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American Airlines is Going Cashless on Domestic and Foreign Flights

That in-flight snack box on American Airlines is pretty tempting, but if you want it to be yours you better have a credit card. American Airlines has joined the cashless cabin club as of February 1, and they’ll only be accepting plastic money for in-flight purchases. It’s credit cards only on all domestic and international flights—so no getting rid of your foreign currency on the way home.

Flight attendants will be eager to swipe any major credit cards for purchases, because now they don’t have to deal with finding change for your $20. For foreign travelers, all purchases will be converted into US currency, so we guess the currency exchange rate will be left up to the credit card gods—let’s just hope they’re having a good day.

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Continental Becomes Latest Airline To Embrace Cashless Cabins

It looks like we're going to go through the same thing with cashless cabins that we went through with in-flight wifi. First there's the trickle of LCC innovators, then the major airlines follow, then at the end we start writing our stories with lines like "Airline X finally caught up to everyone else..." The LCC innovation period probably ended when Southwest went cashless. Then over the summer United and American switched over, pushing us toward the end of the second stage.

Any day now we're going to have to switch over from congratulating airlines on going plastic-only to mocking them for not doing it earlier. Congratulations are therefore hereby extended to Continental Airlines for getting in just under the wire. Good job guys:

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Tags: Cashless Cabins / Delta / Airline News / Onboard Services / → All Tags

Hand Over Your Plastic For A Mile High Mojito On Delta

Cashless cabins; they're the popular thing with airlines these days, aside from in-flight WiFi of course. Southwest stopped accepting your Abraham Lincolns for drinks a while ago, and although United and American just jumped on the bandwagon several months ago, we'd have thought that Delta would follow suit faster.

Alack and alas, Delta has just announced that beginning December 1, you'll have to pay by credit card onboard for beverages and more on flights "traveling within North America, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Bermuda and the Caribbean." And since they own Northwest now, that goes for NWA flights as well.

So save your greenbacks for drinks at the airport bar, and break out the gold card for Mile High mojitos...where? You guessed it...a mile high.

Related Stories:
· Purchase onboard with plastic, please [Delta Blog]
· Cashless Cabins coverage [Jaunted]

[Delta flight 78 photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Cashless Cabins / Airline News / American Airlines / → All Tags

American Airlines Will Soon Only Accept Cold, Hard Credit Cards

Yesterday evening, we found ourselves on a flight where cold, hard cash was still the preferred method of paying for $5 beers and bags of M&Ms, and the ensuing mess reminded us why more airlines are turning to "cashless cabins."

February of this year saw both Delta and Southwest join the cashless club, and now American Airlines doesn't want to be left out in the cold. It's no wonder either, what with the issues of making change in-flight and possibly dealing with other currencies on flights from Canada and Mexico.

According to the AP, American "said it will not accept cash on flights within the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Canada" beginning this upcoming Monday. Although the cashless policy won't affect AmericanEagle flights, we would still plan to whip out the plastic for your headset and Pepsi purchase anyways.

Related Stories:
· Your cash will be no good on American Airlines [AP]
· United Airlines Joins the Cool 'Cashless Cabin' Crowd [Jaunted]
· Cashless Cabin Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]

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United Airlines Joins the Cool 'Cashless Cabin' Crowd

It looks like the only cash you'll need when heading to the airport these days is for the taxi cab there and back. And maybe a couple of bucks for one of those SmarteCartes.

United Airlines has joined the ever-increasing group of airlines who have "cashless cabins," meaning only credit cards will be accepted for on-board purchases. For folks flying United, the cashless cabin begins on March 23 for all domestic flights and flights to Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

United said it would take both cash and credit on flights around the rest of the world. The airline will continue to be cash-only on its United Express regional flights.

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Southwest Joins Ranks of Airlines With a 'Plastic Only' Policy

Need a glass of chardonnay to make it through your Albuquerque-Spokane flight? Go ahead and order up that drink, but be prepared to flash your plastic; save the singles for other pleasures.

This last fall, Southwest Airlines joined a long list of other domestic airlines employing the "cashless cabin" service. Effectively removing the flight attendants' burden of having to carry out a mini cash drawer and dole out change mid-air, the credit card-only policy is all about streamlining in-flight service.

Just like on a big international flight, these days the flight attendants tote a small charge machine, ready and willing to bill you $3 for that special can of Monster Lo-Carb energy drink. Have your plastic at the ready on these airlines: Alaskan, Frontier, JetBlue, AirTran, Virgin America and Midwest Airlines, but not Northwest--they are one of the few still standing by the almighty greenback with a strict cash-only policy on domestic routes. Let's just hope they don't make the cabin crew sport change belts.

Related Stories:
· Southwest Airlines Cash Free Cabins [Business Travellogue]
· Airline News coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: flySAS.com]