Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how American Airlines, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” “American”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information in connection with the SimplyMiles® Program and the services, systems, websites and apps used to provide the SimplyMiles® Program (collectively, the “Program”), including without limitation, our use of the personal information you provide to us and the collection and processing of personal information by us or our service providers in connection with the transactions you enter into with merchants that offer mileage and travel awards under the SimplyMiles® Program (“Participating Merchants”). This Privacy Policy applies regardless of the type of device or other means you use to access the Program.
American reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the updated Privacy Policy here along with the date on which the Privacy Policy was changed.
This Privacy Policy applies solely to the SimplyMiles® Program. For more information about how American collects, uses, shares and protects information in connection with other products and services offered by American (including without limitation, the AAdvantage® program or bookings and travel on American Airlines), please see the American Airlines Privacy Policy.
In the event of a conflict or inconsistency between this Privacy Policy and the American Airlines Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy shall control with regard to the Program.
Information we collect and how we collect it
We collect and maintain personal information about you from many sources to understand and meet your needs, manage the Program, and for other purposes disclosed to you. For example, we collect personal information about you from:
- You, when you voluntarily provide us with information
- Your transactions with American, including through your AAdvantage® account
- Payment card networks and/or issuing banks for one or more of your payment cards, subject to you granting consent for any applicable payment card to be linked to the Program
- Other third-party sources, such as Participating Merchants.
If the information is to be collected directly from you, you may in some cases have the option to decline providing that information. However, your choice to not provide information may impact your use of certain features or services of the Program.
The personal information we collect about you through these various sources may include, but is not limited to:
- Name, addresses and telephone numbers
- Date of birth and gender
- Email addresses
- AAdvantage® account number
- Credit card number(s), which will be used by the applicable payment network
- Information related to your transactions with Participating Merchants using the credit card number(s) you provided
- Technical information such as your browser type, IP address, type of operating system you use, your geolocation, the name of your internet service provider, mobile advertising identifiers, and pages visited on our site
- Information provided via survey, focus group or other marketing research efforts
- When you send us an email or online customer service request, we will retain the content of the message, your email address or any contact information you provide, and our response in order to handle any follow-up questions you may have. We also use this information to measure how effectively we address your concerns.
- Any other information that you choose to provide to us or that is required to facilitate your transactions and awards.
- Your information may be combined with information we may already have about you.
Any of the information that we collect through your AAdvantage® account, including your name and email, can only be updated through your AAdvantage® account settings, and not directly via the Program.
Automatically collected information (including cookies and geolocation)
When you use the Program, we may receive technical information such as your browser type, the type of operating system you use, your geolocation, the name of your internet service provider, mobile advertising identifiers, and pages visited on our site. American gets this information by using technologies, including cookies, web beacons, and mobile device geolocation to provide and improve the Program and advertising, including across browsers and devices (also known as cross-device linking). We also use this information to verify that visitors meet the criteria required to process their requests and for reporting activity in connection with the Program. For example, we may want to know how long the average user spends on our site or which pages or features get the most attention. This technical information may be combined with information that is personally identifiable in order to personalize the Program and advertising to your interests, including across browsers and devices. Some of this information may be shared with third parties, as described below under “Information collected by third parties in connection with the Program.”
Additionally, and with your specific consent where required by law, American may combine the information we receive from you with information collected from other sources. This information may be used to provide offers and/or services specifically tailored to your interests in accordance with applicable laws.
Cookies used in connection with the Program
When you use the Program, you may receive cookies or other similar technologies such as pixel tags from us and the third parties that collect information in connection with the Program. We use cookies to ensure that we give you a high-quality experience in connection with the Program. We also use cookies to show you advertising that is relevant to you.
However, if you prefer, you can change your cookie settings. Some browsers have options that allow the visitor to control whether the browser will accept cookies, reject cookies, or notify the visitor each time a cookie is sent. You may elect to reject cookies by adjusting your settings, but doing so will limit the range of features available to you on our site and other major websites that use cookies.
The Program also may occasionally use “local shared objects” (also known as “Flash cookies”). Like browser cookies, Flash cookies may be used for coordinating content delivery, website functionality, maintaining preferences, advertising, or analytics. Unlike browser cookies, “Flash cookies” are not stored in the browser. You may be able to manage these Flash cookies by viewing the Adobe website.
There are four types of cookies used in connection with the Program:
- Essential cookies – These cookies enable you to use the Program. These cookies are essential to enable you to browse our site and use certain features. Disabling them may prevent you from using certain parts of the site. These cookies also help keep our site safe and secure.
- Preference cookies – These cookies store information such as your preferred country and language selection, AAdvantage® login data and website preferences. Without these cookies, the Program may not be able to remember certain choices you’ve previously made (such as a saved country / language preference) or personalize your browsing experience by providing you with relevant information (such as AAdvantage® award miles balance). These cookies can also be used to recognize your device so that you do not have to provide the same information more than once.
- Performance cookies – These cookies collect information about how you use the Program such as which pages you visit regularly. These cookies are used to provide you with a high-quality experience by doing things such as tracking page load, site response times, and error messages.
- Content / advertising cookies – These cookies gather information about your use of the Program so we may improve your experience and provide you with more relevant content and advertising. They are also used to gather feedback on customer satisfaction through surveys. They remember that you’ve visited our site and help us understand usage of the Program. Some of these cookies are from third parties that collect information about users of the Program (as described below under “Information collected by third parties in connection with the Program”) in order to provide advertising (on our site and elsewhere) based on users’ online activities (so-called “interest-based advertising”) on our site and elsewhere online. The third parties involved in interest-based advertising collect internet browsing information (e.g., websites visited, time of visit) across different websites and over time, and they may use the information they collect on our site to provide you ads (from us and other companies) across the internet.
Information collected by third parties in connection with the Program
Some of the content, advertising, and functionality related to the Program may be provided by third parties, including third parties that are not affiliated with us. These third parties may collect or receive technical information about your use of the Program, including through the use of cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, and other technologies, and this information may be collected over time and combined with information collected on different websites and online services.
For example, social network or other third-party plug-ins (such as Facebook’s “Like” button) may be provided with the Program in order to enable you to login to the Program, to comment on content available on the Program, and to share things you find through the Program with your social network. The providers of these plug-ins may be able to collect information about you even if you do not click on or otherwise interact with the plug-in or widget and regardless of whether you have an account or other relationship with these social networks and third parties. If you use social network tools or visit social networking sites, you should read their privacy disclosures to learn what information they collect, use, and share.
Also, some third parties collect information about users of the Program in order to provide interest-based advertising (on the Program and elsewhere, including across browsers and devices, also known as cross-device linking). This may include anonymized or de-identified information about you. These third parties may use the information they collect through the Program to make predictions about your interests in order to provide you ads (from us and other companies) across the internet (for example, products and services that are available at a merchant you searched for online).
We may use Adobe Analytics to aggregate and analyze data about your use of the Program.
Obtaining your consent
This Privacy Policy is not a contract. Your additional consent will be obtained where such consent is required by applicable law.
How your information will be used
We use personal information to complete transactions and fulfill requests for the Program. For example, your information may be used to identify transactions eligible for awards, to allocate awards to the appropriate account, or to send you offers for awards. In addition, we may use personal information for administrative, analytical, and marketing purposes such as employee training, information systems management, accounting, billing and audits, credit card processing and verification, customer-relations correspondence, operation of the Program, to prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities, or otherwise as disclosed to you at the time your personal information is collected or pursuant to your consent. Where we are required by applicable law, we will seek your consent prior to sending you communications for marketing purposes. More specifically, we may use your personal information for the following purposes:
- Business purposes and communication: To information you requested, to communicate with you for business or customer service reasons, or for other such reasons such as changes to our policies or in response to your inquiry
- Financials transaction management: To facilitate payment for services or provide refunds
- Legal and regulatory obligations: To comply with legal, regulatory, or fiscal obligations, or in connection with litigation or an internal investigation or audit
- Tailored web experience: To personalize your advertising experience when visiting our sites, to manage details about your accounts, when security updates are available, or when an action is required to keep the account active
- Improve our operations: To improve our service offerings
- Marketing and analytics: To perform data analyses and other processing for marketing purposes
- Site maintenance: To improve content, functionality, and usability of our sites and to offer opportunities to participate in surveys and provide feedback to us
- Security management: To secure American’s premises, assets, and information
- Third party requests: To respond to and comply with outside requests initiated by you, as well as in response to legal requests
- Audit and controls: To evaluate internal controls and audits for compliance (including those conducted by American’s internal and external audit service providers)
American may also obtain information about your Program activity (such as Program awards of AAdvantage® miles) and add this information to your AAdvantage® account profile and history. Your AAdvantage® account information is used by American in accordance with the AAdvantage® terms and conditions and the American Airlines Privacy Policy.
Data security
We take reasonable measures to protect the personal information you provide under the Program. Please note, however, that while we attempt to safeguard your personal information, no method of transmitting or storing electronic information is ever completely secure.
With whom your information will be shared
American may share information about you with Participating Merchants, as necessary or appropriate to fulfill the terms of the Program. For example, if you are enrolled in a promotion involving a Participating Merchant, we may share your information with the Participating Merchant as needed for accounting, billing, customer relations, operation of the Program, or to prevent fraud or potentially prohibited or illegal activities.
We may also disclose information to companies affiliated with American, our service providers, and/or unaffiliated third parties (i) to provide the Program and (ii) for administrative, analytical, and marketing purposes. Where required by applicable law, we will seek your consent prior to sharing your personal information with such third parties for marketing purposes. Also, as described below, you can opt out of having your information shared with such third parties for those parties’ direct marketing purposes by emailing us at customerservice@support.simplymiles.com.
In the event we undergo a business transition involving another company, such as a merger, corporate reorganization, acquisition, the lease or sale of all or a portion of our assets, or in the event of bankruptcy, information that we have collected from or about you or your devices may be disclosed to such other entity as part of the due diligence or business integration process and will be transferred to such entity as one of the transferred assets.
Further, to the extent required by law, we may disclose personal information to government authorities, or to third parties pursuant to a subpoena or other legal process, and we may also use or disclose your information as permitted by law to protect the rights or property of American, our customers, our services, or its users.
Contact us
If you have other questions, comments or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or if you wish to issue a request to exercise your rights where applicable by law, please contact us at: privacy@aa.com.
