Passengers who are traveling on one major U.S. airline in 2024 have a new reality to consider.
On American Airlines (AAL) , flyers are going to want to look a little more closely at how they are booking tickets.
A new policy goes into effect since Jan. 29 regarding delays and cancellations. And you may well want to be sure you are a part of the carrier’s loyalty program.
“Facing unexpected delays or cancellations on your next American Airlines flight?” asked Gary Leff of View From the Wing. “Be prepared for their latest policy twist: Only AAdvantage members get the green light for alternative rebookings on most partner airlines.”
Your status with the carrier turns out to be an important factor when dealing with unforeseen travel circumstances.
“If your American Airlines flight cancels or is substantially delayed, they’ll put passengers on another American flight, another airline partner flight (preferring joint venture partners over mere alliance partners) and even another non-partner airline’s flight if needed,” Leff explained. “Your class of service, status, and the length of delay you’re looking at determine how flexible they’ll be.”
And there is a notable point to consider about delays that are blamed on weather.
“Their obligations are less if the reason for the delay isn’t ‘controllable’ — something that is their fault. They don’t have to go to the same lengths during a weather delay,” Leff noted.
“And starting Jan. 29 there’s a new factor that will determine how helpful American Airlines will be during irregular operations that aren’t their fault,” he continued. “Whether or not you’ve joined the AAdvantage program.”
The new reality about AAdvantage membership
The terms of the new policy are simple but important.
American Airlines “will no longer put you on another airline during a weather or air traffic delay (no matter how bad it is, or how long it will take you to reach your destination) if you aren’t an AAdvantage member,” Leff explained.
The carrier does take advantage of this circumstance by allowing travelers to sign up for American’s loyalty program while passengers are in the airport dealing with delays.
The official American Airlines memo has the following text:
Our rerouting guidelines have been updated to include a policy for non-controllable delays and cancellations, and how we handle rerouting. While every effort should be made to protect our customers on another American Airlines (AA) flight, there may be times when rerouting to another airline may be necessary.
AAdvantage members: During both controllable and non-controllable delays and cancellations, AAdvantage members continue to be eligible to be rerouted on a oneworld carrier. codeshare or interline airline based on the length of the American Airlines delay to the final destination.
Non-AAdvantage members: During non-controllable delays and cancellations, non-AAdvantage customers will only be eligible for another AA flight or when applicable, a Joint Business Partner carrier, Qatar Airways or Alaska Airlines. Non-AAdvantage customers will be confirmed on the next available AA flight only and may be offered RI standby on an earlier flight. The procedures for controllable delays remains unchanged.
Use FLIFO eligibility designators to determine the reason for the disruption and rerouting eligibility. Exceptions may be approved by a supervisor depending on customer circumstances as outlined on the guidelines chart in Web Reference, including customers protected under government regulations (EC261, Canada APPR, etc.).
If a customer would like to join the AAdvantage program, they can instantly enroll online at the airport via the mobile app or aa.com and agents may add this into Sabre.