The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA), Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA), and Foro Latinoamericano de Turismo (FOLATUR) have joined the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) in protesting what they call “American Airlines’ latest ploy to force travelers to book their flights only through AA’s preferred channels, a move that will lead to reduced consumer choice and, ultimately, higher fares.” The three organizations, representing hundreds of thousands of travel advisors in more than 75 countries, each issued public statements in response to American Airlines’ new policy, which they said will threaten the travel advisor industry globally.
Starting on May 1, according to ASTA, American will no longer award AAdvantage rewards to customers unless they book directly with American or through tits preferred channels. This means travelers who book flights with a travel agency could lose their right to earn miles. In their statements, all three organizations echoed concerns previously raised by ASTA regarding the impact of American’s actions.
The WTAAA statement said American is actively discouraging travelers from booking through the travel agency channel. This “heavy-handed tactic,” said the statement, “will fragment distribution, drive up costs, and reduce transparency for consumers who seek to compare offerings across multiple airlines.”
Wendy Paradis, president of ACTA, said that “restricting the ability to earn loyalty points through these channels will undoubtedly disadvantage consumers who value booking through their trusted travel partners.” Furthermore, she said, “this decision will have far-reaching consequences for the openness and competitiveness of the travel marketplace.”
And the statement from FOLATUR said that if undeterred, American “will continue with its ever-increasing discriminating pattern, and other airlines in the oligopolistic air transportation market will certainly follow.”
Zane Kerby, CEO of ASTA, said there is a clear consensus among travel professionals around the world that American’s action will have a detrimental impact on the travel industry globally. He said, “American is operating in bad faith, looking to pad its bottom line at the expense of our valued members and the millions of consumers who trust and rely on them to secure the best price, value and peace of mind when it comes to their business and personal travel.”
A spokesperson for American said the carrier stood by its recently provided response to BTE that ASTA is trying to protect an antiquated and outdated system for buying airline tickets that was developed before the advent of the Internet and is running a disinformation campaign about it.
According to American, no passengers are losing miles they have already earned and nothing about the new conditions is “unrealistic” — in fact, many agencies have already met them. The truth, said the statement, is that American is delivering a better, modern retailing experience for customers. New Distribution Capability (NDC) is about expanding customer options and improving transparency — goals that are demonstrably good for competition. Partner agencies that adopt NDC can get the benefits that thousands of agencies have already secured.
ASTA, said American, “simply doesn’t want to invest in this new technology and wants to keep doing things in the same antiquated way —but that’s not good enough for customers.”
