American Airlines wants to make it “more convenient for customers to enjoy the value and magic of travel,” according to Vasu Raja, American’s Chief Commercial Officer. Which sounds great, until you realize what it actually means is the company is further limiting the options for earning points in the company’s AAdvantage loyalty program.
Today’s announcement is a follow-on to the company’s January announcement limiting travel benefits for non-AAdvantage members. The new rules take effect with tickets issued on 1 May 2024.
Limiting options for loyalty
Under the new rules passengers will only earn AAdvantage points towards award travel and Loyalty Points towards status for flights booked directly with the carrier, through a partner airline, via a corporate contract, or through preferred travel agencies. That last category targets lower value (to American) third party booking engines.
The company won’t release a list of which agencies qualify until later in April, just days before the new rules take effect. But, given American’s recent spats regarding distribution channels and methods, it seems safe to assume it will mostly focus on those with a direct sales relationship or NDC interface rather than legacy integrations.
Pushing more travelers towards a channel that is lower cost for the airline makes sense. It is good for business, assuming the customer sticks around rather than staying loyal to their booking channel of preference and switching airlines. And the number of passengers impacted is likely to be relatively low.
But, also, it would be nice if the airline were a bit more honest about what it is actually doing. This has nothing to do with customer convenience, and American knows that.
Bag fees (mostly) go up, too
Separately, American is also raising checked bag fees to $35 if purchased online or $40 if paid at the airport for domestic flights. A second checked bag will cost $45. For trips to Canada or other short-haul international destinations the fee is $35 for the first bag and $45 for the second. Bringing a pet in the cabin now costs $150.
One small win for consumers comes with oversized and overweight bag fees. Today an oversized or overweight bag typically costs $100 extra to check. Under the new rules the carrier has a $30 fee for up to 3 extra pounds or 3 extra inches on the bags. After that, the standard fee of up to $200 still applies. For bags that are both oversized and overweight the carrier will only assess one fee, potentially saving travelers a couple hundred dollars.
Finally, the carrier will no longer accept javelins, pole vaults, or hang gliders as of 17 April 2024.
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