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Staying linked when flying with American Airlines is about to get a bit of bit simpler.
The Fort Worth-based provider on Wednesday unveiled just a few updates to its onboard Wi-Fi service, together with the flexibility to redeem AAdvantage miles for web packages.
This new mileage redemption choice will formally debut within the coming weeks on choose plane. After a short beta interval, practically all of the airline’s home plane will provide this characteristic.
The rollout for home flights is predicted to be accomplished by the beginning of the summer season journey season. Note that this redemption choice will solely be accessible on plane geared up with Viasat connectivity, which incorporates all Boeing 737 and choose Airbus A319 plane.
American first introduced that AAdvantage members might redeem miles for Wi-Fi in late February as half of a larger announcement around enhanced benefits for AAdvantage members.
It wasn’t instantly clear how American plans to cost its Wi-Fi packages in miles, and a provider spokesperson declined to share extra particulars.
United Airlines has lengthy provided the flexibility to redeem MileagePlus miles for Wi-Fi service. The redemption fee usually falls beneath TPG’s valuation of 1.4 cents per MileagePlus mile. So, I usually buy United Wi-Fi with my cobranded credit card and save my miles for flight awards.
To energy American’s new service, the provider may even roll out a new touchdown web page at aainflight.com on board its jets. This up to date touchdown web page has began to pop up on choose flights in current days because the provider exams the new service.
Expect a new design, in addition to the flexibility to log in to your AAdvantage account for mileage redemptions, on this new touchdown web page.
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Though American is making Wi-Fi extra accessible with a new mileage redemption choice, the provider is stopping short of lowering its Wi-Fi pricing or making it free altogether, as Delta Air Lines and JetBlue have executed.
American persistently affords the costliest Wi-Fi plans of all the main U.S. airways, charging as a lot as $35 on a flight from New York to Los Angeles. (On the identical route, Alaska Airlines and United cost $8; Delta and JetBlue provide connectivity for free.)
That stated, American is rolling out a restricted free Wi-Fi providing for all Viasat-equipped flights. This timed service will probably be accessible for 20 minutes in trade for watching a 15- or 30-second advert.
This free, ad-supported Wi-Fi option was first rolled out in 2022, but it’s traditionally been solely accessible on choose flights. It’ll now be energetic throughout 100% of American’s Viasat home narrow-body fleet. Just word that you may solely get one free Wi-Fi bundle per gadget per flight.
If you are trying to save on inflight connectivity, make sure you try our information to scoring free and discounted inflight Wi-Fi with bank cards.
In addition to the aforementioned upgrades, American reiterated plans to upgrade the connectivity systems on regional jets. The airline plans to roll out high-speed Wi-Fi to just about 500 dual-class regional plane starting this summer season.
While Wednesday’s announcement is definitely noteworthy, it’s unlucky that American nonetheless hasn’t made good on its 2017 promise to supply free inflight messaging to everybody.
In 2017, Delta Air Lines was the first of the “Big Three” U.S. airlines to supply free messaging to all vacationers. This allowed flyers to hook up with the web to make use of apps similar to iMessage and WhatsApp with out paying for a full Wi-Fi cross.
American introduced the following day that it would match Delta’s transfer “soon” but did not present a concrete timeline. Yet right here we’re, seven years later, and American nonetheless hasn’t enabled this providing.
Even Southwest Airlines and United, which have many fleets outfitted with slower and fewer dependable Wi-Fi than American, now provide free messaging. So, it’s a bummer that American nonetheless hasn’t made good on this promise.
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