American Airlines announced (21-Oct-2020) the following technological innovations for passengers:
- Access to flight and trip credits via an electronic wallet when passengers log into their AAdvantage account on American Airlines' website;
- Ability to choose flight credits as a payment option when booking new travel;
- Ability to self serve and change AAdvantage award ticket on American Airlines' website if travel plans have changed, after which American will automatically reinstate passenger miles when the eligible award ticket has been cancelled;
- Trial of new mobile ID technology at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from 21-Oct-2020. Specifically, passengers can enrol in a third party app prior to check in, which creates a digital ID token and may be used to verify customer identity at bag drops with an agent. The mobile ID trial will be available to customers at Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport from 27-Oct-2020. American Airlines is cooperating with the TSA on this project, which is anticipated to reduce physical contact during travel if adopted more broadly in the future;
- Launch of chat platform in summer 2020, which is available on the airline app. The virtual assistant on the platform is able to provide immediate answers regarding travel guidelines, and information on how to change flights and what number of bags to check. Customer care representatives are also available to assist in real time. More than 425,000 customers have used the chat platform to interact with the virtual assistant or customer care representatives since it was introduced. [more - original PR]