The Flying Critic

American Airlines To Charge New Fees to Upgrade With Miles

American Airlines sent the follow e-mail this morning announcing their new fees (aka co-pays) to upgrade one-way to business or first class with miles (upgrades using stickers or vips are still fee-free):

Effective October 1, 2008, Upgrade awards from most Discount Economy fares will change as follows:

• Upgrade within the continental U.S. and Canada, within and between the continental U.S. / Canada / Mexico / The Caribbean or between North America and Central America will require 15,000 miles plus a $50 co-payment.
• Upgrade between North America and Europe, Japan, China, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile or Uruguay will require 25,000 plus a $350 co-payment
• Upgrade between North America and India will require 40,000 miles plus a $350 co-payment

The current award structure will apply to members who request upgrade awards prior to October 1. For complete information regarding award changes, visit www.aa.com/awardchanges.

Gary from a View from the Wing speculates that United may be next:

Personally I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop on my program of choice, United, they still don’t have online minimum award booking fees, award fuel surcharges, upgrade cash co-pays, and it’s been a couple of years since they’ve increased mileage redemption levels.

American Airlines Flight Attendants Under Investigation About Slide Deployment

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that American Airlines flight attendants from the flight that evacuated via slides after landing at LAX are under fire:

But as investigators from the company and the Federal Aviation Administration continue to examine what happened, they are asking why one or more flight attendants opened some doors and deployed slides -- without any command from the captain.

While there is no doubt that safety must be top priority, deploying slides isn't always the safest move.  Sure, slides get people off the plane fast.  But people injure themselves going down the slides.  Deploying the slides also disrupts airport operations and requires maintenance to repackage the doors. 

With the early reports that investigators found no evidence of smoke or a fire, this could get interesting. 

Video of American Airlines Flight 81 Slide Evacuation at LAX

If you didn't hear, yesterday American Airlines Flight 81 from LAX to Honolulu made a U-turn back to LAX after detecting smoke in the cabin.  From reports the pilot reported an odor and possible haze in the cabin. 

The plane landed safely at LAX but they decided to do an emergency evacuation via the slides.  The LA Times has a great video showing the quick slide evacuation.

American Airlines/Eagle to Stop Serving 8 Airports

Today American Airlines And American Eagle Announced Additional Details Of Their Fourth Quarter Capacity Cuts:

American is reducing flights at most of its principal operations.

This announcement, combined with the previously announced round of schedule reductions, means American will close its operations entirely at three of its airports, while Eagle will close five of its airports, out of a combined total of 250 airports for both.

The airports/cities being closed are:

American – Oakland, Calif. (previously announced); London Stansted (previously announced); and Barranquilla, Colombia

American Eagle – Albany, N.Y.; Providence, R.I.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Samana, Dominican Republic (previously announced); and San Luis Obispo, Calif.

American Eagle will also close its maintenance base in San Luis Obispo.

American Airlines Info About New 1st Checked Bag Fee

I've wondered what American Airlines is doing to handle their new $15 fee for checking your first bag that starts for tickets issued on or after today. Here are answers from an American Airlines PR person about what they are doing to make sure the implementation of the baggage fee goes smoothly for passengers.

Q: Are customers upset about the new fees?

A: It's no secret that introducing the first checked baggage fee has customers upset, and it's definitely understandable.  Mainly, we want to let people know what American is doing ahead of June 15 to make sure the implementation of the baggage fee goes smoothly for passengers.

The majority of American’s passengers have already purchased their summer travel tickets and shouldn't need to worry about the fee. For those who purchase tickets on/after June 15, this information should answer some of the big questions as to what they can expect when they arrive.

Q: What is being done to prevent delays during boarding?

A: To keep the boarding process moving without delay, gate agents will make announcements and actively monitor the gate area for excess and oversize baggage so that they can be checked before boarding begins.

Q: Will customers have to pay a fee if their approved carry-on is gate checked because there is no space on the plane?

A: No. Forced bag checks WILL NOT be charged the fee.  Flight attendants will monitor carry-on items and notify the gate agent when overhead bins are almost full on the aircraft. This will allow any additional bags to be checked before a passenger gets on the plane to keep the boarding process moving forward.

Q: Tickets issued before June 15 are exempt from the new baggage fees.  But what happens if a customer makes a change now that it is June 15?

A:  If a passenger makes a voluntary change on or after June 15 to an itinerary ticketed before that date, and the ticket is reissued on June 15, the bag fee will apply. Voluntary changes are subject to the rules in effect at the time the current ticket was issued. The date of reissue is considered a new purchase date.

Q: Will a customer become subject to the fee if they bought a ticket before June 15 and were exempt from the first bag fee but is involuntarily rerouted or there is a schedule change after June 15?

A: No.  If the ticket was purchased prior to June 15 it would continue to be exempt.

Q: How is American Airlines providing additional notification to customers about the new baggage fees?

A: A checked baggage fee alert has been added to the point of purchase section on AA.com, and to the e-ticket sent to an email inbox to alert customers of new fee implementation. 

There will be a new screen on Self-Service Check-In machines explaining the new checked baggage fee, with a banner for customers who are exempt. 

There will also be increased signage stating the carry-on policy at the first three touch points: Curbside Check-In, American’s ticketing counters, and at the security checkpoint.

Q: Will American Airlines charge people trying to carry-on extra bags or bags that are too large?

A: Yes. Carry-on luggage that is not in compliance with American’s carry-on baggage policy is subject to the first checked baggage fee at any point. 

In response to concern that overhead bins will be full, American and non-American employees will be assigned to ensure that all customers are complying with the carry-on policy (see: http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/travelInformation/baggage/carryOnAllowance.jsp).

Q: Where can customers find more information about the new bag fees and learn who is exempt from the new fees?

A: AA.com has set up a page to explain the fee process.

Engine Failure on AA MD-80 After Broken Window Causes Engine Shutdown

AP reported Sunday that an American Airlines MD-80 made an emergency landing after a cabin window shattered:

An American Airlines jetliner made an emergency landing after a pane from a cabin window shattered during a flight and the shards of glass disabled an engine.

There was no pressure loss in the cabin and none of the 132 people aboard the Fort Myers, Fla.-bound flight was harmed Sunday, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said.

I've always felt a little uneasy about planes like the MD-80 with the engines at the back of the airplane.  It just doesn't look like one of those little engines could handle the load.  It is completely irrational.  I know that.

As you can see from this story, the MD-80 handled the engine failure and landed on one engine without incident.  That's what is supposed to happen.  But  I still can stop myself from staring at the engines every time I board a MD-80 or CRJ.  I'm not sure why.

I've been through a mid-flight engine failure.  I will tell the story in detail in some later post.  But the short version is that I was on a 757 when the right engine failed and we made an emergency dive to a lower altitude and then safely landed on one engine at a nearby airport.  It was an interesting experience. 

So when I say I understand that commercial airplanes are designed to continue flying after an engine failure I really do appreciate and acknowledge the fact.  Yet I just don't get that loving feeling from the rear mounted engines.  My apologies to the designers of aircraft with rear mounted engines.  They really have proven themselves to be reliable.  This is just me being irrational.

 

How to Avoid American Airlines New Baggage Fees

This hilarious idea comes from J. Peder Zane of the Raleigh News & Observer:

American Airlines Raises Mileage for Awards and Adds Online Booking Fee

American Airlines will increase the number of miles required for several awards booked on or after October 1st.  See the new AAdvantage Award Changes at American Airlines' website.

American also announced that starting June 21 they will charge customers $5 to book a mileage award on their website.  Only Executive Platinums (EXPs) and those customers who already have to pay a booking fee will be exempt.  So even Platinums and Golds will have to pay $5 to use their miles.  There is no way around this new fee.  It's $20 to book an award on the phone.

American Airlines Raises Liquor and Sandwiches by $1 on June 1

American Airlines Raises Liquor and Sandwiches by $1 on June 1:

In order to offset rising cost, American Airlines will increase the price of liquor and fresh food for sale sandwiches from $5.00 to $6.00 effective June 1st.

Are you surprised by this?  I'm not.  Expect more.

American Airlines will charge $15 for checking your FIRST bag

And the fees keep coming.  Now American Airlines will charge you $15 to check your FIRST bag.  Elites are exempt.  So are international itineraries.  But otherwise expect to pay up for checking a bag.  I expect them to increase enforcement of carry-on size restrictions.  I also expect United and others to join the race to the bottom as soon as they can.

From American Airlines' press release:

Today, American introduced a $15 fee for the first checked bag, given the increasing costs of transporting checked baggage. This fee, which is effective for tickets purchased on or after June 15, does not apply to: American's AAdvantage program members who have achieved AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum and AAdvantage Executive Platinum level; those who have purchased full-fare tickets in the Economy, Business and First Class cabins; and those with international itineraries (except to and from Canada and U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

How to Transfer American Airlines Miles to Hilton HHonors Points

Need Hilton HHonors points for a free hotel stay?  Have extra American Airlines AAdvantage miles?

You can transfer American miles to Hilton points. It's easy.  And the exchange rate is good.

1 American Airlines mile = 2 Hilton HHonors points. 

The deal is only good going American -> Hilton.  It's a bad deal the other way around at 10,000 HHonors points = 1,500 American Airlines miles.

So if you have 20,000 American Airlines miles you can transfer them to Hilton and get 40,000 HHonors points.  40,000 HHonors points gets you one night at a category 6 hotel like the Conrad Tokyo - normally ~$600/night.  Or those 40,000 points could get you 4 or 5 free nights at Hilton's lowest category properties.

There is a $25 fee per transfer and you have to transfer at least 5,000 miles.  You can learn more about the transfer process at American Airlines' website.  If you are ready to transfer miles to points you can go straight to the transfer page.

You might also be interested in the latest American Airline news: American Airlines will charge $15 for checking your FIRST bag

Labor Union Problems at American Airlines

The USA Today reports that American Airlines' mechanics and bag handlers Union rejected American Airlines latest contract proposal.

Having one union disagreeing with management is hard enough.  But American is also in the midsts of negotiations with the pilot union.  And the flight attendant union begins negotiations in June. Yikes! 

With American Airlines' huge loss this last quarter and fuel costs still rising I can't imagine any way that these negotiations are going to be easy for either side.  No one likes cuts but these are impossibly difficult times to be running a domestic airline.  Let's hope that they keep the fighting between themselves and don't try and use the customers as hostages in their negotiations.

Travel Advisory & Tip: American Airlines raises fee for same-day confirmed change to $35 - but it's still a good deal

American Airlines just changed their fee for doing confirmed same-day travel changes to $35 for domestic flights.  It used to be $25.  (Thanks Lucky for the tip)

You can still do regular standby for free at the airport for earlier or later flights.  But with loads what they are most people who want to switch flights on the day of travel will be better off paying the $35 and getting confirmed. 

To do a same-day travel change with American Airlines just call 1-800-433-7300 (or your elite phone #), use a self-service check check-in machine or ask an airport agent.

American Airlines is generous with their same-day travel change because you can confirm on available flights within 12 hours of calling and making the request.  United only lets you request a change to flights within 4 hours of calling and charges $50. 

So if you plans change on the day of travel remember that you may be able to get confirmed on a new flight for $35 on American instead of dealing with the uncertainty of the standby game.

Yes, you can use American Airlines (AA) miles for awards on partner airlines

A reader e-mailed a question about using AA miles:

I don't have miles with anyone because I never fly with one specific airline. However, if i have AA miles, can I use them with their codeshare partners?

Yes, American Airlines - along with most airlines - allows you to use your miles to book flights on partner airlines.  You can even book award tickets using your miles that combine several different partner airlines on one ticket. 

American Airline Partners

American Airlines is in the oneWorld alliance.  So that gives you access to booking flights with your AA miles on the oneWorld airlines: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LAN, Malev, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, and Dragon Air.

American Airlines also partners with: Air Pacific, Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska Airlines, Brussels Airlines, El Al, Gulf Air, Hawaiian and Mexicana.

(please note that these partners are of course subject to change and I didn't include some that are current partners that will no longer be in the near future like Aer Lingus)

Types of American Airlines Partner Awards

American Airlines offers two types of partner awards.  The first is the partner award that allows you to combine travel on any combination of American's partners - both oneWorld and their non-alliance partners.  The amount of miles for different routes can be found on AA's all partner award chart.

The other partner option AA offers is their oneWorld award.  These awards are for travel on any number of oneWorld carriers and the amount of miles you need depends on the number of miles in your itinerary (kind of like how some round the world tickets work).  You can find out more details at AA's oneWorld award page.

Three tips on earning and burning miles with partners

1) You can credit all of your flights on all the airlines in an alliance to one frequent flyer program.  So by concentrating your flying within one alliance and crediting them to one program you can maximize the number of miles in one account and get closer to a big award.  It's also possible that you can earn elite status this way, which brings additional benefits including lucrative mileage bonuses.

For example, if you credit 50,000 qualifying miles to American Airlines in a year then all the rest of the flights that year and all of the flights the next year will earn you double miles (so flying 50,000 miles the next year would earn you 100,000 miles - enough to redeem a roundtrip business class ticket from the USA to Asia).

2) Use your miles for international premium cabin travel.  The return on value of your miles is better with international premium cabin awards.

3) While sticking with one alliance is best for most people you should keep one frequent flyer account per alliance so that if you find yourself on a flight with an airline outside your primary alliance you will have a place to put the miles from the flight.  Don't let miles go to waste.

American Airlines to stop serving Oakland International Airport September 3, 2008

According to the Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, American Airlines is pulling out of Oakland International Airport:

American Airlines is canceling its services in and out of Oakland International Airport effective Sept. 3 due to high fuel prices, according to a spokesman for the airline.

American Airlines has already removed their three daily services to/from Oakland (OAK) to Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW) from their schedules starting September 3, 2008.  If you are looking for non-stop service from the bay area to Dallas starting on September 3 you will have to go to San Francisco (SFO) or San Jose (SJC).

You can expect more of these sorts of cuts as airlines move to reduce capacity.  Of course they are reducing capacity so that they can raise fares.  So if you can commit to your travel plans now you should be booking.