American Airlines Awards the Equivalent of 312 Round-Trip Tickets to Businesses Through 'Flights.Camera.Action' Contest

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines, in cooperation with SCORE, today announced the five finalists in the "Flights.Camera.Action" contest for small and medium-sized businesses. The companies entered the contest by submitting videos that communicate how travel and exposure to American's customers through inflight media would impact the future of their businesses. As the contest has progressed, American has already awarded 625,000 Business ExtrAA® points – the equivalent of more than 300 round-trip domestic Plan AAhead® award Economy Class tickets – to participants in the "Flights.Camera.Action" contest.

The five finalists were selected through a public vote on 50 semifinalists from hundreds of submitted videos. The top five video finalists represent a cross section of industries and geographic regions from around the United States, and include:

• Gondola Adventures, Newport Beach, Calif. – This company offers romantic, Venetian-style Gondola rides through the canals of Newport Beach, Calif.
• Hope Force International, Brentwood, Tenn. – A not-for-profit organization that mobilizes thousands of volunteers into areas of crisis around the world.
• Light of the World Charities, Palm City, Fla. – A not-for-profit organization that sends volunteers from the health and medical community to provide worldwide medical care to the poor and sick.
• Project Harambee, Berwyn, Ill. – A not-for-profit organization that assists those in Sub-Saharan Africa affected by and at risk for HIV infection.
• YAK Films, New York, N.Y. – An international production company that uses multimedia to document and share the urban dance movement around the world.

The "Flights.Camera.Action" contest winner will be selected by an esteemed panel of judges, which includes:

• Leigh Buchanan, INC.'s Editor-at-Large
• Kelley Cox, U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Executive Director of Business Development
• Rieva Lesonsky, GrowBizMedia's Founder and Chief Executive Officer
• Virasb Vahidi, American's Chief Commercial Officer
• Ken Yancey, SCORE's Chief Executive Officer

The finalists will each receive 20,000 Business ExtrAA points that can be redeemed for 10 domestic round-trip Plan AAhead award Economy Class tickets, plus 3,000 additional Business ExtrAA points that can be redeemed for an annual Admirals Club® membership. Additionally, they will receive an all-expense-paid trip to attend the SCORE Awards Gala on Sept. 15, 2011 in Washington, D.C., where the Grand Prize winner will be announced by Derek DeCross, American's Vice President – Sales. For information on the SCORE Awards Gala, visit www.score.org/score_awards.

The Grand Prize winner will receive a total of 100,000 Business ExtrAA points – enough for 50 domestic round-trip Plan AAhead award Economy Class tickets, as well as a full-page ad in one issue of American Way® or American Airlines Nexos® magazine, banners on AA.com, an inflight TV testimonial, and more.

"We congratulate the finalist companies and are eager to get to know them better," said Karen Buls, American's Director – Small and Medium Enterprise Loyalty. "We hope and expect that travel will make a difference in the success of their companies. We've already heard some great stories about how simply entering the contest led to unexpected benefits. We are very pleased with the deeper conversations we are having with small and medium-size businesses and how we can partner to help them grow."

The "Flights.Camera.Action" contest has positively impacted many of the participating businesses by increasing their visibility in the marketplace. The contest has allowed many of the companies to connect with future target customers through the heightened publicity they received.

The contest was developed after a recent American Airlines survey in which the employees of small and medium companies confirmed that air travel was essential to the success of their business. A separate report prepared by Oxford Economics USA found that investment in business travel is vital to corporate performance, with both executives and business travelers estimating that 28 percent of current business would be lost without in-person meetings. The study also found that for every dollar invested in business travel, companies realize $12.50 in incremental revenue.

For more information on American's suite of small business travel products, visit www.aa.com/business. To view the finalists' videos, visit www.aa.com/newsroom or www.youtube.com/americanairlines.

About American Airlines

American Airlines, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® carrier serve 250 cities in 50 countries with, on average, more than 3,600 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American's award-winning website, AA.com®, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve approximately 900 destinations with more than 9,000 daily flights to 145 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, and AAdvantage are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR).

About Business ExtrAA

Business ExtrAA is a program that rewards companies when their employees fly on American Airlines with points that can be redeemed for flights, upgrades, Admirals Club memberships and conference rooms, and more. There is no cost to join, and while the company earns points, employees still earn their AAdvantage miles. For more details and to enroll, visit www.aa.com/business.

Current AMR Corp. releases can be accessed on the Internet.
The address is http://www.aa.com

SOURCE American Airlines