Looks like American Airlines is following suit of Delta and now offering free onboard entertainment on all flights equipped with a personalized seat-back entertainment screen or wifi.
Per a press release:
American Airlines is continuing to elevate the customer experience by adding complimentary premium movies, TV shows, music and games in the Main Cabin on all domestic flights offering seatback entertainment systems or Wi-Fi. Beginning this month, customers will have unrestricted access to the best and largest content library among the U.S. carriers from their own device or seatback entertainment systems.
I really welcome this change as American installed seat-back IFE on more aircraft. I know this form of entertainment is old school in some respects, but it’s something I really appreciate, so as not to worry to have to download movies onto my iPhone prior to flying, etc. It also gives me a chance to catch up on the latest films. Funny enough, I try to avoid going to the movies these days because I know the film will somehow end up on a flight of mine and I’ll want to pass the time watching it.
The service will also be available on wifi equipped planes:
Customers traveling on American flights will be able to enjoy premium shows like HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “Silicon Valley” as well as new movie releases such as “Captain America: Civil War,” “The Boss” and “The Lobster.” Available inflight entertainment will vary by aircraft type. Nearly 300 of American’s aircraft have seatback entertainment, with more being added every month. All American domestic mainline aircraft and two-class regional jets offer in-flight Wi-Fi. Customers can download the American Airlines mobile app to access this free, premium entertainment.
I saw this funny quote the other day, and I think it fits the scenario well – “American see, American do…,” playing off of all the copying of Delta. Finally we have an “enhancement” that doesn’t include negative changes or an additional cost. 🙂
What do you think of American’s new offering of IFE for free?
Jamie Larounis is an avid traveler, blogger and miles/points educator. Traveling well over 100,000 miles a year and staying in hotels for over 100 nights, he leverages miles, points and other deals to fly in first class cabins, and stay in 5-star hotels. The Forward Cabin shares his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler.
This is awesome news! When I checked last week, payment was still required for all content on the WiFI version. This will be a great change going forward. I have been surprised that AA hasn’t been offering anything complimentary as Delta and UA have been over the past year.
When is your next trip? It will be awesome to see how this is rolled out.