Category Archives: AA

I Received A Response from AA Regarding Award Wallet

AA, American Airlines, Award Wallet

I wrote a post about AA Forces Award Wallet to Discontinue Extension earlier today.

A couple of hours ago I received an e-mail from Alan Phillips of Weber Shandwick, the PR firm for American Airlines.
Mr. Phillips wrote to me responding to my post regarding AA and the Award Wallet extension.

I did not expect to get a response from AA regarding Award Wallet when I made my post but am really glad that I did. I’d say that pretty much everyone is taking sides with Award Wallet so why not hear AA’s thoughts on this matter. It’s always nice to hear both sides to a story!

Here is the e-mail:
Hello Michael,


I saw this post “http://michaelwtravels.blogspot.com/2012/02/aa-forces-award-wallet-to-discontinue.html” from you regarding American Airlines.

I want to provide you with American’s perspective on this topic. This is attributable to American Airlines or an American Airlines spokesperson.
·         Upholding its long-held stance on how third-party websites access proprietary AAdvantage member details is just one of the ways American protects the benefits afforded through the AAdvantage program.
·         Because travelers’ AAdvantage account numbers and passwords can be used to claim AAdvantage mileage awards out of their accounts and access personal details, American will always protect this information.
·         Security is chief among our points of consideration when we make decisions regarding the sharing of our customers’ data with third-party websites
·         We simply cannot permit websites that have not satisfied our security requirements the access needed to track AAdvantage balances or any other function that is otherwise secured behind AA.com login credentials.
·         Consistent with these principles, it is worth noting that Points.com, an AAdvantage participant, allows many of the same types of services as other mileage tracker websites – but has fully satisfied our rigorous security requirements.
·         We are also in the process of qualifying a number of other mileage tracker websites.
Best,
Alan

Mr. Phillips is making a case for AA using protection and security as the reasons why Award Wallet can not be allowed to track our AAdvantage accounts.
If this is a real concern and issue then I am fine with AA’s stance regarding this. My AA miles are definitely valuable and pretty much as good as money to me. I just wonder why other airlines are not concerned about the security of our accounts. Why is United,Delta & US Airways (among others) still being tracked on Award Wallet? Are their sites more secure than AA?

I sent a couple of questions back to Mr. Phillips and am waiting for a response.
I’d like to know what other mileage tracking sites are in the process of being qualified by AA?
I would also like to know if making money from tracking sites is an issue? If Award Wallet was able to pay a fee, would they be allowed to track our accounts?

AA Forces Award Wallet to Discontinue Extension

AA, American Airlines, Award Wallet

American Airlines has once again put a stop to allowing people to track their mileage balances on Award Wallet.


When AA sued Award Wallet (I believe they threatened to sue) last year they came up with a browser extension as a solution. AA felt that Award Wallet was collecting customer’s mileage data. The extension seemed to solve this issue by storing data locally on your computer.

The extension will be discontinued on 2/25/12.

Here is the post about this from Award Wallet:
“We regret to inform you that we will be discontinuing support for the AwardWallet browser extension on February 25, 2012. This means that you will no longer be able to track your American Airlines related information (balance, status, etc.) on AwardWallet.com.

 We have been forced to take this action by American Airlines’ stance toward AwardWallet. We created the browser extension in order to address American Airlines’ concern that AwardWallet was collecting customers’ mileage data. We believe the extension addressed this concern because it simply collected your mileage data and stored it locally on your computer. American Airlines, however, objects to the extension. It’s position appears to be that AwardWallet is prohibited from providing any software tool that facilitates the ability to track the customer’s American Airlines’ mileage information. We think this is unfortunate.

Please make a note of your AAdvantage number and password as you will not be able to see it on AwardWallet.com after we make this change. Thank you for your continued support of AwardWallet.com!”

Award Wallet posted the info regarding the AA Extension here 


AA Vacations: Piece Together Your Next Vacation & Chance to Win 100,000 AA Miles

AA, AAdvantage, American Airlines, Puzzle, Vacation
AA Vacations is running a fun promo. Complete a puzzle to reveal six offers, then book a vacation for a chance to win 100,000 AAdvantage miles.

Here is how to play:

  • Choose from one of six types of vacations
  • Complete a puzzle which then gives you 6 offers to pick from
  • Choose your offer
  • Book anny eligible vacation package for your chance to win 100,00 AAdvantage miles
  • Flight + Hotel package myst be $1250 or higher
  • Reservations must be made by March 9, 2012
  • Travel until August 31, 2012
  • Not valid for travel 2/18-2/21/12

Check out the promo here

TSA Pre-Check Program Coming to JFK Airport

AA, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JFK, Pre-Check, TSA

How would you like to go through a speedier screening process at the airport??? I am sure that we all would. The TSA’s Pre-Check Program will be coming to JFK Airport in NY this year.
(no exact date was announced) 
It is already being used at several other airports as a pilot program and open to select individuals.

The program includes no longer removing items like:

  • Shoes
  • 3-1-1 compliant bag from carry on
  • Laptops
  • Light jackets
  • Belts

It is currently available at:

  • Atlanta: T-South Checkpoint (Delta only)
  • Dallas: Terminal C, Checkpoint C30 (American only)
  • Detroit: Checkpoint 2 on the ticketing level (Delta only)
  • Miami: D2 Checkpoint (American only)
  • Las Vegas: D Gates First Class Checkpoint (American and Delta

The program is currently open to:

  • Frequent Flyers: Delta Air Lines and American Airlines (AA) have contacted eligible frequent flyers with an invitation to opt-in. Once the passenger opts in, the airline identifies the individual as a TSA Pre-Check participant when submitting passenger reservation information to TSA’s Secure Flight system.
  • Custom and Border Protection Trusted Travelers (Current members of CBP’s Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS Trusted Traveler programs are automatically eligible to participate in TSA Pre-Check)

Find out more about the TSA Pre-Check program here

AwardWallet- Not Really Losing American Airlines Tracking

AA, American Airlines, Award Wallet, Mileage, Miles

Sites like AwardWallet are extremely useful for keeping track of all of your airline & hotel mileage balances all in one place.
I definitely recommend that you sign up if you don’t have an account.
If you would like an invite to join or a free upgrade coupon (for first time users, 10 available), please e-mail me at michaelwtravels@gmail.com)

When American Airlines account tracking was removed from MileWise a couple of months back, I figured that AwardWallet would soon follow due to pressure (legal action?) from AA.

I am happy too say that this is not exactly the case for
AwardWallet.
I received an e-mail earlier today stating that they will no longer be able to store our American Airlines information/ passwords. They will release a browser extension which will allow each AW user’s browser to store the info. This will let our AA information to continue being shown with our other mileage accounts!

Here is the e-mail:

Dear Michael,
American Airlines has contacted us and stated that we may not access its website on your behalf and that we may not store any of your American Airlines account data on our servers. As a result, in the coming weeks we will release a browser extension which will enable you to check your balance and still display that balance along with the rest of your loyalty account balances; however, the data, such as your username, password, balance and any other attributes will only be stored in your browser so we will never have access to it. Also, this browser extension will be accessing American Airlines website from your computer and not from our servers. Since we do not have this extension ready yet, please save all of your American Airlines accounts and password in a secure place so that you can enter that data when we release the extension. Here are the accounts that you have stored with AwardWallet today:
Please open this page to print these account numbers along with your passwords before December 4, 2011. In the coming weeks we will release the AwardWallet browser extension to those users who wish to participate in our beta. If you want to be included in the beta, please follow this link: http://awardwallet.com/participateInBeta/

We will send you an email when we are ready for you to participate in the beta. Depending on how many volunteers we have we may not be able to invite everyone to limit the amount of support requests.
Please note that your American Airlines data will be removed from our servers on December 4, 2011. This will not have any impact on your actual American Airlines account or mileage balance.
If you have any questions regarding this email, please read this FAQ first : http://awardwallet.com/faqs.php#34
Also in order to avoid too many redundant emails regarding this matter please post your questions on our forum: http://awardwallet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1567
We apologize for this inconvenience, and we always strive to make AwardWallet the best reward tracking service.
Thank you,
AwardWallet team.
AwardWallet.com

If you have AwardWallet or plan to sign up, make sure to register for the beta if you want AA to still be tracked.

What is your favorite site for tracking all of your account balances???

CitiBank: "There is no impact to your Citi/AAdvantage Credit Card"

AA, AAdvantage, American Airlines, Chapter 11, CItiBank, Miles
The American Airlines Chapter 11 restructuring should not have much impact on future travels/ AAdvantage accounts from everything I have read.
The bulk of my airline mileage account is made up of AAdvantage miles & I am not too worried about their safety.

Today I received an e-mail from Citibank regarding the AA Chapter 11 reorganization:

Dear Michael W,
On Tuesday, November 29th, 2011, American Airlines filed for reorganization under Chapter 11. Throughout the process, American Airlines has expressed its commitment to meeting its customers’ travel needs. As a valued
Citi® / AAdvantage® customer, we appreciate your continued loyalty and would like to share some additional information with you about your credit card:
There is no impact to your Citi® / AAdvantage® credit card account and American has given its assurance that your American Airlines AAdvantage® miles are secure.
You will continue to earn American Airlines AAdvantage® miles for your purchases on your
Citi® / AAdvantage® card without disruption.
You will be able to redeem AAdvantage® miles for the same great flight awards, upgrades, car rentals and hotels and more, subject to usual policies.
Citi is committed to our longstanding relationship with American Airlines and to continually improving our products to provide exceptional value and experiences to our customers. We would like to thank you for your continued business and loyalty and look forward to serving you throughout this holiday season and in the future.
Should you have any questions regarding American’s reorganization process, please visit www.AA.com/restructuring.
Sincerely,
Terry O’Neil
Executive Vice President
Citigroup North American Cards

It is reassuring to hear from Citi regarding the current state of American Airlines. I am glad they looked into what would happen with AAdvantage & were told that all miles were secure.

I am hoping AA will sell billions of more miles to Citi to offer for even more lucrative credit card signups in the future!

Congratulations E-Mail For Reaching AA Lifetime Gold

AA, AAdvantage, American Airlines, Gold Status
a close-up of a letter

I received an e-mail today from American Airlines congratulating me for reaching Lifetime Gold status!

My AA account was updated last week to show that I was Gold but it was nice to see a letter stating that I now had lifetime status.
I look forward to receiving my AAdvantage Gold membership card! Hopefully I will also get a couple of AAdvantage Gold luggage tags like I have read people received in the past but the e-mail does not mention anything about that…

American Airlines-Frommers Sweepstakes- Win 280,000 Miles

AA, American Airlines, Frommers, Google Maps, Miles, Sweeostakes
Three prizes of 280,00 miles are being given away in a new AA/ Frommers contest. You get to pick one of five cities to explore. Then select five points of interest and explore them using Google Maps. It is a fun contest & you could win a lot of miles!
You get one entry for entering the contest, earn another for sharing with friends & you can earn one more for booking a trip.
The sweepstakes started on 10/17/11 & ends on 12/14/11.