American Airlines Knows if You’ve Been Cheating on It With a Competitor
Photo Credit: Flight attendants serve drinks to American Airlines business class passengers. Someday, American could serve its best customers what it thinks they'll want — before they ask for it. American Airlines
Skift Take
If you're a high-value American Airlines customer, the carrier knows a lot about you. Now it wants to leverage that data in a more sophisticated way.
Not long ago, loyalty programs at major U.S. carriers were simple. They almost always rewarded customers miles based on how many miles they flew annually, often without considering what the passenger was worth to the airline.
Some road warriors remember those days wistfully because they could earn impressive perks while flying a lot and spending little. But from a revenue perspective, it never made sense. Why would a company reward its most frugal customers?
At American Airlines, Bridget Blaise-Shamai, the carrier's vice president for loyalty, is helping shift the program to one that rewards its most lucrative members with the best perks. And as it transforms, American seeks to learn more about makes these customers tick, so it can make predictions about their wants and needs. In some cases, American can predict a high-value customers is at risk of leaving American even before the consumer switches to another airline.
The key is data. American's program, AAdvantage, has long h
