Friday, April 16, 2010

American Airlines Enhances Online Flight Check-In, Adds Option for International Travelers

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines today announced an enhancement to its online flight check-in process that provides online check-in capability for passengers traveling internationally.

Through online flight check-in at AA.com, customers traveling both domestically, and now internationally, can check in for their flight and subsequently print or e-mail their boarding pass, from anywhere in the world.

"Online check-in enables customers to avoid an extra stop and head straight to the gate, saving valuable time when traveling," said Derek DeCross, American Airlines Managing Director Interactive Marketing. "This new enhancement to AA.com is another step in our efforts to help simplify the entire travel experience for our customers, whether they're looking for flight deals, car rentals, hotel stays, or even cruises and activities. Over the next few months, we will make further enhancements."

Customers can access flight check-in via the AA.com homepage or by visiting www.aa.com/findreservation and can check in two to 24 hours before international flights and one to 24 hours before domestic flights. Customers can then locate their flight reservation using either their AAdvantage® login or their full name as it appears in travel documents, along with their six digit flight record locator.

Passengers traveling to International destinations will also need their passport information and will only be able to check in for flights to destinations where they have met international travel requirements. After customers locate their itinerary, the AA.com flight check-in process provides easy-to-use prompts for guidance through the appropriate steps.

Once the check-in process is complete, passengers will have the option to print their boarding pass immediately from the confirmation page, e-mail their boarding pass to print later, or receive their boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or PDAs (available in select cities only). For more details regarding online flight check-in at AA.com, customers can visit www.aa.com/checkin.

The new AA.com enhancements go hand-in-hand with American's strategy to strengthen its global network through its oneworld® Alliance partnerships to enhance competition and customer benefits in the trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific markets, including:

• Japan Airlines continued and expanding relationship with the oneworld Alliance, including its filing for a joint business agreement with American for trans-Pacific flights.
• Tentative approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for antitrust immunity for American and British Airways, Iberia, Royal Jordanian and Finnair, as well as Americans plans to operate a joint business between North America and Europe with British Airways and Iberia.
• American's DOT application to operate year-round scheduled service to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) starting Oct. 1, 2010.

Additionally, American recently announced plans to expand its international presence out of New York, adding three new routes between John F. Kennedy International Airport and San Jose, Costa Rica; Madrid, Spain; and Manchester, England.

American is a founding member of the oneworld Alliance, which serves 800 airports in nearly 150 countries, with some 9,000 daily departures.