American Airlines

Category Archives for American Airlines.

American Increasing Most Admirals Club Rates May 1

American Airlines will be raising most rates for an Admirals Club membership effective May 1, 2013. Rates for non-elites will remain unchanged, with prices for new or renewal memberships for AAdvantage Gold members going up by $25. If burning miles is more your style, the rates for Golds are going up by 5,000 miles with…

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Virgin America Extends Status Match Program, Adds Southwest Airlines

Virgin America today extended its status match program for elite frequent fliers with American and United – and added Southwest Airlines. It’s a match/challenge combo, actually, where you’ll be matched outright until June 30, 2013 and offered the ability to extend your status through the end of 2013. This extension is for new applicants as…

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Love It or Hate It, Airlines and Travel Writers Do April Fools Right

There’s just no escaping April Fools’ Day, especially if you’re engaged in monitoring social media all day. And while I’m not an enormous fan of it, there are some good ones today in the airline and travel world. Here are my favorites: Exclusive: Memo Details New United Airlines ‘Super Elite’ Level by Christopher Elliott: Did…

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Help a Reader: Where Should I Spend My 100-150K Miles Annually?

I received the following question from Peter and he (and I) would love additional feedback beyond what I provided. First, his question: I fly 200K – 250K for business (mostly China) and try to divide it between UA and AA to keep my top tier status with both. I will turn 40 soon and don’t want…

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American Airlines Testing New Boarding Procedure

This past weekend I noticed the following Twitter exchange between @JohnnyJet and American Airlines: According to Johnny’s tweet, he noticed that American offered boarding to passengers without carry-ons in the second group, likely after those with Priority Access. Curiosity peaked, I emailed American’s PR team on Monday and received the following reply yesterday (bolding mine):…

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Amenity Kit Review: American Airlines Business Class – Eames Case

American Airlines last December rolled out new amenity kits and they finally offer separate kits for first and business class passengers. Previously, American provided the same “premium†kit in both cabins. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the current first class offering, and here now is the business class kit for this installment of…

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A Very Generous ‘Soft Landing’ to American AAdvantage Platinum

While not an officially advertised benefit, American Airlines has for years provided “soft landings†to elite members who fail to qualify for status the following year. And even though it’s a known program, I was a bit surprised that American was generous enough to grant me Platinum status through February 2014 given I barely flew…

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Amenity Kit Review: American Airlines First Class – Eames Tablet Case

American Airlines last December rolled out new amenity kits and the kind folks at American’s social media team sent me the first class offering earlier this month. I’m thrilled to have it in my collection and offer a review below for this installment of Amenity Kit Reviews. For a better description of each category and…

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Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel Industry News: February 14, 2013

The obvious and most notable news today was the long-awaited official merger announcement by American Airlines and US Airways. The $11 billion deal will create the world’s largest airline. Here’s a look at what the eventual AAdvantage frequent flier program might look like. But there was also other interesting news to report, including Polish airline…

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What the New American AAdvantage Program Might Look Like

With a merger announcement between American Airlines and US Airways imminent (tomorrow morning by all accounts), we’ll finally put some speculation to rest, but open the door on months of new supposition. [Edited 2/14/13: And it’s official] Of particular interest to me (and many of you, I’m sure) will be the changes to American’s AAdvantage…

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