By now, most of the major US airlines offer Spanish-languange content on their Web sites But only a few offer fully localized flight reservation systems, which is where the money is.
A few years ago, Southwest Airlines was the first to launch a localized reservation engine. This was followed by Continental, Northwest, and Alaska Air. It’s fun to watch momentum build for Web localization within industries. Once a leader takes the plunge the rest dive right in.
And now American Airlines has launched a reservation engine in Spanish. Not only is the engine in Spanish, but the site offers a Spanish “gateway” at www.aa.com/espanol where users select their home country. From what I can tell American Airlines is using the “universal” flavor of Spanish, which, despite its critics, has worked quite well for the many companies I’ve spoken with over the years. So, kudos to AA.com.
Now, who will be next airline to upgrade? Will it be United? Jet Blue? Both have Spanish content on their Web sites, but still no flight reservation engine.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Franko // Feb 1, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Given that Spanish is the fastest growing language, I would have thought they’d all be jumping on this.
2 Scott // Feb 2, 2007 at 2:55 am
Interesting that the country selection does not have either España or an international selection. Does AA not want to take orders from Spanish speakers in Canada or Spain?
3 John Yunker // Feb 2, 2007 at 4:14 am
Actually, AA does have more localized sites, though they could be easier to find. Here’s the link.
4 Dierk Seeburg // Feb 3, 2007 at 12:23 am
Hi John,
Were you aware that our travel site, albeit not an airline but a hotel chain site, at has had its reservation engine in Spanish, as well as German, French, and Japanese for several years now?
Cheerio,
Dierk
Disclaimer: I work for Choice Hotels International, Inc.
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