Tag Archives for american airlines.
It’s a long shot for the Court to take the case, but if they do American stands a good chance. And the fact remains that American, as a competitor in New York, considers itself ‘too big to quit, too small to win’ while JetBlue is desperately seeking partners (including domestic ones). Lifting restrictions on these could be great for customers.
Two American Airlines passengers tried to force their way onto a flight from Miami to Cancun since they were running late. It appears they rushed the gate.
Their family of four had seven total carry-on bags but were told by the gate agent that their children had to carry their own bags – parents could not help! – or else the bags would have to be checked.
They checked in at the ticket counter and showed their ID. The agent saw that it was an ID issued in the state they were connecting in – suggesting they might be stopping their journey there. The agent said they suspected the passenger planned to skip the final flight segment and warned them they would be banned from American Airlines if they did not take the connection.
Here’s a dog standing up on the furniture at the American Airlines Admirals Club in Los Angeles. Since customer provisions there lag what United and Delta offer at their clubs, this dog is presumably eating and drinking there just as well as the passengers.
Will they be bankrupted by this American Airlines mistake? What’s it going to do to their credit score (that’s some hefty utilization!)? Will American Express close down their account? Will other card issuers?
An American Airlines customer bought a $1,000 ticket and later refunded it. American returned $100,000 instead.
In 2012 I wrote that wifi would eventually be free, once there was enough bandwidth on board so that one customer’s use didn’t trade off with another’s. That’s largely happened. JetBlue and Delta offer free wifi. United is moving to Starlink (enough bandwidth) which will be free. And it looks like American is being pushed there – dragged kicking and screaming, perhaps, but they have to get there.
It’s people who fly the most who (1) understand the difference in product [they are repeat buyers!] and (2) are willing to spend more to get the experience they want. They suffered from degraded product and service – less legroom and seat padding both in the front and back cabins, less food and lower quality meals on board (again in both cabins) and myriad cuts across the board.
These reputational issues have now gone mainstream, beyond just frequent flyers.
I feel like American could invest in just offering this to all members who reach 15,000 Loyalty Points. They will sell 1,000 Loyalty Points to partners for about $50. So they consider the 1,000 Loyalty Points you’re giving up to select the bag tag to be worth real money.
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 »
