American Airlines has inked a strategic partnership with Alibaba Group’s travel platform Fliggy.
The tie-up gives Fliggy’s millions of Chinese customers AAdvantage loyalty bonus perks when flying with American depending on their membership status at Fliggy.
Fliggy F1 members will receive free preferred boarding when flying economy with AA, while Fliggy’s F2 and F3 members will get various privileges which are equivalent to AAdvantage’s Gold and Platinum status, respectively.
The rewards are eligible from next month.
American Airlines will also establish a branded web store on the Fliggy platform to tap the still growing travel demand by Chinese customers.
Other major airlines like Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have a presence on Fliggy.
The partnership will also include the integration of an Alipay payment option in the future.
"This partnership changes the way loyalty programs in China interact with one another and provides more flight options for Fliggy users between these two critical business and leisure destinations," said Alison Taylor, senior vice president of Global Sales and Distribution at American Airlines.
Fliggy has access to more than 500 million active users via Alibaba Group’s various e-commerce platforms, offering an unprecedented customer base for foreign airlines to market their services, says Fliggy vice president Jerry Hu.
