American Airlines has recently rolled out a new platform that will allow passengers to choose their own hotel when facing a lengthy delay or cancellation. In addition, passengers will be ale to choose meal vouchers as well electronically and be emailed the voucher.

This is a great new initiative from American and can really save you time if you do find yourself faced with an IROP. Rather than having to go wait in line for an agent at the airport, you’ll be able to choose your own hotel room via an email which you’ll receive.

Currently this is only being used for irregular operations, however I could also see this expanded in the future for voluntary denied boarding.

American Airlines shares the following.

Gate agents at domestic hubs and stations can now proactively send customers an email message with a voucher for a hotel and/or meal offer when American causes a travel disruption. The new technology, recently launched by the Customer Experience Innovation and Delivery team, eliminates the need for customers to stay at the airport and wait for an agent.

To help reduce the long lines during irregular operations, the electronic vouchers let customers self-shop, showing real-time hotel inventory and offering up to three hotel options for customers to pick based on availability. With virtual credit cards and QR codes on the vouchers, vendors can get paid immediately instead of in the 90 days it used to take. And, stations no longer have to store paper vouchers for recordkeeping.

With the domestic launch complete, Customer Experience Innovation and Delivery plans to expand the program to international stations and find ways to incorporate the e-vouchers into other American tools and channels such as the mobile app, aa.com and Dynamic Rebooking.

Has anyone experienced a delay/cancellation with American recently and used this new feature? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.