Passengers travelling on American Airlines now have a new inflight entertainment option to look forward to. The airline has added TikTok to its free inflight offerings.
To access TikTok, passengers will not have to purchase inflight WiFi. Instead, American will give its passengers who are travelling on Viasat-equipped narrowbody aircraft 30-minutes of free access to TikTok. This is a promotional offering that has already begun.
How does it work?
Passengers travelling on Viasat-equipped narrowbody aircraft can access TikTok. First of all, you will have to enable airplane mode and connect to the ‘AA-Inflight’ signal. Once connected, you will be redirected to aainflight.com, the Wi-Fi portal. Finally, click on the TikTok ad for free access to the platform.
For those who are not currently TikTok users, the inflight WiFi will allow you to download the app without having to pay for premium WiFi.
The partnership allows users to get 30 minutes of free access to TikTok inflight. Once those 30 minutes are complete, users will be alerted and have two option : either to purchase WiFi to continue using the app, or to end their session.
Inflight WiFi is getting better
A social media platform like TikTok where one can stream videos needs a solid internet connection. A few years ago, Inflight WiFi was not guaranteed on most aircraft in the United States and for those aircraft that had WiFi, it usually was not fast enough to be able to handle streaming entertainment.
Clarissa Sebastian, Managing Director of Premium Customer Experience and Onboard Products, American Airlines, said:
Faster Wi-Fi allows us to deliver diverse inflight entertainment options and invest in innovative partnerships with platforms like TikTok. Customers play the lead role in helping us better understand what content they want during their inflight experience and TikTok is one of the platforms they love on the ground, and we’re thrilled to work with Viasat to give customers free access to TikTok while they’re in the air as well.
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More options onboard American
A few years ago, American Airlines decided to move away from seatback screens in favor of streaming entertainment. Thus far, the Dallas-based carrier plans to keep this strategy. Since then, it has worked on creating a robust array of options for passengers to use inflight by streaming it on their own devices.
American states that the fast-changing nature of technology, screen resolution, and popular content offerings as a reason to avoid investing in seatback entertainment that could become outdated quickly in favor of investing in WiFi for faster streaming and more options.
Furthermore, American states that over 90% of its passengers bring a device onboard the aircraft. This mostly includes smartphones and tablets on which TikTok is a very popular app.
American is not the only carrier in the US to move away from seatback screens. Southwest and Alaska Airlines have also opted for streaming entertainment options.
Additionally, American offers both power outlets and USB charging ports so that passengers who have to use their devices to access entertainment can certainly stay charged up inflight. The airline has heavily invested in its inflight entertainment options. The carrier offers a partnership with Apple Music, a Lifestyle Inflight Entertainment channel, Skillshare and e-learning tools (like Rosetta Stone) complimentary inflight. This is in addition to the over 600 movies and TV shows available for streaming – all free of charge.
TikTok is definitely an app that is used more by younger travellers. Millennials and GenZ travelers are more likely to utilize this partnership than older travelers and frequent fliers – though TikTok does have options for all age groups.
Millennials and GenZ are travelling more than ever nowadays. These type of travellers make up a larger proportion of travellers in the air. Airlines around the world are rethinking ways to get these passengers to fly with them more and more. American is clearly making use of apps like TikTok to attract these type of travellers.
Meanwhile, American Airlines recently increased frequency of flights to New Delhi before launch later this year. The airline has also partnered with Vertical Aerospace for EVTOL aircrafts. Also recently, the Dallas-based carrier announced 14 new routes out of Austin. The carrier is expanding in the Caribbean by launching flights to Dominica and Anguilla from Miami.
Featured image by American Airlines
What do you think about American’s partnership with TikTok? Let me know in the comments section below.
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