 Employees systemwide.
About Thrifty car Rental
Thrifty car Rental is a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. , a Fortune 1000 Company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Together with its corporately-owned locations and those of its franchise owners, the Thrifty car Rental brand serves value-conscious travelers from more than 1,028 locations in 68 countries. For additional information, visit or .
Southwest Airlines