Tag Archives for american airlines.
A frequent flyer shared their amazement that the purchase of 127 bonsai trees could earn them Executive Platinum status. But it’s actually much easier – and cheaper – than that.
On October 29 American Airlines sent an eight year old Boeing 777-300ER to their Tulsa maintenance facility for insect abatement.
A couple of weeks later the plane was out and back in service – but it flew a single Miami to Dallas – Fort Worth segment before returning to Tulsa on November 14. Aircraft N724AN was still on the ground in Tulsa when I wrote about it in early December. It is now finally flying again. Here’s where it’s going.
American Airlines flight AA2578 from San Diego to Miami last night appears to be just the sort of flight that I had in mind, where a flight attendant went to lengths to try to show up – as incentivized by premium holiday pay – even when they were too sick to fly.
I’m told that one of the flight attendants was sick but went to the airport anyway, intending to fly, but called in sick once they’d arrived. There’s a second hand suggestion that the crewmember had Covid symptoms, but this isn’t necessary for the point. The flight wound up cancelling and the remaining crew – two pilots and three flight attendants – operated the aircraft to Miami without passengers as American Airlines AA9782.
As the only U.S. carrier offering international first class and on a limited number of aircraft, there’s potential to make it work. There’s even less competition among foreign carriers for the market. American just hasn’t made the investment to do so.
American has the potential to offer a really competitive product. Already they have several of the pieces.
Amy Craven, the Director of Brand & Global Advertising recently spoke about the airline’s brand purpose. She gives a nice pitch for it, but I think she misses the mark (because the airline does). “Caring for people on life’s journey” doesn’t do for American what it needs to do.
If you place an award on hold for 5 days, that space will likely cancel out. And American can’t restore the award for you if availability is gone when you notice. The most American can do is find you an alternative, or perhaps open up space on one of their own flights for your travel.
American Airlines will let you confirm an upgrade at booking or any time before travel using miles (plus a cash co-pay) or systemwide upgrades (which are a choice benefit for Platinum Pro elite members and above, and given out to million milers upon qualification).
However the airline is super stingy with this space, even on flights that are completely empty and likely to remain so. But a glitch is giving away upgrades to customers that American Airlines didn’t intend to offer.
Delta and Alaska Airlines commit to delivering checked bags within 20 minutes of each flight arriving. If they fail to meet that, you’re entitled to miles or a credit towards a future trip as compensation. Neither United nor American offer this.
A brief moment of honesty from an American Airlines manager explains why they can’t do it.
The American Airlines caterer at Dallas – Fort Worth, LSG Sky Chefs, is short on ice and blaming supply chain for the problem. Flights are getting notes, instead of ice, in their catering drawers.
Here are three things that I didn’t cover separately from last week’s employee meeting with American Airlines President and CEO-designate Robert Isom, along with several other executives that seemed noteworthy or otherwise interesting to me.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
