American Airlines reverses policy to withhold loyalty points for most travel agency bookings

American Airlines has rescinded its scheduled policy to stop issuing loyalty points on travel advisor bookings, according to a statement shared by ACTA on Wednesday (May 29).

The move comes following advocacy efforts by ACTA, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), and the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA).

The proposed policy change would have had an extremely detrimental impact on the retail travel community, limiting traveller loyalty points accrual to bookings made by “preferred” agencies and direct bookings only, ACTA says.

“ACTA expresses its sincere gratitude to all members who actively engaged in the advocacy initiatives, as their participation was instrumental in achieving this positive outcome,” said Wendy Paradis, ACTA’s president, in a statement. “ While this development represents a significant victory for the retail travel sector, ACTA remains committed to maintaining a vigilant stance in protecting its members against any future actions or policies that may pose a threat to their business operations.”

She added: “ACTA recognizes the importance of safeguarding the interests of its members and will persist in its advocacy efforts on their behalf.”

The association said it will maintain its close collaboration with ASTA, WTAAA, and other key players to ensure that the concerns of the retail travel community are effectively communicated and addressed at the highest levels of the industry.

As previously reported, American Airlines was to stop awarding frequent flyer miles and Loyalty Points through its AAdvantage program to passengers who didn’t book direct with the airline or a small number of partner carriers and “preferred” travel advisors. 

In other words, travellers whose travel agency didn’t make the preferred list (which the airline never released) would have had to book their flight directly on AA.com or use a preferred agency to earn points.

The move reflected a shift by airlines to move away from using travel advisors – and paying them commissions – and bring ticket sales in-house.

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