Tuesday, November 21, 2006

American Airlines Launches AA.COM/RAINBOW

AMERICAN AIRLINES LAUNCHES AA.COM/RAINBOW
THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE AIRLINE WEB PAGE FOR GLBT TRAVELERS

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Offering 20 Percent Booking Discount
to Celebrate Launch of AA.com/rainbow

American also Begins New Online Advertising on Major GLBT Travel Sites

FORT WORTH, Texas – Welcoming travel-eager and net-savvy GLBT consumers is an American Airlines tradition. Building on the popularity of its AAVacations.com/rainbow microsite for holiday packages, American Airlines has launched AA.com/rainbow, a comprehensive new page on its award-winning Web site designed especially for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) travelers.

The new www.aa.com/rainbow page provides GLBT visitors with all of the rich content and features of AA.com – like Lowest Fare Guarantee, up to 1,000 AAdvantage® mile booking bonus, and no booking fees – plus new content of interest to GLBT travelers, including a comprehensive community events calendar listing available special discounts, an e-newsletter with GLBT travel tips and deals, and more.

To commemorate the launch of AA.com/rainbow, AAdvantage program partner Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is offering a 20 percent discount through April 1, 2007, on reservations made through AA.com/rainbow.

“By partnering with American Airlines to offer special rates for GLBT travelers, we continue to celebrate the individuality of our guests,” said Cordey Lash, Wyndham National Account Manager –International and GLBT Strategic Partnerships. “Wyndham’s diverse and upscale portfolio of properties provides GLBT travelers with a number of ideal vacation destinations ranging from Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Palm Springs to New Orleans and St.Thomas.”

A series of imaginative GLBT-focused American Airlines ads will appear online the first week of November on travel pages of major GLBT community Web sites. Each of the two ads features a symbol important to the GLBT community (the rainbow or HRC's equality symbol), communicates a clever airline theme, and encourages consumers to click on a link to visit the new AA.com/rainbow page. The ads may be previewed online at www.aa.com/rainbow.

A unique feature of AA.com/rainbow is the functionality that gives back to the GLBT community through the Business ExtrAA program, a travel program designed for small businesses in which many major GLBT groups participant. GLBT travelers can support their favorite organizations each time they book a flight on AA.com/rainbow by providing the organization’s Business ExtrAA identifier code when making an online reservation. The travelers earn AAdvantage miles for themselves while their favorite organization earns Business ExtrAA points toward free travel, offsetting the organization’s travel expenses so it can direct resources to other needs.

GLBT travelers can help many organizations through Business ExtrAA. For example, those traveling to attend Black Tie Dinners in Dallas, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Antonio or Washington, D.C., this autumn can easily provide HRC’s Business ExtrAA identifier code (527567) as they book on AA.com/rainbow. The Business ExtrAA identifier codes for many other community activities can be found on the AA.com/rainbow “Events” Page.

“American is the only airline to offer such a robust, one-stop online welcome for GLBT travelers,” said George Carrancho who, with colleague Betty Young, comprises American’s unique Rainbow TeAAm that focuses exclusively on the GLBT community’s travel needs. “Adding the comprehensive GLBT community events calendar, a forthcoming travel newsletter, and other exciting content enhancements to AA.com’s standard features – such as fees like other travel sites charge, earning up to 1,000 mile booking bonus, and Lowest Fare Guarantee – we’re confident that AA.com/rainbow will quickly become a favorite of GLBT travelers worldwide.”

AA.com/rainbow offers a wide range of functionality and content, including:

* Schedules and fares for American and hundreds of other airlines worldwide
* AAVacations.com/rainbow for gay-welcome travel packages
* GLBT community calendar, listing special rates for major events worldwide
* Special e-newsletter for GLBT travelers
* Admirals Club memberships and day pass purchases
* Business ExtrAA small business travel program
* AA Group & Meeting Travel arranging deals for groups of 10 or more travelers
* Podcasts with topics and tips of interest to GLBT travelers (coming soon)
* Sponsorship proposal submission link
* No booking fees
* Lowest Fare Guarantee
* Ability to manage AAdvantage member account

American Airlines is a founding member of the global oneworld® Alliance, offering a network of more than 600 destinations in more than 135 countries and territories.

Copyright IGLTA

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