NYBanker posted on Milepoint that American has expanded the availability of their VIP meet-and-greet “Five Star” service, and now offer details online.
At 9 domestic and 5 international airports, for $125 per person ($200 for a party of two, or $200 minimum for one or two people international), American will provide airport meet-and-greet and escort services as well as flight monitoring and assistance during irregular operations. Of course, one flight segment must actually be on American in order to use it..
They have a departure, arrival, and a connections service:
We’ll do more than meet and assist you in the airport. Our representatives will work behind the scenes to monitor the status of your flights and make any accommodations that may be necessary. Your personal representatives will also:
Coordinate with your car service
Meet you at curbside or at your arrival gate
Assist you with your baggage and check-in
Expedite your way through security
Provide access to the Admirals Club® lounge
Escort you to your gate and assist with pre-boarding
Proactively monitor your flights and, in case of delays, coordinate re-accommodations
Escort you through Customs and Immigration for international flights**
Escort you to baggage claim and assist with baggage.
Available domestic airports are Boston, O’Hare, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, New York Kennedy, New York LaGuardia, San Francisco, and DC’s Reagan National.
Available international airports are Buenos Aires, London Heathrow, Milan, Tokyo Narita, and Sao Paolo.
Now, this is hardly necessary and rather pricey for the everyday run of the mill road warrior trip. But for a family with small children, older infrequent travelers, or folks expecting to be running truly late, it could be well worthwhile and I’m frankly surprised it’s priced as reasonably as it is, for what it is. You’ll pay US$90 or so for a similar service for two people in Bangkok so seeing it at $200 in the US is less than I’d have guessed.
Previously I had been aware of the service in Los Angeles and even had the number stashed away but never used it. It’s good to see this online, published, and at more airports… even if I never use it.
If it gets AC access, that’s really only $75 cost for someone who mightve bought access anyway. The real kicker would be if it got you flagship lounge access at the applicable airports.
And it’s a truly worthwhile service if you’re expecting very bad weather to hit.
If I’m flying LGA-ORD-SFO would I have to pay a seperate $125 at each airport? That would drive up the cost considerably. But still a pretty reasonable value, especially for close connections where a terminal change may be required at ORD or JFK (although why is T4 excluded?)
Well, if you wanted Departure AND Connection AND Arrival service you would have to pay for each service yes 🙂 I’d certainly do arrival service for elderly family coming off an international flight.
wow..they want to charge for something that should be included with any flight experience heheh
Included? How much are you willing to pay for tix that have a personal conceirge of sorts? Wow talk about unrealistic real life situations.
Sounds like a great service and perfect timing for this post. My future mother-in-law is flying in through LAX next month alone….will have to try this out and score some points with her.
Looks like the price went up since you made the post.