04/09/2024
AMERICAN AIRLINES MONOPOLY POWER
AND HOW IT EFFECTS YOU
Dear Valued Client,
As your travel advisor, I take great pride in my ability to make travel planning and your journey as seamless and enjoyable as possible. Unfortunately, recent decisions made by American Airlines have negatively affected millions of travelers like you and jeopardize my ability to provide the choices and service you expect from me.
In the last year, American Airlines has deliberately and dramatically altered the way it makes its services available to the public. As they’ve been able to do historically, travelers rightly expect to be able to compare airline offerings online based on price and service or using a travel advisor to do that price comparison for them. AA is no longer interested in letting you, its customer, comparison shop.
AA wants to condition you to book directly on its website by offering “teaser” fares on AA.com, while keeping prices high for business travelers in the places they typically book. AA has been tracking exactly where you click, and how much you're willing to pay. But that’s not all. Beginning on May 1, AA will no longer allow many travel agency clients like you to earn AAdvantage miles and loyalty points for your flights.
AA is betting that the loyalty miles you earn are more important to you than comparison shopping. Maybe they're right. But we hope you're concerned about where this is going. Once you're conditioned to book directly on AA.com, those teaser fares are likely going away. And, because four airlines account for nearly 80 percent of all flights in the U.S., with AA being the largest, they already have enormous market power. Bottom line: higher prices, less competition.
These moves are not just about limiting consumer choice and enabling AA to inflate ticket prices; they are also intended to take away your right to have a travel advisor serve as your trusted advocate when travel complications inevitably occur. AA’s actions represent a clear abuse of its position as the dominant U.S. airline.
I am working with our industry trade association, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), to make sure our voices are heard by lawmakers so that they know what is happening and can take action to stop this. We are empowering you and other clients to express your concerns about AA’s anti-consumer moves. We have provided some simple tools that you can use to send a letter to your representatives in Congress, help raise awareness in your social networks, and learn more about the issue at this website. It will only take a few minutes.
We are counting on your support. Tell Congress that competition is important, and that AA shouldn't make moves to limit what little competition there is. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. I’m always here to help.
Thank You.
INSTRUCTIONS
• Visit www.savemymiles.com
• Click “Travelers: Take Action”
• The website will prompt you to include a brief, personalized message to accompany a pre-populated letter to your Members of Congress. Personalized letters get more attention in congressional offices, so we strongly encourage you to add your own thoughts. Once you’ve completed any changes to the letter, enter your contact information and it will be automatically sent to your Members of Congress.
Kaleidoscope Journeys, LLC
PO Box 129
Coventry CT USA 06238
Local- 860 498-0461
website:
http://www.kaleidoscopejourneystravel.com/
Travel insurance is available. Over 30 years of travel planning experience. Free trip planning consultations. Vacation, cruises. Call 860-498-0461.
