Airlines have lots of reasons to offer mobile services to their customers, with the main one being that the mobile phone is usually the only device we carry we can be reached on when we travel. ( I know most of you also carry your laptop, and so do I, but it's not always on like my phone is when I'm transit, and not everyone has a laptop! -- and airlines do need to get through to everyone).

American Airlines have recently started offering a new mobile service for loyalty program members, that uses caller ID recognition, to identify customers calling in to find out more information about their flight.

American Airlines is targeting mostly mobile customers with a new service that recognizes callers inquiring about upcoming journeys.

The service, called “Remember Me,” is based on caller ID technology to help American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty program customers when they call in for information such as departure gate and flight times. The Telme caller ID technology will cut down the response times to calls made.

“With Remember Me, the need that we’re addressing is the speed to get the information to customers,” said Billy Sanez, spokesman for AA, Fort Worth, TX. “We know that the majority of customers have a cell phone and use that to call us for flight information.

“In the past, it would have taken us 2 ½ minutes to get that information and instead of being reactive, we’re proactive in giving them the right information that they’re calling for,” he said.

With Remember Me, the response time is reduced to between 25 seconds and 30 seconds, according to AA.

Now admittedly, I, myself, a regular airline passenger, only ever recall myself calling in to the airline once, or twice, but I'm not an average passenger -- let's just say I like to be surprised a lot!

Still, that's not the only mobile service they offer:

The boarding passes can be sent from the site at http://www.aa.com or the mobile site to smartphones as 2D bar code jpegs. The boarding passes can be scanned at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and at AA gates.

Customers can currently use these mobile boarding passes for domestic flights departing Chicago’s O’Hare International, Los Angeles’ LAX and John Wayne Orange County airports. A successful run could mean expansion to other cities.

“We’re currently testing that rollout pretty well and we hope to work closely with the TSA in other airports,” Mr. Sanez said.

Remember Me and the mobile boarding passes are a series of initiatives that AA has taken on since the airline launched its mobile Web site in January 2008.

The mobile site is accessed by typing in AA.com on Web-enabled mobile phones. Among the many features available, consumers can check flight information, schedules, weather updates and also book trips through the mobile site.

Much cooler stuff! I can't wait for my first mobile boarding pass here in Greece soon, too! (Though I guess I will probably run into this somewhere abroad first!)