I use Twitter a lot to keep up-to-date on what is going on with the airlines. Tweets - the public status updates on Twitter - are usually fresh, current and succinct, so it is easy to skim through quickly. As more airlines use Twitter to offer quick, short term specials - twares - its becoming a great way to keep up with the airlines and snag a deal. I've listed my top 10 in terms of airlines I follow on Twitter.
About Air Travel is on Twitter - @aboutairtravel.
JetBlue has well over a million followers, and this is its page for updating passengers on flight status/delays, and sharing photos, experiences (both good and bad), and general news from the airline.
It's a really active page, and JetBlue seems to respond to issues that its followers post, whether it be a question about ticketing or online check-in, the airline is very active on Twitter.
I'm mentioning JetBlue again, because really, they pioneered the tware concept. Most often on Tuesdays, but other times of the week as well, very quick airfare specials pop up. They are often last minute or extremely restricted in dates. Other airlines have started emulating this model (most notable for their twares along with JetBlue have been United Airlines and Virgin America), and passengers who are ready to buy can sometimes cash in on simply incredible airfare deals.
This is the page where the cheap airfares with JetBlue are posted. They have only a fraction of the visitors of their main page, but it is all about airfares - when sales start/end/sell out.
Southwest Airlines also has over a million people following their page. Southwest Airlines also keeps passengers up to date on the goings on and is responsive to passenger complaints.
It seems anytime there is any sort of whether delay it is posted. They don't post that many airfare specials specific to Twitter users, but they do maintain the page, and respond several times a day to customer queries.
Over 100,000 followers strong, Virgin America posts Twitter-specific airfare deals on a regular basis. It's also great for the latest news and contests (they seem to have more contests than any other airline on Twitter), and as an airline, they also seem to invest a fair amount of time on this social media site.
Of the airlines in Asia, it seems Air Asia is the one that embraces using Twitter the most. This low cost airline does post a lot of promos and replies to passengers via their Twitter page.
Lots of airfare specials between Australia and Asia, and sometimes London and Asia, seem to make the page.
United Airlines has really been the first of the US legacy airlines to take advantage of interacting with its passengers, and posting very limited time deals on Twitter. At over 100,000 followers strong, it is the most popular of the legacy airlines.
United's twares are sometimes stunningly low in price. I've seen these Twitter-only airfare specials to places like Buenos Aires at a fraction of the usual airline ticket prices, and well below any of the airfare deals advertised elsewhere. Their twares used to mostly be posted on Tuesdays, but now the airline seems to have embraced the idea of offering great deals several times a week. The deals posted on Twitter always go really quickly...within hours - they usually are that good.
I suppose Twitter just isn't taking off in Europe in the same way as North America. Case in point is British Airways. The airline's North American page has more than double the followers of its UK one. That being said, you can easily flip between the two as they have the UK one linked to from this page.
British Airways (and I'd maybe add KLM) is the most active of the European-based airlines on Twitter. I use their page to remind me of their popular deals - such as the hotel/flight deals to London that they run a few times a year.
It isn't the busiest of the Twitter pages for Canadian-based airlines, but Porter Airlines on Twitter is like reading an online chat. I can't think of another airline on Twitter where it just feels like a lot of breezy chatter.
Porter Airlines flies out of Toronto's tiny City Centre Airport (its main hub), located a very short ferry ride away from downtown Toronto, and their relaxed airport atmosphere (it reminds me of the TV show Wings if anyone remembers that) seems to carry over onto its Twitter page.
Of the other major US airlines on Twitter, American Airlines and its AAirwaves page seems to be the one I often visit. They are pretty good at posting different types of specials - not just airfare deals, but ways to maximize your AAdvantage miles as well. Added to that are lots of updates on daily operations, and responses to passengers, making it an active page, and one worth following.
If you are looking for an airline that posts a lot of its airfare specials, then Spirit Airlines possibly has no equal on Twitter. The no-frills airline takes the same approach to its page - no real chit-chat but a lot of deals posted.
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