American Airlines has launched a new loyalty scheme designed to offer rewards to both corporates and their travellers booking through the carrier's direct channels.
The programme, called AAdvantage Business, will be available for companies with at least five employees and there will be no minimum spend requirements before they can start earning miles with the airline.
It will replace the existing Business Extra programme for SMEs, which has been operating for 26 years and will close on 15 December with all points having to be redeemed by January 31 2024.
American said that its new programme would allow businesses to earn 1 AAdvantage mile for every $1 spent on eligible travel, which can be redeemed on flights, hotels, car rental, lounge access and other experiences for travellers.
Employees also benefit by receiving 1 loyalty point for every $1 spent which counts towards them earning status as an AAdvantage member.
The airline said AAdvantage Business would be a fully digital programme and promised that those signing up would have access to its “best fares and servicing”.
Scott Laurence, American’s senior vice president of partnerships, added: “We want to reward both the companies doing business with us and the traveller who’s actually flying in the airplane seat. It’s a win-win. We’ve designed a simple programme that goes above and beyond in delivering rewards and tools that benefit everyone.”
As part of the launch of the AAdvantage Business programme, organisations applying for and using a new CitiBusiness/AAdvantage card can “accelerate” rewards for their company and help employees reach status with American.
The airline said that the programme would give travel managers the ability to track business trips through one portal, as well as providing online tools to allow reporting, traveller management and duty of care.
The new loyalty scheme for direct bookings comes after American pulled as much as 40 per cent of its fares from EDIFACT channels in April and made them only available through NDC-based platforms. This has caused concern among buyers about losing access to the best fares, as expressed during an ITM panel session earlier this month.