Tag Archives for american airlines.
I’ve been a frequent critic of American Airlines, and that’s largely because I believe no U.S. airline has greater potential to be better than it is today than American. I’m also frustrated with many things about its loyalty program, AAdvantage, but when I sit down to compare AAdvantage to the programs offered by United and by Delta it actually comes out ahead. Here’s why.
American’s on-time performance and frequency of cancelled flights was appalling over the summer. I’ve highlighted the bad news, so let’s also highlight the good news. November was much much better.
American Airlines says very little about ConciergeKey status. There’s no published criteria for earning it. Most of the benefits are secret. But ConciergeKey members are taken care of by the airline, even when things go wrong. And that status has just been awarded for next year.
American started flying from Dallas to Iceland when Wow Air and Icelandair started service there. When those two airlines pulled out, American shifted their flight to Philadelphia. Now they’ve filed to make their Philadelphia – Reykjavik flight year-round.
On Friday American Airlines flight 3508 from Pensacola to Miami returned to the Pensacola airport when a passenger on board said she had a medical emergency. Only there was no medical emergency. She just wanted an upgrade.
The battling between American’s independent APFA union and the stalking horse of the national AFA reminds me of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. They’ve seemed to have forgotten they’re supposed to be fighting the Romans (American Airlines management).
The union needs to be building a war chest for its negotiations. Instead they’re cutting costs like accounting systems that allow for electronic expense reports. They’re keeping higher union leadership pay. And they won’t go to the membership for a dues increase – fearing that would put them out on the streets.
Whenever there’s a flight delay I’ve been able to get agents – whether on the phone or in an Admirals Club – to get me rebooked. However being an Executive Platinum helps, having lounge access helps, and it can be difficult for many passengers to get through to an agent when flights go bad.
The airline has a tool to let customers rebook themselves onto new flights. It’s available on the website, using the airline’s mobile app, or at kiosks and launched two years ago. But when does the ability to rebook oneself onto a new flight become available?
American Airlines has spent a lot of time moving around little green pieces of paper. Starting this month though the paper burden has been reduced.
Two American Eagle flights had to be cancelled when the Bombardier CR-9 regional jets operated by Mesa Airlines were hit by a fuel truck this morning while preparing for departure at the Dallas Fort-Worth B terminal. One aircraft was headed to McAllen, Texas, while the other one was about to head to Albuquerque.
Video of the incident is… just…
On Thursday a frequent flyer shared a story of taking on the role of flight attendant when the American Eagle first class crewmember was neglecting her duties.
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 »
