American Airlines Group
Inc. is sweetening frequent-flier awards for passengers buying the
most-expensive tickets to fend off loyalty program changes made by its
competitors.
During next year,
AAdvantage or Dividend Miles program members who buy first- or
business-class tickets will earn rewards based on the fare purchased, in
addition to normal awards for distance flown and the member's elite
status level, the airline said.
United Continental
Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. next year will shift loyalty
programs to base awards on fares purchased instead of the traditional
miles flown. Those plans give the most benefit to fliers paying for the
costliest tickets. American's one-year change lets the Fort Worth,
Texas- based company continue to award discount-fare travelers as well
as high-spending elite passengers, said Tim Winship, editor of
FrequentFlier.com.
"It's the best of all
possible worlds in a sense," Winship said in an interview. "That is in
stark contrast to the way Delta's and United's programs are going to
operate. American is getting the marketing effect of a revenue-based
program without disenfranchising their lower-profit customers."
Delta's shift to the revenue-based system takes place on Jan. 1 and United's on March 1.
American's bonus plan
announced today means a top-level loyalty program member on a flight
between New York and Los Angeles could earn 12,000 additional miles on
top of class-of- service and elite-status bonuses.
Merged Program
American plans next year
to merge its loyalty plan with that of partner US Airways. That change
is one of the biggest concerns for the most-frequent fliers, who don't
want to lose benefits or their awards status. The program of the
combined airlines is the largest, with about 100 million members.
"Consumers are going to
have a very stark choice to make, to the extent their choice of carrier
is driven by loyalty programs," said Winship, who is based in Los
Angeles. "It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out."
American in October said
it would make it harder for some of its most-loyal customers to reach
top status starting Jan. 1 by increasing the number of required
segments, or one-way flights. The rank also can be earned based on
qualifying miles or points.
"Right now we're focused
on integrating the two programs and providing the most benefit we can to
our loyalty customers," said Casey Norton, an American spokesman. "It's
integrate first, and then we'll innovate. This is something we wanted
to do to reward our customers."
American's program
follows changes announced by Alaska Airlines last month providing
increased mileage bonuses to certain fare classes and elite Mileage Plan
members.
Source: https://www.dailyherald.com
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