In an offer that has parallels to an earlier Expedia-Red Lion Hotels contract, flyers can now enroll in American Airlines’ commitment program, AA Benefit, when scheduling a flight on CheapOair.com.
In a program that started a little more than a week back, when members of CheapOair Benefits schedule an American Airlines flight on CheapOair.com, they can enlist in AA Benefit without leaving CheapOair, and earn American Airlines points.
Glenn Cusano, co-CEO of CheapOair parent business Fareportal, informed Skift Friday the concept for these commitment signups emerged from a breakfast conference with American Airlines executives a few months ago. He said it is the first time an online travel bureau is aiding with loyalty program enrollment for an airline.
In 2016, Expedia Group sibling brand names Expedia and Hotels.com got access to Red Lion commitment program rates and began enrolling members in Red Lion’s Hello Rewards program on their websites, and providing the chain with more customer information than had actually been the usual online travel bureau practice with hotels. Absence of access to consumer information has actually constantly been a sticking point with hotels when their rooms get reserved through online travel bureau.
In a move that got little or no publicity, Fareportal founder, majority owner and then-CEO Sam Jain in March stepped far from the business’s daily operations and became executive chairman. Cusano, who had a 15-year career in finance at JetBlue before ending up being Fareportal chief monetary officer in 2019, then became Fareportal co-CEO, and Fareportal veteran Werner Kunz handled the CEO role.
Cusano stated Fareportal altered strategy throughout the pandemic after notching a 5-year arrangement with American Airlines in March, and a 3-year pact with United Airlines in August. Fareportal, which has CheapOair creating 70 percent of its reservations, now focuses on high-margin products such as packages, ancillaries and cars and truck leasings, he stated.
CheapOair, which is independently held and plans to follow that course in the meantime, is considered the third-largest U.S.-based online travel bureau, and takes on Expedia and Priceline in the flights service. Fareportal is a leisure-oriented travel bureau, and OneTravel, an online travel bureau, fills out the business’s portfolio.
During the pandemic, Fareportal saw its reservations fall 90 percent. It laid off 40 percent of staff, closed a facility in India, moved its New york city City headquarters, and went to an entirely work from anywhere structure, consisting of for its call center employees in India.
Cusano stated the company, which presently has a worldwide personnel of around 2,500 will remain completely remote for the remainder of 2021, but will mandate vaccinations when employees return to its offices.
During the pandemic, 3 of its staff members in India passed away from Covid-19.
Cusano stated CheapOair’s U.S. domestic bookings are approaching 2019 levels however haven’t rebounded to that level yet totally, and international reservations are still way down.
A previous JetBlue finance official, Cusano stated the company dropped a claim versus JetBlue in order to focus on much better relations with its airline partners.
CheapOair, he said, will focus in the future on improving its commitment program and customer support.
Image Credit: A member of a landing crew strolls past American Airlines aircrafts parked at eviction during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) break out at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, U.S., April 5, 2020. Joshua Roberts/ Reuters