American Airlines’ AAdvantage is one of the most popular frequent flyer programs today. It allows members to earn and redeem miles on flights with American Airlines and all oneworld partner airlines. They can also benefit from upgrades, lounge access, and other perks based on their status in the program. While such programs are standard today with full-service airlines, this was not always the case. American Airlines’ only started the AAdvantage program in 1981.
The first frequent flyer program
American Airlines’ AAdvantage was not the first frequent flyer scheme or loyalty program. This credit goes to Texas International Airlines. While there were some earlier attempts to reward frequent travel, Texas International Airlines launched the first formal scheme to track passenger mileage flown.
In 1979, it introduced a scheme where passengers were given rewards and benefits based on how much they flew. It was a simple system and did not last long. Three years after the program was launched, the carrier was merged with Continental Airlines.
American Airlines came next, and bigger, in 1981
Following on from Texas International Airlines, the next major program launch was from American Airlines. It introduced the American Airlines’ AAdvantage program in May 1981.
This was initially an invite-only membership program. The airline used its reservation system to identify the most frequent travelers and invited them to join the program. This was soon opened up to more people as the concept (and availability) of frequent flyer programs increased.
The timing and location of these first frequent flyer program is no coincidence. They followed closely after the introduction of the Airline Deregulation Act in the US in 1978. This allowed for much greater competition, route marketing, and fare setting by airlines. With this, there suddenly came a much greater need to attract and retain passengers. Loyalty schemes were an innovation to do just that.
Opening up and expanding the program
The other large US airlines followed quickly with frequent flyer programs. United Airlines started MileagePlus, and Delta Air Lines started its loyalty program (later to become SkyMiles) – both in 1981 as well. Alaska Airlines started a program in 1983, and Southwest Airlines in 1987. British Airways launched a loyalty program in 1982, but many other European airlines did not follow until the 1990s (KLM was among the first with its Flying Dutchman program in 1991).
American Airlines’ AAdvantage remained ahead of the game in many ways, however. It was the first program to join with another airline and expand mileage earning options. In 1982, when British Airways launched its Executive Club program, American Airlines introduced the ability to earn and spend points on British Airways flights. This concept, of course, has gone much further now, with frequent flyer programs usually linked with entire alliances.
Today, the American Airlines’ AAdvantage program is one of the largest and most popular frequent flyer schemes around. As of 2021 (and quoted by the airline when the American Airlines’ AAdvantage program celebrated 40 years), it has 115 million members worldwide. Incredibly, 144,000 of these members joined back at the start in 1981.
Shifting to a revenue-based system
There have, of course, been many changes to American Airlines’ AAdvantage (and the other) frequent flyer programs over the years. As alliances have developed, many more partner airlines have been added, and miles and points can now be used very flexibly for worldwide flights and connections. The benefits for members have changed too, particularly with more tiers and differentiation as member numbers have grown and travel habits have changed.
One of the most significant and most recent changes has been how points or miles are earned. Since the start, this has generally been based on the distance flown. Miles were earned based on the actual mileage distance of the fight, later with percentage adjustments made for the booking class or fare paid.
These days, the main US programs (from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, at least) have switched to a revenue-based earning system – at least for flights on their own aircraft.
Points or miles are now awarded based on the fare paid, not the flight distance. This has seen some criticism from frequent flyers, with only high-fare premium cabin passengers now earning big numbers of miles. Airlines like it, though, and many others are heading this way. In Europe, Iberia switched to revenue-based earning in 2022, and British Airways has stated it will do the same (the timing for this has yet to be announced).
Source: simpleflying.com