If there’s one thing American is getting right in its merger with US Airways, I think it’s communication. For sure, there have been a few missteps along the way – thinking back to the unannounced award chart change last year – but overall, I think they are doing a good job of getting a complicated frequent flier merger right.
Yesterday, American emailed members of both AAdvantage and Dividend Miles that the programs will be merging within 30 days. The airline went even further, alerting Dividend Miles members that the ability to redeem their miles for travel and upgrades would be disabled a few days before the program merger and urged them to book now if they knew they needed to travel using their miles. The email even spelled out ways to better your upgrade chances depending on how you book your flights, encouraging members to book flights marketed and operated by the same airline, either American or US Airways.
The behind the scenes work of combining two airlines is quite a challenge. Moving to the same technology platforms and aligning policies and procedures are complicated endeavors. Getting ready for the frequent flier merger has evidently gone pretty well behind the scenes, and so far, American is getting it right. Communication is key, and I’m seeing a lot more of it from American than others when it comes to loyalty program changes. Of course, its all about the details and how well things go when they flip the switch. We’ll know how well it worked very soon.
-MJ, March 14, 2015
I’m a CP with US Airways but never received any email from them, not even in the trash box. weird
Agreed. Regular communication, even of news that isn’t good, is way better than not knowing what is going on. Kudos to AA.
So far, this is going way smoother than UACO and even better than the DLNW merger.
i want to apply for an American Aadvantage card. Should I wait until the merger is complete so as not to risk losing any points in the shuffle? Thanks!
@Rhonda, I wouldn’t worry about waiting for the program merger.
It really does seem like they ‘got the message’ after the April 8 changes last year.
This merger is more complicated than others since it really combines 3 airlines’ systems and not just 2. And it’s the biggest one yet, too, on the frequent flyer side alone there will be more than 100 million unique accounts.
I can’t recall anyone doing it like this, combining in steps rather than what they refer to as the ‘knife’s edge’ cutover of everything at once.
Indeed, we’ll see when they actually pull the trigger. There will be of course SOME hiccups. But hopefully nothing like United/Continental or US Airways/America West! That was something that Doug Parker commented on the day the merger was consummated so it’s been a priority from day 1.
@Gary,
I don’t recall anyone else doing it the way they are either. I don’t remember how things worked with AA/TW, which I suppose would’ve been the most recent merger AAdvantage has been involved with. So far, so good though.