Customers using American Airlines can expect to see some new options for booking flights over the next few years as the airline upgrades its website, writes Holden Wilen for Philadelphia Business Journal.

The changes have come about from lessons learned in the pandemic.

One trend from the pandemic is the blending of leisure and business travel.

The airline needs to make it easier for people to book the itineraries they want because passengers are willing to spend more on those flights.

It’s hard right now to book a flight itinerary on the American Airlines website that has you leaving on a Thursday from Dallas to New York for business, staying through the weekend for leisure, and coming back with a spouse on a Friday.

About 70% of transactions on the website concern creating these mixed itineraries, even if passengers lose out on the lowest fare. 

“You can buy a car from a phone, so there’s almost nothing you can’t do in any other industry except for ours,” says Vasu Raja, chief commercial officer at American Airlines Group.

Upgrading the website and mobile app will also make it easier for American Airlines passengers to use flight credits.

Read more at Philadelphia Business Journal about American Airlines upgrade to its online booking system.

Altexsoft looks at the history of booking airline flights.