American Airlines Gives California-Based Small and Medium-Sized Businesses a Chance to Earn 10 Travel Award Tickets

LOS ANGELES, March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For a limited time, companies based in California that newly enroll in the American Airlines Business ExtrAA® program can receive up to 20,000 Business ExtrAA bonus points – enough for 10 Economy PlanAAhead® awards* valid for travel in the Continental United States, Canada and Mexico.

Part of the American Airlines Business Suite of travel products, Business ExtrAA is a complimentary program that rewards small and medium-sized companies for doing business with American. With Business ExtrAA, companies accrue points when their employees travel for business on American Airlines, American Eagle or American Connection® operated flights and include the company's Business ExtrAA account number in their reservations. Employees can also earn American Airlines AAdvantage® miles on their personal frequent flyer accounts when traveling under their company's Business ExtrAA number, so both the company and the individual traveler benefit.

"Small and medium-sized businesses continue to help drive our economic recovery here in the United States, so we're excited to offer this promotion to help new member companies minimize their travel costs and get a jump start to earning travel awards in our Business ExtrAA program," said Cathy Berg, American's Regional Vice President – Western Sales Division.

This latest promotion is designed to support American's expansion in Los Angeles as American and American Eagle grow service by 28 percent at Los Angeles International Airport with the introduction of 32 additional round trips beginning April 5, with new nonstop service to Albuquerque, N.M.; Boise, Idaho; El Paso, Texas; Houston (George Bush Intercontinental), Oklahoma City; Phoenix; Salt Lake City; Sacramento, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Shanghai, China.

"We believe our new routes out of LAX will be of high value to small and medium businesses who rely on face-to-face meetings to grow their business, and we are happy to take this opportunity to jump start their membership in a program that makes travel more affordable, more productive and more rewarding for businesses that consistently choose American," added Karen Buls, American's Director – Small & Medium Enterprises Products, Marketing & Sales Strategy.

Through this promotion, companies in California that newly enroll in the Business ExtrAA program will have the opportunity to reach the maximum 20,000 points bonus via a stepped approach. To earn the first award ticket, companies must enroll in the Business ExtrAA program using promotion code BIGCAL and have any one of their employees fly one qualifying round trip using the company's new account number during the offer period, March 21, 2011, through June 30, 2011. Newly enrolled companies that spend $15,000 or more on qualifying** flights within the offer period will earn another 8,000 Business ExtrAA bonus points, equivalent to an additional four round-trip travel awards. And companies that spend a total of $30,000 or more during the offer period will earn another 10,000 Business ExtrAA bonus points, equivalent to an additional five round-trip travel awards. Every employee who travels using the company's Business ExtrAA account number can help the company earn points. For more information on the promotion, visit www.aa.com/bigcal.

Business ExtrAA points can be redeemed for more than 50 travel awards, including flights, upgrades, AAdvantage Gold® status, and Admirals Club® one-day passes, conference rooms, and memberships. Companies can choose how points are redeemed. Business ExtrAA points can be used to control business travel costs, donated as part of employee incentive programs or used to thank valued customers for their loyalty. The Business ExtrAA program keeps track of all ticket purchases and sends a monthly e-mail to companies to advise when the account has been updated. Companies can also review their activity online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and by contacting their dedicated customer service desk.

American Airlines has a long history of supporting small and medium businesses (SMBs), including sponsorship of organizations like Business Matchmaking, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and most recently SCORE, which provides training and mentoring services for a wide variety of SMBs. American offers travel programs specifically designed to benefit small and mid-sized companies that depend upon face-to-face contact across the nation, or the globe, to succeed. In addition to Business ExtrAA, the American Airlines Business Suite™ includes the AAirpass® program, which offers discounted fares on last-minute travel with immediate VIP benefits. Other programs include a cash-rebate credit card and discounts for group travel, and there is no cost to join. For details, visit www.aa.com/business or call 1-800-457-7072, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Monday – Friday (inside U.S. and Canada).

Terms and Conditions

This is a targeted offer valid only for new Business ExtrAA member companies based in California. Business ExtrAA companies located outside California, or with enrollment date prior to March 21, 2011, are not eligible for this offer.

To qualify for bonus points, eligible companies must be enrolled by June 30, 2011, at www.BusinessExtrAA.com using promotion code BIGCAL. For eligible companies to earn bonus points, company employees must travel on American Airlines, AmericanEagle or AmericanConnection using the company's Business ExtrAA account number between March 21, 2011, and June 30, 2011.

The company's Business ExtrAA account number must be in the employee's reservation to earn bonus points. The company will earn 2,000 bonus points after the first employee flies one qualifying round trip using the company's Business ExtrAA account number during the offer period. The company will earn an additional 8,000 points once it has spent $15,000 on eligible travel during the offer period. The company will earn another 10,000 points when it has spent $30,000 on eligible travel during the offer period. The maximum number of bonus points associated with this offer is 20,000. In addition to bonus points associated with this offer, companies will earn two base points for every $10 spent for all qualifying tickets on American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection carriers. Companies will earn one base point for every $10 spent on eligible itineraries from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Miami (MIA).

Business ExtrAA bonus points will be posted to the member company's account within six to eight weeks after the offer ends.

*Any Award Ticket referenced above is based on an Economy PlanAAhead award valid for the Continental U.S., Canada and Mexico. Points may be used for any published Business ExtrAA award. All taxes and fees, including reservations fees, assessed at the time of ticketing, are the responsibility of the passenger.

**Only purchased, published fare revenue from eligible flights, excluding codeshare flights (other than American Eagle and AmericanConnection), booked in eligible fare classes for travel on American, American Eagle, and  AmericanConnection and ticketed on American Airlines 001 ticket stock, will contribute to monthly revenue, net of refunds, fees, taxes, and commissions ("Flown Revenue") for the purposes of earning points. American reserves the right to exclude or modify specific fare types in all or specific markets from its calculation of Flown Revenue. Retroactive ticket requests may not be eligible for promotional points. For complete details on eligible travel, www.BusinessExtrAA.com.

For questions about this offer, contact Business ExtrAA Customer Service at [email protected] or dial 1-800-457-7072, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT Monday - Friday (U.S. and Canada).

AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AAdvantage, AAdvantage Gold, Admirals Club and Business ExtrAA® are marks of American Airlines, Inc. American Eagle service is operated by American Eagle Airlines, Inc., or Executive Airlines, Inc., each of which is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines' parent company. AmericanConnection service is operated by Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., which is an unaffiliated independent contractor. American Airlines reserves the right to change Business ExtrAA® programs at any time without notice. All Business ExtrAA program details apply; view program Terms and Conditions at www.BusinessExtrAA.com. For complete details about the AAdvantage program, visit www.aa.com. AAdvantage program Terms and Conditions apply. © 2011 American Airlines, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Business ExtrAA®

Business ExtrAA is a program that rewards companies when their employees fly on American Airlines, American Eagle, or AmericanConnection 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 details to enroll, visit www.aa.com/business.

About American Airlines

American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection® 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 fares are also available through Kayak.com and Priceline.com, as well as thousands of travel agencies worldwide. 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, We know why you fly and AAdvantage are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR)

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

SOURCE American Airlines