The American Airlines AAirpass – The Unlimited Flight Pass That Didn’t Work

the American Airlines a air pass the unlimited flight pass that didn't work nowadays the American Airlines air pass is known as an all-inclusive membership program that offers elite status flight discounts and other perks for an annual fee however in the early 1980s American Airlines unveiled a special unlimited version of its a air pass spoke with two ace back then in an attempt to raise some badly needed funds quickly the airline sold this unlimited first-class products as either a five-year or lifetime pass the decision to offer this type of a air pass is now known as one of the worst marketing disasters in human history here is why it failed the decision for an unlimited a air past came about after the airline posted a 76 million u.s. dollar loss in 1980 this was due to the 1978 airline deregulation Act which had the effect of bringing about new competition and reduced ticket prices while the price of the five-year unlimited a air pass has been hard to come by it has been well-documented that the lifetime version was a one-time purchase of 250 thousand dollars in 1981 today that's an equivalent of seven hundred and ten thousand dollars through this one-time purchase travelers were entitled to unlimited first-class travel for life what's more a companion pass could be purchased for an additional 150 thousand dollars or an equivalent to four hundred and twenty six thousand dollars today allowing the pass holder to bring anyone even total strangers along for the flight according to the hustle billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban said it was one of the best purchases he's ever made Texas Monthly reports that over the life of the program the airline sold 65 unlimited a air passes notable customers included Michael Dell and Willie Mays speaking with the hustle airline president at the time Robert Crandall commented on the past saying the idea was that firms would buy this for their top performers but as usual the public is way smarter than any corporation people immediately figured out we made a mistake pricing lies this was indeed the case as some a air pass holders took full advantage of their access to unlimited first-class travel here are three examples of the most notable in the history of the unlimited a air pass Stephen Rothstein an investment banker Rothstein purchased the a air pass in 1987 flying over 10,000 flights in 25 years living in Chicago Rothstein was known to fly to London to have lunch with a friend among other incredible itineraries Stephen got on a plane like most people get on a bus said his wife the thought of him going to LA from Chicago for the day or Tokyo from Chicago overnight or London overnight for one night was not unheard of jacques room a former mail-order catalogue consultant living in Dallas vrooom used his a air pass to attend all his son's college football games in Maine crew members even knew him by name as a air pass flights also accumulated frequent flyer miles he would give the miles away often to people living with AIDS so they could visit family there was one flight attendant Pierre who knew exactly what I wanted vrooom told the LA Times he bring me three salmon appetizers no dessert and a glass of champagne right after takeoff I didn't even have to ask Mike Joyce also from Chicago Joyce bought his Unlimited a air pass in 1994 after winning a 4.25 million dollar settlement from a car accident the LA Times reports that within 25 days in 2012 Joyce flew round-trip to London 16 times the flights in total would have generally sold for more than a hundred and twenty five thousand dollars at the time if it hasn't become abundantly clear from the examples above the airline was losing vast sums of money due to the habits of a few super travelers and here's why pass holders could make last minute cancellations without consequence bookings by pass holders took up seats that other travelers would have paid for and the airline's through had to pay for per passenger taxes and fees imposed by airports and other countries in fact Bridget Cade an American Airlines employee tasked with abuse and fraud investigation calculated that Roth's vrooom and other travelers like them were costing the airline more than 1 million dollars a year realize in the blunder in 1990 the airline raised the price of an unlimited a air pass with a companion to $600,000 not wanting to cancel the program outright they further increased the cost to 1.01 million dollars in 1993 finally in 1994 the airline stopped selling unlimited passes altogether the airline terminated some passes due to what it says equated to fraud this includes vrooom who had received money from several of his companion fliers his lawyer said that no offense was committed as brooms contract didn't prohibit the practice at the time in 2011 an Illinois federal judge ruled that Rothstein had violated his a air past contract by booking empty seats under phony names including bag Rothstein in the end it's quite shocking that the unlimited a air par sold for as long as it did until 1994 but despite having ever sold only 65 it's clear that the program's termination signified a financial failure for the airline this a air pass may continue to be a financial liability for the airline we asked American if they could tell us how many valid unlimited lifetime a air passes were still out there in circulation we're going to decline to provide that information the airline responded if you like this video please like and subscribe to the simple flying channel and be sure to click the notification bell

Channel: Simple Flying

Views: 26,667

Keywords: aviation, planes, flying, avgeek, aviationnews, flight, flight review, 737, 747, a380, airbus, boeing, a350, 787, 777, a320, a321, a220, embraer, airlines, airports, emirates, american airlines, delta, flights

Id: i5g-5KY0NFk

Length: 6min 1sec (361 seconds)

Published: Sat May 02 2020