American Airlines Introduces Free Snacks and Other Perks
American Airlines is making its in-flight service a bit more comfortable this year with the introduction of new perks for Main Cabin and Premium Cabin passengers alike. While competitor United Airlines has been working to improve its reputation by adding new coffee, free snacks and other customer service advancements both in the air and on the ground, American is now catching up by introducing complimentary snacks and new in-flight entertainment, in addition to new amenity kits for premium passengers. Delta also serves free snacks for all passengers — in fact they never eliminating food from its service.

Most notably, American is introducing complimentary Biscoff cookies and pretzels on select flights for all passengers starting with transcon flights (JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO and MIA-LAX), with all other domestic flights offering complimentary snacks in the Main Cabin by April. AA is also adding complimentary meal service in May on all flights between Hawaii and Dallas (DFW). While it's launching on just a handful of flights, it's at least a start for some of the airline's busiest routes. Passengers can also expect new entertainment on select flights — AA will offer live television on long-haul international flights in every cabin of its 777-300ER, retrofitted 777-200ER and 787-8 aircraft.
Ultimately, improved service seems to be having a small comeback on domestic carriers — the airlines at least appear to be putting some effort into the customer experience, even as frequent flyer programs face devaluations.
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