Credit Card News
American Airlines Rolling Out Free WiFi Starting This Month
Another domestic airline is introducing complimentary WiFi access for its passengers.
About American’s WiFi Roll Out:
American Airlines is the latest carrier to announce that it’s bringing free in-flight WiFi to fruition. Sponsored by AT&T, a complimentary connection will be offered to AAdvantage members.
The airline says that this feature will be rolled out to all of its narrowbody and two-class regional jets by early spring. Select Boeing widebody aircraft will also be updated with free WiFi. In total, this change will equate to more than two million American flights per year offering complimentary in-flight Internet.
To connect, flyers will visit an updated AAinflight.com portal. From there, they can log into their AAdvantage account using the number and password. Once logged in, they’ll see a Free WiFi button they can tap to begin their connection.
Special Credit Card Offers as American Airlines Celebrates Centennial:
Along with its free WiFi announcement, American Airlines also introduced special credit card offers as it kicks off its centennial celebration. For example, new Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard customers can currently earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending at least $10,000 on the card within their first three months.
Meanwhile, the Citi/AAdvantage Globe Mastercard is offering 90,000 bonus miles after $5,000 in purchases during the first four months and the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard is offering 80,000 bonus miles after $3,500 in spending during the first four months.
All three of these cards are also now offering a special American Airlines 100 card design. Moreover, the AAdvantage Platinum Select card is waiving its $99 annual fee for the first year. The AAdvantage Globe Mastercard comes at a cost of $350 per year and the AAdvantage Executive carries a $595 annual fee.
My Thoughts:
Speaking as someone who flew on American recently and will do so again in just a few days, I’m holding out hope that this rollout moves quickly. To be honest, I was aghast to see how much the airline was charging for WiFi previously. On a trip I took in September, a one-hour pass was $21! I elected to watch an ad in exchange for 15 minutes of access instead. Sadly, this trick could only be done once.
As for the credit card offers, these current deals seem pretty strong. In particular, any time an offer tops 100k, it’s worth a look (although the $10,000 spending requirement for this one is steep). So, if you’ve been considering an AAdvantage credit card, now may well be the time.