American Airlines is hoping to attract more women travelers with a new website “for women”. “We obviously have a vast interest in women,” said Peggy Sterling, AMR vice president of safety, security and environmental. “There is an untapped resource.” The new “women’s” site mentions women friendly things like “girlfriends” and “book recommendations.”
From the site:
Check the latest carry-on regulations, find advice on travel safety and wellness, and pick up tips for a stylish and efficient travel wardrobe.
Psssst. Women like clothes. Mention that on the site. This is awesome. They’re totally going to fly our airline now. Make the search box pink, and get rid of all those “tools,” women hate tools.—MEGHANN MARCO
AA.com/Women
American Airlines Seeks More Female Fliers [CNN]
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well i do find it a little rediculous to have this site, dont you think that we are overreacting a little? because the box just takes you to the booking area, where they have all those same tools. This just isn’t the booking page – I think the article is a little misleading in how it has presented this, because at first it looked awful, but when i went to the AA website, it seems pretty obvious that the “woman’s page” is just one step off from the booking page, so if course its not going to have all the tools…
They should call this ‘executive search,’ because everyone really knows that the people least likely to be able to book their own flights are executives.
This from the airline that insists on addressing me as Mrs. … I’m beginning to detect a pattern.
Raanne: I don’t think it’s overreacting. Personally, I find it very insulting that the airline is blatantly pandering to a very stereotypical idea of “woman,” especially one who is unskilled in simple internet tasks, like . . . booking a flight and inexplicably drawn to the color pink.
Not only does it play towards the aforementioned insulting stererotype, it’s insulting to the intelligence of everyone that they feel they can get this sort of thing by on consumers in lieu of actual customer service and satisfaction.
LOL RL WOMANS ON TEH INTERNETS!!1!oenone
I was in the Atlanta airport and saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said, “I’m not a gynecologist, but I’ll take a look.”
My first thought was, “what a cad.”
But now I realize that he really cares about women’s health and the best interests of women. He was probably in the airport because he works for American Airlines, right?
Next on the agenda for American Airlines: A new and improved 1-800 service.
“If you pee standing up, press 1″
“All others, please hold for a kindergarten teacher and Mary Kay representative to assist you with your travel inquiry.”
@bluwapadoo:
“Let us take you there, with pride!” Ohhhh man, I definitely cracked up when I read that. That’s just precious.
Damn, they left off the one thing I as a woman really want: reasonably priced flights! Guess I’ll have to wander off and look elsewhere or, more likely, not fly.
@Raanne: Thing is, there’s obviously no practical reason to have a women’s page. The fact that it just leads to the main booking site proves that there’s no good reason for it to exist in the first place. They spent money and time creating an unnecessary and redundant separate page because they think women are a bunch of simpletons. That’s why this is so insulting.
The SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE AA could make to please women is to lower (or remove) those damn neck rests protruding from the seats right at the back of my head. They are placed where the neck of an average height male would be, and I for one, am getting sick of the stiff necks everytime I’m forced to sit with my seat back straight up and my face pointed down to my knees.
What a waste of money on that ridiculous website, and pretty insulting to my intelligence, but at least I got a good laugh out of all your replies.
@amb1545: It’s not Don Imus offensive or anything. I’m not about to call up Gloria Steinem and ask for anyone’s head on a platter but it is unbelievable that in 2007, a company could think a pink search page coupled with fashion advice is a swell idea. And it is offensive when American Airlines thinks my uterus prevents me from wanting to narrow my search.
Let me get my pearls on. I need to go vacuum.
Yeah, I don’t see any overreacting. This is a marketing ploy designed to attract women, but their way of going about this is to effectively tell us they think we’re stupid?
I mean, really, a pink search form? That thing makes my ass look huge.
@TinaT: Old people don’t use the internet. Duh.
@sandividin: Oh, holy shit. Sing it. Those seats suck.
http://www.aavacations.com/Rainbow
I like how the “Rainbow” page assumes I’ll be jaunting off to to gay ski week, or Provincetown, as if my partner and I are so insular we don’t do normal touristy and travel things everybody else does.
I recall reading somewhere about a gay discount in which the total for two was cheaper than buying two seats. Eventually friends, married folks, and business travelers logically just started going booking through the gay site.
I’m not at all offended by marketing to certain groups like women, gays, families, etc., but the techniques noted are humorous.
Guys aren’t left out: Somehow last year the word “mancation” was created. Luckily, since I despise made up words created simply for marketing purposes, the use of it has died down.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20060911/ap_tr_ge/travel…
http://www.futuregringo.com/index.php/2006/10/07/mancation…
wow, thats insulting
@jamesdenver: “Mancation.” Holy hell, I’m using that one from now on. It’s so bad it’s AWESOME.
Is it true they have replaced the “comments and suggestion” section with a post that reads: “When we want your opinion, lady, we’ll ask your husband”?
Does anyone know if the Lonely Whore Discount is more or less than the Bitter Spinster Discount? I am assuming the LWD gets you a seat closer to business class than the BSD, but which one will get you more drinks coupons?
I know some women are going to be posting saying they’re insulted, but I guarantee my ex would love this crap. She loves anything that’s pink or panders to women, regardless of the drop in quality.
@sandevin and @meghannmarco: Sweet Jesus, yes. The fucking headrests that make me stare at my crotch. Amtrak’s are even worse.
@spanky
That was great. Thank you for making me laugh out loud at work.
do we get free tampons at the lavatory now??
It looks to me that they’re just trying to lure in solo female travellers by designing that part of the site to appeal to what AA thinks women want. (Notice that I’m saying here…it’s not necessarily what women want, but what AA marketing department thinks they want). I’m sure it’s the same thing with the whole “gay travel” thing. Tap more market share by making certain groups of people feel all warm and fuzzy about buying airline tickets.
What they don’t mention is that whether your a guy or a gal, gay or straight, you still get the same old crappy cramped seat in front of the kicking child and behind the snoozing old-lady.
And while they’re at it, they should fix up the “man’s site” by adding monster trucks and power tools.
What’s really strange for me is that there’s a piece in yesterday’s New Yok Times about women’s travel experiences that made this sound almost reasonable. Thes article (reg req’d) was by Joe Sharkey, who’s normally a pretty reliable source. The piece focused on a survey of female travellers and only spent a little time on the new website–no mention of the limited options or the color scheme. I’m glad I saw for myself how poor the idea was.
I can’t help but wonder why AA didn’t think they’d be shooting themselves in the foot.
As for the site itself, I don’t find it horribly offensive. The search box is a bit puzzling and offensive, but other than that it doesn’t look overly “girlish.” There seems to be a serious focus on women as independent businesspeople. My guess would be some jackass thought that women, for whatever reason, weren’t buying enough airline tickets and this is their idea of targeted marketing. I mean, let’s face it, there ARE differences between men and women.
And for those people bringing up the whole ‘oh why does it have to be pink’ thing, is it really that big of a deal? I mean, I’d be surprised if, statistically, women did not prefer pink while men prefer blue. The fact that the search is simplified is far more offensive.
All in all, I’m more dumbfounded than amused.
the handmaid’s tale, anyone? All they need to do now is take away our pin numbers and we’re set.
>@wintersweet: This from the airline that insists on addressing me as Mrs. … I’m beginning to detect a pattern.
And the airline that as recently as 1994 wouldn’t let female employees at HQ wear pants to work. (Though the employee that told me this might’ve been stretching the facts.)
We have an airline search form for women, and others have suggested forms for gay people, black people, and old people too. The next thing is obviously a form for Muslims… which automatically reports the user to the FBI, of course. =)
I worked three years as a corporate travel agent, and — in Canada, at least — the vast majority of travel agents are women, as are the majority of those who call travel agents on behalf of their companies. There are also a healthy number of gay men. Whatever the reasons, travel is definitely a “pink collar” industry.
I suspect that this carries over into the home as well, i.e. that in mixed-gender households, women bear more of the responsibility for booking travel. That makes this AA/women website extra lame… If anyone should be lured to a particular airline’s website by the promise of a simplified, “comfortable” experience for travel-booking noobs, it’s straight men. Ahem, mancationers
(And no, I don’t think they need it, either.)
@jamesdenver:Let’s not forget the “Gay Grand Canyon weekend”, and the “flaming Louisiana barbecue”.
Wow, bureaucracy really DOES slow down corporate initiatives. Looks like an American Airlines marketing concept from 1955 only now got approved.
Read:
As Long As It’s Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste by Penny Sparke
I find it fascinating that one of the options for men is to speak Spanish. Apparently one can only belong to one “minority” group at a time, and all women speak English. And are presumably not gay. Or old, or they wouldn’t be on the Internets.
I hate pink. A lot. Haven’t liked it in years.
Mind you the pink seems to be gone now. Or at least I couldn’t see it.
Nowhere on the site do I see a reservations page specifically for women. When I click on “Book Now,” I am taken to http://www.aa.com, the general booking site. Is there a pink page? I don’t see it! I think it’s just a graphic that someone created to go along with the story — but is misleading. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.)
To 75Sasha, I agree that a “Girlfriend Getaways” is a ridiculous bit of marketing, but right next to it is an entire section called “Women Connected Through Business.”
Just trying to be accurate.
@philosophe:
This is a separate site created for women and there doesn’t seem to be a link from their main site.
AA.com/women
They got rid of the pink search box a couple of days ago.