Airlines

American Airlines Announces Big Changes for AAdvantage Program

AAdvantage® membership is the only way to experience some of the best that American Airlines offers, and unlocks access to some of the airline’s best partner experiences.
AAdvantage members continue to earn miles and Loyalty Points for everyday activities, making it easy to earn flights, customize their travel and achieve status.
American introduces Loyalty Point Rewards, which members earn to unlock further benefits and choose rewards to customize their travel experience.
AAdvantage members can earn new benefits and rewards before reaching status and between and beyond status levels.

American Airlines keeps improving the AAdvantage® programme to give all members greater benefits throughout their journey. Before, between, and beyond status levels, members will take advantage of additional privileges and earn awards.

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Introducing more AAdvantage benefits and Loyalty Point Rewards

In March 2023, American will introduce opportunities to receive benefits and earn rewards more often and give members more options to customize their travel experiences.

For example, members will unlock their first Loyalty Point Reward — formerly known as Loyalty Choice Rewards — after earning only 15,000 Loyalty Points and before reaching AAdvantage Gold® status. These members will receive the benefit of Group 5 boarding for the membership year and the choice between two Loyalty Point Rewards:

Priority check-in, security and Group 4 boarding for one trip.
Five preferred seat coupons.

As a reminder, Loyalty Points are all that members need to achieve status and reset each program year. AAdvantage members earn miles and Loyalty Points when they fly, use an AAdvantage credit card for purchases or engage with more than 1,000 AAdvantage partners.

Members then redeem those miles to elevate their travels and reach status and rewards through Loyalty Points.

AAdvantage Status	Loyalty Points
Gold	40,000
Platinum	75,000
Platinum Pro	125,000
Executive Platinum	200,000

Even beyond the highest levels of status, members have the opportunity to earn even more Loyalty Point Rewards to unlock benefits and choose rewards to customize their travel experience such as systemwide upgrades, Admirals Club® One Day Passes, trip credits, award rebates for flights purchased with miles and more.

American is removing the previous 75,000 limit on miles that a member could earn on a single ticket, making flying with American even more rewarding. Members earn miles for flights based on the ticket price and AAdvantage status. Also, on American and eligible partner flights, AAdvantage members will earn two miles per dollar spent on Basic Economy fares for all tickets issued on or after Jan. 1, 2023, for travel starting March 1, 2023.

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AAdvantage® membership is the only way to experience some of the best that American Airlines offers and unlocks access to some of the airline’s best partner experiences. Starting in March 2023, only AAdvantage members will be able to book and redeem miles for American Airlines Vacations™ packages, which brings customers deals on flights, hotels and car rentals. Also starting March 2023, U.S. American Airlines AAdvantage® Mastercard® credit card holders can redeem miles toward Mastercard® Priceless® Experiences* such as private dinners, sporting events, food festivals, theatrical performances and so much more.

All members will continue to enjoy everyday mileage redemption opportunities. In addition to redeeming miles for flights, members can redeem miles to personalize their travel through experiences like Main Cabin Extra Seats, Five Star Service™ experience and more.

Airlines

British Airways Unveils Two Groundbreaking Weather Apps for UK Operations

In an effort to better prepare for and lessen the impact of weather on any planned flight path, British Airways will be the first airline in the UK to launch two next-generation weather applications. These apps will give pilots and the flight planning teams access to real-time weather data.

At the moment, teams rely on manually created weather reports that are created early in the day. The new apps will enable pilots and flight planning teams to make more operationally effective decisions by allowing them to evaluate the effects of weather variations in real-time and better plan and adjust flight paths.

The first app will provide pilots of the airline with convenient access to weather information from The Weather Company, providing in-depth analysis of weather conditions along flight paths both prior to takeoff and during flight.

To further enhance its capabilities, future upgrades will make use of the onboard Wi-Fi connectivity* to provide real-time in-flight weather updates. The app that will eventually work with the new technologies available to pilots to provide them with exact information on weather changes will also be accessible to the airline’s Integrated Operations Control centre, the operational hub that keeps the airline operating smoothly.

The technology, which is being implemented ahead of the busy summer season, has been built and set to precisely meet the requirements of british airways credit cards’ wide route network, offering benefits across both short- and long-haul operations. This large investment is a component of british airways amex ‘ £7 billion transformation initiative, which is still focused on expanding the airline’s use of modern technologies throughout its operations.

The airline replaced its paper-based system for engineering teams earlier this year with the new Electronic Aircraft Maintenance (eLog) system, which enables instantaneous data transfer from the aircraft to engineers in a matter of seconds. This allows for the pre-ordering of any necessary parts, speeding up the resolution of issues.

Airlines

IndiGo beats Southwest Airlines to Become world’s largest airline by market cap

India’s aviation giant, IndiGo, has soared to new heights, surpassing the renowned US-based Southwest Airlines to claim the title of the world’s third most valuable airline, as per Bloomberg data released on Wednesday.

The surge in IndiGo’s market capitalization, fueled by a remarkable 4.73% jump in its share price to Rs 3,806, catapulted its market value to $17.605 billion, edging past Southwest’s $17.333 billion market cap.

IndiGo’s strategic plans for expansion further solidify its position in the global aviation landscape. With intentions to add 10 new destinations to its network in the fiscal year 2025, the airline anticipates a substantial increase in capacity and passenger growth, aiming for a gross addition of over one aircraft per week during the same period.

Such ambitious endeavors, coupled with a burgeoning demand for travel attributed to tourism and a stable oil price environment, have contributed to the surge in IndiGo’s stock prices. Analysts at InterGlobe Securities attribute indigo partners airlines upward trajectory to several factors, including the operational challenges faced by competitor Vistara and the burgeoning appetite for travel among Indian households.

The rise in income has elevated air travel to a lifestyle staple, with leisure holidays becoming increasingly prevalent. indigo partners As the holiday season approaches, airports across the nation are bracing for heightened activity, promising sustained momentum for IndiGo in the months ahead.

Airlines

Air India Cabin Crew Voices Fabric Issues in new uniforms

Air India’s much-anticipated cabin crew uniforms, designed by renowned fashion icon Manish Malhotra and unveiled with ceremony last December, have encountered a setback.

The airline’s cabin crew, who initially donned the stylish attire on the carrier’s A350 aircraft, have voiced grievances regarding the quality of the fabric. Reports suggest that concerns have arisen over issues such as fast-fading colors, casting a shadow over the otherwise celebrated launch of the new uniforms.

Despite the initial excitement surrounding their debut, the practicality and durability of the fabric have come under scrutiny. In response to the feedback received from its cabin crew members, Air India is poised to address the fabric-related issues promptly. Sources indicate that the airline is gearing up to commence production for all cabin crew uniforms, ensuring that the concerns raised are duly taken into account.

An Air India spokesperson in a statement to PTI, confirming the forthcoming measures, stated that the production program for over 8,000 cabin crew members will kick off within a week’s time. The spokesperson reassured that steps are being taken to rectify the fabric issues and ensure that the new uniforms meet the expected standards of quality and durability.

The new uniform will subsequently be distributed to the crew, aligned with the transition of Air India’s flagship A350 to long-haul international service in the coming months,” the spokesperson added.