Why I Don’t Trust American Airlines Any More
I've already been pretty clear that I'm disappointed with the changes that American Airlines announced to the AAdvantage program on 6 June but that's not where my issue with the airline lies. The AAdvantage program is American's to do with as it pleases so, irrespective of how anyone feels about what they've done to it, we have to grin and bear it - the airline has every right to change its rewards program in any way it likes.
What it shouldn't have the right to do is to keep AAdvantage members dangling in suspense waiting for clarification on issues that directly affect the bookings they may want to make.
How American Airlines Upgrades Are Prioritized Now & How Things Will Change
Yesterday I wrote about how travelers can use American Airlines AAdvantage Miles to upgrade domestic and international flights so it seems appropriate to take a look at how American prioritizes upgrades that have been waitlisted and how it prioritizes complimentary and 500-mile upgrades. I'll take a look at how the system works right now and also touch on how the system will be changing once the recently announced devaluations come in to full effect.
Double Business Extra Points On American’s New Routes From LAX
American Airlines' Business Extra program has launched a new promotion for travelers out of LAX. Members of the program will earn double Business Extra points for flights taken on American Airlines between Los Angeles and nine destinations that the airline has recently added to its schedule...including on the Los Angeles - Auckland route.
Amazing Business Class Award Availability USA-London! (Upgrades Available Too)
There's no getting away from it, American Airlines is incredibly stingy with its premium cabin award inventory and the lack of award space on American Airlines has been a regular grip with frequent flyers for years. However, every now and again, the airline seems to go from one extreme to the other and a glut of award space opens up on routes where previously none had existed. Cue a feeding frenzy in the miles & points world.
Fantastic Business Class Fares – Paris To US From $1,435 (£990/€1,282)
Last week I posted about a great Business Class fare for travel between Milan and New York which I thought would be pretty hard to beat but that's exactly what's happened. Once again the fare is for travel with the oneWorld alliance and, once again, it's Finnair that's the key to the deal.
Business Class Milan – JFK & 35,000 Miles From $1,590 (£1,095/€1,420)
There is a great Business Class fare currently available for travel between Milan and New York JFK that's not only good value price-wise but could earn you a significant number of miles as well. The one issue is that the fare isn't available for too many dates but, if you can be flexible with your dates, this may work well for you.
American Airlines To Introduce Domestic Premium Economy In 2017
Scott Kirby, President of American Airlines, was presenting at The Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2016 Transportation Conference this morning and, while there wasn't too much in his talk that we haven't heard from American before, one thing that came out of the Q&A stood out for me - Premium Economy cabins are coming to domestic American Airline flights in 2017.
Double Points With British Airways On Business & A Business Extra Promo You Should...
On Business and Business Extra are the loyalty programs from British Airways and American Airlines that are aimed at small and medium sized businesses.
On Business and Business Extra have historically been standalone loyalty programs but, over the past year or so, they've got closer. American Airlines flyers based outside the US can now credit AA flights to On Business and British Airways flyers based in the US can now credit BA flights to Business Extra.
American Airlines Promotion – Earn Up To 50,000 AAdvantage Miles
American Airlines has launched a promotion which allows AAdvantage members to earn up to 50,000 AAdvantage miles when they travel roundtrip between the US...
American Eliminates 24 Hour Holds To Protect The Lazy From Themselves
Under US DOT regulations US carriers have to offer passengers the option to cancel a ticket within 24 hours of purchase with no penalty or offer them an option to hold a ticket for 24 hours during which time the fare is locked in. Historically, all US carriers except for American Airlines have offered the option to cancel while American has offered its customers the option to place tickets on hold....but this is no longer the case.
American Airlines Adds 787 Service To London (Briefly) & Opens Reservations To Hong Kong
Two pieces of recent American Airlines news with the airline adding a 787 Dreamliner to its Chicago - London route (albeit for a short period only) and opening bookings for its new Los Angeles - Hong Kong route which is due to start on 7 September 2016.
American Airlines AAdvantage Devaluation – 4 Days Left To Book
The American Airlines AAdvantage devaluation is just 4 days away so time is running out to book awards at the current levels. You have up...
American Airlines Awards You Should NOT Book Yet
Devaluation Day (D-Day ) is approaching rapidly for those of us with American Airlines AAdvantage miles and, with a lot of the better awards increasing in...
What American Airlines Told Investors
American Airlines' CEO, Doug Parker, gave a presentation to investors at the JP Morgan Aviation, Transportation & Industrials Conference a couple of days ago in which he outlined the direction he sees the industry going, what's going on at American Airlines and a small piece on what he called “product segmentation”.
American Airlines To Eliminate Complimentary Upgrades On New Basic Economy Fares
Back at the end of October last year Scott Kirby, American Airlines’ president, used a Wall Street earnings call to announce that 2016 would be the year American...
American Airlines Announces LAX Service To Hong Kong
American Airlines appears to have announced the long anticipated service between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. It was widely expected that the Airline would announce this route earlier in the year when it held a big press event in Los Angeles but, rumors say, the announcement was cancelled due to route timing issues.
American Airlines Pilots Claim Relations With Management Are “Toxic” – You Reap What You...
Skift ran an article over the weekend in which the American Airlines Pilot's union (APA) calls the relationship between the airline's management and the pilots "toxic". Apparently the APA has written a letter to American Airlines CEO, Doug Parker, claiming that the airlines's middle managers are "misaligned" with their CEO's call for better labor relations.
Review: American Airlines 767 Business Class (JFK-MXP)
Back in January, as the last major flight in my 8 Flights, 7 Lounges & 3 Hotels In 5 Days trip, I flew from New York JFK to Milan in Business Class (thanks to a Systemwide Upgrade) on a refurbished American Airlines 767 aircraft. Despite having flown over a million miles in various American Airlines aircraft this was my first international flight on one of their Boeing 767s.
American Airlines Adds Dallas – Santa Barbara Service & 767 Service Between Miami &...
From 2 June 2016 American Airlines will begin daily service between Dallas Fort Worth and Santa Barbara California.
The route will be operated by a...
American Airlines Opening Up First & Business Class Awards To South America
Over the past few years American Airlines has been getting more and more stingy with the award seats it releases. This has led to...
Review: American Airlines Business Class A321 (LAX-JFK)
The penultimate flight during my 8 Flights, 7 Lounges & 3 Hotels In 5 Days trip was a transcontinental flight between Los Angeles and New...
Is American Airlines About To Add New Elite Status Levels?
A tweet posted by Holly Hegeman of PlaneBusiness.com has set off rumours that American Airlines is set to shake up AAdvantage elite levels...and not in a good way. The tweet suggests that we could be set to see new elite levels added to the AAdvantage program, specifically at the top level of the pyramid.
American Airlines Adds More 2-Class 777-200 Aircraft To Europe Routes
At the beginning of February American Airlines scheduled its first 2-class 777-200 flight to London's Heathrow Airport from Chicago and now their latest schedule update has the airline ramping up its 2-class service between the US and Europe.
American Airlines Partners With Uber – Get Discount Codes & Bonus Miles
American Airlines has announced a partnership with Uber, the global ride-sharing service, and has added functionality to the American Airlines App to guide customers to the nearest Uber pick up location at 11 airports across the country. Discount codes and bonus miles are also available for new Uber users, Executive Platinum card holders and AAdvantage Aviator Card holders.
American Airlines Dismisses Reciprocal Upgrade Idea
Last Thursday I highlighted a piece from Australian Business Traveller (ABT) which indicated that American Airlines and Qantas were considering reciprocal points upgrades (presumably as a...
Review: American Airlines Business Class 787 Dreamliner
Two of my flights in my 8 Flights, 7 Lounges & 3 Hotels In 5 Days trip were a mileage run to Dallas that I had nested into...
American Airlines Will Fly 2-Class Retrofitted 777-200 To London
Most of the American Airlines 777-200 aircraft that are around at the moment have old cabins and are on the "avoid if at all...
American Airlines & Qantas Considering Reciprocal Points Upgrades
American Airlines and Qantas have recently got a lot closer than just being OneWorld partners thanks to a joint venture agreement signed last year....
American Airlines To Fly 787-8 Dreamliner To Manchester (UK)
American Airlines has received 13 of its 17 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners so far and they're not wasting much time in deploying them on their network. We've already seen American Airlines flying their new aircraft on routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Tokyo Narita and Santiago but there have been a lot more new 787 routes announced recently.
American Airlines Going Upgrade Crazy
Over the past few days quite a few blogs have been reporting on the sudden glut of award inventory that American Airlines has opened up on various routes. To American's frequent flyers this is mana from heaven and is a bounty we haven't seen for a very long time indeed.
But that's a subject that I've seen covered a lot elsewhere so that's not what I'm going to concentrate on in this post. What I'm more interested in is the upgrade availability that American has also opened up.
American Airlines Adds 787 Dreamliner To Domestic Route
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is American Airlines' latest aircraft and was introduced into its fleet to, primarily, operate on long-haul routes on which demand...
American Airlines Introducing Upscale Amenity Kits
American Airlines has just announced that it is teaming up with four "unique brands" to put together their first premium amenity kit for a...
Review: American Airlines Business Class 777-300ER (LHR-LAX)
I've flown on the American Airlines 777-300ER a total of 19 times since the aircraft joined the American Airlines fleet in early 2013 and...
American Airlines & LATAM Announce Plans For a Join Business Agreement
American Airlines has announced that it will be seeking regulatory approval to enter into a Joint Business agreement with the South American airline group LATAM. The airlines also intend to file for antitrust immunity from the US DOT and the "appropriate authorities in South America"
When Things Go Very, Very Right
Let’s face it; most of us in the miles and points world are exceptionally good at complaining. If we’re not complaining about the seats...
American Airlines Still Won’t Tell Us When Mileage Earning Will Change
Back in November American Airlines announced that it would be following the pack and devaluing the once excellent AAdvantage loyalty program. The devaluation had...
American Airlines To Fly 787 Dreamliner Chicago – Beijing
The American Airlines routes to China, and especially the Chicago - Beijing route, are often great hunting grounds for travelers looking for excellent Economy Class...
American Airlines – Do They Think Before They Announce?
Yesterday's American Airlines announcement about the introduction of Premium Economy cabins across their long-haul fleet really annoyed me. And the annoyance had nothing to do with any potential devaluation in AAdvantage Executive Platinum status that the introduction of a Premium Economy cabin could have.
American Airlines Introduces Premium Economy Cabin For Long Haul Fleet
A little under two weeks ago I posted a blog that suggested American Airlines was considering introducing Premium Economy cabins to its fleet. These weren't going to be token Premium Economy cabins like Main Cabin Extra is right now but, instead, would be full-blown Premium Economy cabins like we find on British Airways, Singapore Airlines and others.
AAdvantage Executive Platinum Status – Would I Miss It?
The recently announced devaluations to the American Airlines AAdvantage program have had me considering my "loyalty" to the airline over the past few weeks and I've been considering my options. I'm asking myself if the benefits of flying American Airlines are still what they used to be before the devaluation? And if they're not, then should I be looking to another airline or booking flights purely on price?
American Airlines Considering Premium Economy Cabins
Australian Business Traveler (ABT) has reported that American Airlines is considering introducing Premium Economy cabins into its fleet. According to ABT, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker confirmed that Premium Economy cabins were on the agenda - what are the chances of this actually happening and what are the implications for top-tier elites?
American Airlines Opens Reservations To Auckland
On 10 November American Airlines announced that it was going to commence service between Los Angeles and Auckland, New Zealand as part of its new and expanded joint venture agreement with Qantas. The new route was announced with some fanfare with American Airlines CEO, Doug Parker, holding a press conference in Auckland to break the news - but no specific date was given for the commencement of service.
American Airlines AAdvantage Changes – Effect on Redeemable Miles
A couple of days ago I published a post discussing how the recently announced changes to the AAdvantage Program would affect award redemptions by European based AAdvantage members (American Airlines AAdvantage Award Chart Devaluations – Euro Travelers’ Viewpoint) and it wasn't pretty. In this post I'm going to show how the changes to how we earn redeemable miles, being introduced from late 2016, makes everything doubly bad. Yep, I'm full of good news this week!
Eurowings Confirms US Flights, Qantas Further Reduces LAX Service, American Adds Phoenix Flights &...
A roundup of some of the latest route news from the major world airlines including Qantas further reducing LAX service, Air New Zealand improving its offering to Hawaii and another Low Cost Carrier commencing service to the US.
Will American Airlines’ Flights To Sydney & Auckland Yield Lower Prices?
In the space of a few months American Airlines has gone from having zero presence in the South Pacific to having two prestigious routes to Australia and New Zealand.
On 17 December, American Airlines will commence a daily service between Los Angeles and Sydney, giving American its first Australia service in nearly 24 years. And, as we found out just last week, in June 2016 American Airlines will commence service between Los Angeles and Auckland breaking Air New Zealand's four-year monopoly on the route.
Qantas & American Airlines Promise Improvements
As we wait to see if we're going to get regular cheaper fares on flights to Australia and New Zealand, the airlines are already doing their bit to improve things from a passenger experience point of view. Or at least they're telling us that they'll be doing their bit soon.
American Airlines, Delta & United Airlines: New Routes & Schedule Changes
A roundup of the latest new route announcements and route changes from American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines including news of new wide-body flights from Delta, more Dreamliner service from American and, coincidentally, less Dreamliner service from United.
American Airlines Announces Los Angeles – Auckland Service
The rumors started a few months ago and grew louder as the year wore on. Last month they reached levels that couldn't be ignored anymore - it sounded like American Airlines was preparing to launch a service between the US and New Zealand.
While most airline rumors remain just rumors, these were coming from a couple of sources that had a very good track record of getting things right - but American Airlines was keeping tight-lipped about anything in their pipeline.
Review: American Airlines Business Class 777-300ER (JFK-LHR)
Out of all the flights on this trip, this was the one I most wanted to get upgraded on....so it was nice that the Systemwide upgrade cleared before our trip had even started.
The long haul flight from London to Miami had been a daytime flight and all the other flights, up until now, had been around 3 hours long and during daylight hours - so economy class was more than survivable. This flight was different. It was overnight and long haul, so comfort would be a nice thing to have.
Review: American Airlines First Class 737-800 (MIA-LGA)
Boarding started around 15 minutes late, but the doors were closed by 2:11 (just 4 minutes after our scheduled departure time) and we pushed back at 2:15 - not too bad.
There were no major issues during the boarding process. The gate agents were good at making sure that passengers boarded only when it was their turn but they were as lax as usual when it came to ensuring that passengers weren't bringing on ridiculous sized "hand baggage". I saw some truly colossal cases brought onboard.
American Airlines – What Are They Thinking?!
Hot on the heels of their record quarterly profits announcement, American Airlines' President, Scott Kirby, is on record as saying that the airline intends to bring about changes to fares to allow it to compete with low cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier. But why does American Airlines have to aim for the bottom in the first place?
Review: American Airlines 737 Economy Class (MIA-AUA)
Boarding started very promptly 45 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Luckily, due to the overcrowding in the Amex Centurion lounge, we had headed to the gate earlier than we normally would have and we got to the gate just in time for Priority Boarding.
Kudos to the American Airlines Gate agents who were not shy in turning back people with "Group 3" printed in a big, bold, font on the boarding passes while First Class and Executive Platinums boarded.
Review: American Airlines Economy Class 777-200 (LHR-MIA)
If you've read the introduction to this trip report you'll know that we booked our flights to Aruba with cash and in the Economy Class cabin in the hopes that my Systemwide Upgrades would see us flying in Business Class. Having booked the flights in January (a full 9 months before departure) I felt reasonably confident that the upgrades would come through. They didn't.
Is American Airlines About To Announce Flights To New Zealand?
Just a few days ago United Airlines announced that they would be commencing service between San Francisco and Auckland and, hot on the heels of that news, there is a very strong rumor that American Airlines is about to follow suit.
American Airlines Adds Morning Flight To JFK-LHR Route
American Airlines has announced the addition of a new flight between JFK and London Heathrow, from 27 March, using a refurbished 777-200.
American Airlines Begins Devaluing “Main Cabin Extra”
American Airlines is like all the other US airlines in that it doesn't have a Premium Economy cabin on its long-haul aircraft. Instead it...
Friday Fare Alert (2): Los Angeles – Miami From $228 (£156/€210) AA/UA
Both American Airlines and United Airlines have some very good fares available for flights between Los Angeles and Miami in the first few months of 2016 and some are even mileage-run worthy (4.9c/mile on American and a stunning 3.3c/mile on United)....but availability is rapidly diminishing.
American To Fly 777-300ER MIA-JFK……..Possibly On 3 Dates Only [Updated]
Yesterday we had news that American Airlines is set to fly their Boeing 777-300ER flagship plane between Los Angeles and Miami over the Christmas...
Delta Adding New Routes To Europe & American Adds To Washington Reagan
Both Delta and American have been jockeying for position over the past few weeks ever since they had a spat over an interline agreement (amongst...
Roundup: Will Qantas Return To Continental Europe? Delta Re-Starts Fight Over Haneda, Low Cost...
A roundup of some of the airline news from the past few days. This post sees a stronger than normal focus on Australian carriers but Delta,...
American Airlines Deploys 777-300ER On Domestic Route!
American Airlines' 777-300ER is its flagship aircraft. It's the aircraft that signalled the beginning of American Airline's journey into the 21st century....albeit a few...
Solo Travelers: American First Class Miles SAAver Awards Available LAX-LHR Summer 2016
American Airlines has been getting tighter and tighter with award availability on it's own aircraft flying across the Atlantic. They've preferred to push travelers...
More Routes: American Adds New Route To Mexico, Delta Seasonal Flights Now Bookable, New...
A round up of new routes, expanded routes, seasonal routes and route changes that have been announced over the past few days.
American's New Route...
What Are Fare Codes & How Do You Find Them On American Airlines &...
When discussing air travel we normally discuss the tickets that we book in terms of the class of travel that we're booking into (First, Business, Premium Economy, Economy) because that's usually what's most important to us. But airlines see things a little differently.
Airlines have subdivisions within each of those classes that, in simple terms, allow them to set different prices within a single class of travel and offer different benefits to travelers depending on which price they pay . These subdivisions are called "fare codes" (sometimes, to my mind incorrectly, called "fare class").
Friday Fare Alert (2): SFO to PVG From $601 or 4.1c/mile (AA/DL/UA & More)
In the first of today's fare alerts I posted fares between Seattle and Shanghai/Beijing for the last three months of 2015. The most direct fares were with Hainan and Delta but American Airlines had a fantastic milage-run-worthy fare which came out to just 4.4c/mile.
Friday Fare Alert (1): Seattle to Shanghai/Beijing From $550 (AA/AC/CA/DL/HU)
There are some great looking fares for travel from Seattle to China over the next 3 months. On the Shanghai route it looks like Hainan and Delta are battling it out for supremacy with American getting involved too. On the Beijing route its a battle between Air China/Air Canada and Hainan.
American Airlines Takes Aim At Delta – Resumes Washington Reagan – Atlanta Route
I love it when airlines have a falling out. Not only is it often fun to watch (ME3 vs US3) but, often, it has...
Staggeringly Cheap Fares (Europe – Los Angeles)
I'm not sure if these are mistake fares or if there's something else going on here but I'm seeing economy class fares from Europe...
Review: American Airlines Business Class 777-300ER (LHR-DFW)
Let's face a few facts from the get-go: US Airlines have had a track record of offering mediocre premium cabin experiences when compared to Asian,...
Airline News Roundup: US Airlines Face Lawsuits, New A350 First Class, Qantas Gets HBO...
A round up of some of the latest news from the airline industry that I've noticed over the past few days - some may...
Interesting Travel Links: Manure To Fuel Planes, New JAL App for Android, EU Bans...
These are a few of the travel-related, interesting/informative links I've noticed around the Web in the past few days:
JetBlue Opens Outdoor Space at JFK...
[VIDEO] Taking Off From London Heathrow On A Beautiful Sunny Day
I've never been one for videoing too many things (I'm pretty terrible at it) but a beautiful sunny day with no low clouds was...
Airline News In Brief: New Cathay Lounges, Lufthansa Cancels a Winter Service & AA...
A round-up of some of the recent bits of Airline News that don't really warrant a whole post of their own:
Australian Business Traveller (AUBT)...
[VIDEO] London From The Air & Landing At Heathrow
I've lost count the number of times I've flown on this exact flight path and seen this view of London from the air (when...
Etihad Files Response to “Open Skies” Debate
The row between the big 3 airlines in the US (American, Delta & United) and the Big 3 Middle East Carriers (Etihad, Emirates &...
Mayor Of Fort-Worth Sides With American In Open Skies Dispute
In other news the Pope says he's a Catholic, Le Bron says he's partial to a game of Basketball and McDonalds tell us they like...
Travel Tidbits From Around the Blogosphere – 28 October 2014
There are a lot of travel blogs out there and there's a lot of travel news being reported on a daily basis. Sometimes it's...
Information Round Up – US Lawmakers Oppose Cell Phones on Planes, Atlantis Bookable With...
These are the stories that we've read over the last few weeks that didn't really warrant a whole blog post on their own but that may...
Valuing Airline Miles & Points (and why you need to)
This is part 2 in a 3 part series on airline miles and points - you'll find part 1 (collecting miles & points) here.
The...
Fare Alert – Boston – St Thomas ($293)
With Marriott's Frenchman's Cove being one of our users' favourite Caribbean vacation rental properties we've recently been on the lookout for good deals to St Thomas.
Right...
Business Class Fare Alert – Europe to USA (OneWorld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam)
Every now and again we notice some great fares that are hard to turn down, and we like to keep our users updated when...
British Airways – A Sad Shadow Of Its Former Self (Part 1)
I used to love British Airways. To me they epitomised 'old school' travel from the days when air flight was more about experience than...
The Not So Transparent “Transparent Airfares Act”
There has been a great deal of interest from air travelers in the new ‘Transparent Airfares Act’. The flying public is being told by...
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