American Airlines

Normally when I fly from Canada to the United States, I fly Air Canada. But when another carrier was offering the same route for $800 less than Air Canada, I decided to spend my money elsewhere. So, I flew American Airlines on my recent trip to the Coaching Millions Super Summit held in Dallas.

What an experience. Each carrier does things differently, but AA has an opportunity to be a leader and has chosen instead to be mediocre.

As I took note of all the things that American Airlines (AA) was doing wrong, I couldn’t help but think about the Virtual Event Manifesto. There are some key lessons that virtual event managers can learn from some of the mistakes AA is making.

Virtual Event Manifesto #4 – Community First, Commerce Later

All American carriers require that you pay a fee to check-in luggage. The Canadian carriers did away with this nuisance about a year ago, but the American carriers have not. Whether you fly United, Delta, American, US Airways and the rest, you have to pay anywhere between $15-$20 just for the privilege of checking in luggage (the only exception is Southwest that has no check-in baggage fee).

This creates a rather messy situation when we start to board the plane. Because everyone is trying to save on that check-in fee, they lug their suitcase into the cabin of the plane. This does a few things:

• Boarding the plane takes EXTRA long since people are negotiating their luggage, their other carry-on and not hitting those in the very narrow aisle.
• Then, you have to find a spot in the overhead bin which takes a bit of time, thus delaying those behind you from traversing to their seats.
• If there is no space left in the overhead bins, the flight is delayed as the suitcase has to be stored underneath the plane.

Recommendation to AA: Do away with the stupid carry-on fee. If you have to charge it (which you don’t), allow the first checked baggage at no cost. Then charge for the 2nd and 3rd and so on.

Lesson to Virtual Event Managers: Don’t charge for every little thing. Be generous to attendees by throwing in a few bonuses that don’t cost you a thing, but those attending your virtual event will find valuable. Read more here.

Virtual Event Manifesto #5 – Diversity of Needs Calls for a Diversity of Options

As soon as I pass the security check, I buy a bottle of water so I’m covered on the flight. When they provide drinks on the plane, I notice that they give you the whole can of pop, but just a small cup of water. Strange. So, I take care of my hydration needs by buying my own water.

These days, you have to purchase snacks. Chips, cookies, sandwiches, these all have to be bought (of course, first class is way different, but that’s another story). On AA, the flight attendant starts to rattle off the variety of snacks available. Yum, I say to myself as I look through my wallet to see if I have exact change. Then, my heart sinks as she says that AA is now a cashless cabin and that purchases can only be made through credit or debit cards.

Of course, the way Canadians think of debit cards is totally different from American. Debit cards in Canada are issued by your bank so you can pull money directly from your bank account at an ATM or at the point of sale when making a purchase.

In America, a debit card is also tied to your bank account, however, the card is issued by Visa or Mastercard. So, it works like a secured credit card because the money is pulled from your bank account.  So, I’m up the brown creek because my debit card isn’t recognized by AA and I didn’t travel with my credit card.

Recommendation to AA: Give your passengers options. Or, serve those with credit/debit cards first, then serve those with cash afterwards. Or, insist that people purchase a food item when they book their ticket. Something. But just give me options, so I’m not wallowing in hunger with only water to numb the pain.

Lesson to Virtual Event Managers: Allow attendees an option of payment plans. Give those who pay by credit card instant access to the material, however, for those who pay by cheque or money order, give them access once the payment clears. Also, provide different levels so that those who pay more, get more features. Read more here.

There were other annoyances that I experienced with AA, but this blog post will become an epic, so instead, I’ll leave it at this.

Click here to read the rest of the Virtual Event Manifesto.