American Airlines/Airline Attendant issued the following announcement on Oct. 21
American Airlines is implementing technological innovations to provide a smoother customer experience.
Customer travel is easier with an electronic wallet, mobile ID and virtual assistant
- Customers can easily find and redeem trip credits on aa.com and will get miles instantly redeposited when canceling an AAdvantage® award ticket.
- A mobile ID verification trial starts at DFW and Washington D.C. airports this month.
- Using the app, customers can chat with a customer care representative in real time.
Making it easier to find travel credits and redeposit miles
Customers can find their flight and trip credits stored in an electronic wallet when they log in to their AAdvantage® account on aa.com. And when they’re ready to book new travel, customers can easily pay for their tickets using their travel credits by simply choosing flight credit as their payment option.
For those customers whose travel plans have changed, they can now self-serve when it comes to changing an AAdvantage award ticket on aa.com. American will automatically reinstate a customer’s miles when a customer cancels an eligible award ticket.
Testing mobile ID verification
Starting Oct. 21, customers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) will have the option to test new mobile ID technology, which verifies customers’ identities using their mobile device when they drop their bag with an agent.
Customers who choose to participate in the trial will not need to hand a form of ID to the agent as they do today. Instead, they can enroll in a third-party app prior to check-in that will create a digital ID token on their mobile device which can be used to verify their identity at the bag drop.
American is working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to explore this mobile ID verification technology, which could ultimately reduce physical contact during the travel experience if adopted more broadly in the future.
The mobile ID trial will be available to customers at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) starting Oct. 27.
Chat with our virtual assistant or customer care representatives
American’s chat platform launched this summer, answering the pressing questions customers have about traveling. In the American Airlines app, customers can use a chat function to ask the virtual assistant for help and if the conversation requires more detailed information, a customer care representative is ready to assist in real time. Customers can also receive instant answers on travel guidelines, how to change a flight and how many bags they can check.
Since the chat platform was introduced, more than 425,000 customers have used the feature to interact with the virtual assistant or American’s customer care representatives.
Clean Commitment
American continues to build on its commitment to the safety and well-being of its customers and team members throughout their journey. In addition to the airline’s extensive, multi-layered cleaning processes throughout the customer journey, the airline has focused on advancing technology developments that limits interactions and provide travelers additional peace of mind.
The American app provides a touchless experience from booking and check-in to printing bag tags for checked baggage without using a kiosk screen. For the customers who do not have the app but would like a touchless experience, American unveiled App Clips last month where customers can scan a QR code found on the home screen of the airport kiosk that will launch the check-in process on their mobile device and provides a digital boarding pass.
The airline also recently launched a new travel tool, powered by Sherpa, to help customers quickly see the current coronavirus (COVID-19) travel guidelines for domestic and international destinations.
Original source can be found here.