People flying on American Airlines say they want flight attendants to shut up about the carrier's credit card deals and stop the mid-flight advertising spiels

24.08.2023 - 09:05 / insider.com / Airlines / Credit Card

Passengers are losing their patience with American Airlines, complaining that flight attendants are hard selling the carrier's credit cards on planes. 

Several people on the r/americanairlines subreddit say they took flights on the carrier, and had bad experiences with flight attendants eager to make a sale. The airline offers a wide array of co-branded credit cards. 

"I get it. The flight attendants make $50 on each approved applicant. They live in the same world I do and they need money. But they are getting too aggressive," a person with the username StudioLoftMedia wrote in a Reddit post. 

"I have been tolerating this, but what pushed me over the edge recently was a redeye from LA to NYC, it was 5 in the morning and the flight attendant practically swallows the PA phone as she proceeds to wake up the entire aircraft and begin the 5 minute rant about why we need the card," StudioLoftMedia said in his post. 

The Reddit user added that the passengers were later treated to the same sales pitch, not one, but two more times. 

"I thought I was done... nope, as soon as we landed and were taxiing to the gate we get the rant a 2nd time," the post continued. "Followed by walking down the aisle waving the pamphlet in each aisle-seat passenger's face - shaking it a little to really get our attention."

StudioLoftMedia did not specify when the flight took place, and Insider was not able to independently confirm their flight details. 

Another person echoed similar sentiments and said American Airlines' sales tactics have "gotten completely out of hand."

"I sent feedback to AA customer service about this exact thing. It's gotten completely out of hand, and just piles on top the additional card ads you have to watch when you fire up the inflight entertainment," the person said on Reddit.

Some commenters said that it wasn't just American Airlines that did in-flight promotions for credit cards. 

"Other airlines do it just the same and it's nauseating…I was in ATL flying Delta - my city is a AA hub - I was in line checking bags and the Delta employee was begging me to take the pamphlet," one person commented, adding that they had to listen to the sales pitch again mid-flight and after landing. 

One person who claimed to be a flight attendant, told StudioLoftMedia that they weren't enjoying doing the spiels either.

"Most of us hate doing them as much as you hate hearing them," the person wrote in the comments. "At the MOST it'll be a quick bare minimum mention and/or walkthrough."

"As for the ones who try really hard to sell it, $50 is $50. It's not for me but I can't blame the hustle," the person added.

Some people were resigned to the practice and told StudioLoftMedia to just accept the airlines' promotional spiels.