Seems indicative of a supremely dark sense of humor (he wanted to make sure he got credited for the flight segment) and/or meticulous preparation (putting an FF# in would possibly invite less suspicion at the gate/checkin).

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/in...al/15GERM.html

Here are the closing paragraphs of this article:

After the gap in the first months of this year, investigators pick up the trail of Mr. Atta on May 2, when he entered the United States using a visa issued in Hamburg. Within two weeks, he had rented the apartment in Hollywood and begun sharpening his flying skills on a single-engine that he rented for $88 an hour in Palm Beach County.

He appeared with an unidentified friend and said he wanted to increase his flying hours. He apparently convinced the flight instructors that he was already a certified commercial pilot with 300 hours of flying time.

"He was not working toward another license," said Andrew Law, a flight instructor at the school. "He was just practicing, showing his friend the airplane and what to expect."

The purpose of this practice became clear within three months. According to an F.B.I. document obtained by the magazine Der Spiegel and shown to The New York Times, Mr. Atta emerged on Aug. 28 to book a reservation for a one-way ticket for Sept. 11 on American Airlines Flight 11. He bought his ticket on the American Airlines Web site and used his mileage card: AAdvantage Profile #6H26L04, which had been established only three days before, on Aug. 25. To pay, he used a Visa card.

He also paid for the ticket of Abdulrahman Alomari, who traveled on the same flight. Six of the suspected hijackers used the same contact telephone number as Mr. Atta, (915) 815- 3004, suggesting that the reclusive engineering student had taken on a central role in organizing an elaborate and painstakingly prepared plot.

Mr. Atta traveled to Boston on a commuter airline from Portland, Me., with Mr. Alomari. Mr. Alomari was assigned seat 3C; Mr. Atta, seat 8D.

One of Mr. Atta's bags did not make Flight 11. It contained airline uniforms, a video on commercial aircraft and, the F.B.I. says, a suicide note.

Maybe he needed the AA# in order to book online as well as purchasing tickets for his friends?

This brings up an interesting cultural point. We've always felt that once people come to live in the U.S., they will be converted to enjoy our way of life. Here's an obviously intelligent person, not crazy like a serial killer, but firmly rooted in his hatred for the U.S. and determination to carry out his mission. It's so unbelievable!

I think you do need an aadvantage number in order to order tickets at the web-site.

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DtG

aaaaah, good point. (I've never used aa.com to buy a ticket.)

I just noticed that the ticket was purchased exactly 14 days before 9/11. And they used a VISA card. So the "last minute ATC cash purchase" red flag wouldn't be raised. And perhaps it's coincidence, but it seems plausible that there was a 14-day advance-purchase one-way fare. Now, whatever the fare was, it was surely not an issue to them, but if there was a 14-day fare, then by buying exactly 14 days out, they appear to be "smart consumers," further reducing suspicion.

According to

http://kevxml.infospace.com/_1_4JP6T...ate=09/14/2001

one of the other hijacker pilots entered flight school in 1997. Imagine knowing that all this was going to happen, two years before Clinton's impeachment acquittal. It makes me think that the entire world is way behind the game at this point. With five years to prepare, I'm sure they've predicted everything that's happened so far -- the congressional millitary authorization, the talk of war... the others involved have had 5 years to plan how to hide. It's amazing.

Not only did they have AA cards, how did they get a visa card that could streach for all the tickets? There is clearly some big money behind all this.

UA stopped allowing individuals to use their credit card to buy tickets online for friends (and even family if I recall) earlier this year. There was a big stink about it at the time, including a WSJ article that some FTers brought to WSJ writer Jane Costello's attention. From the NYT article, it would appear that I could buy tickets for anyone on the AA.com site. Obviously don't think it would have made a difference in this case, as the hijackers were extremely well informed about their targets and mission.

ScottC, what are you talking about? Big money? Even if they purchased the most expensive F class return tickets, it only adds up to $20,000 to $40,000. Many of us routinely charge such amounts to our credit cards for travel. I certainly do.

I'm astounded by how little this operation cost. This was something easily within financial reach of a group of average income earners. That's what I find so frightening about it.

I can't be sure - someone in banking will have to confirm this - but Atta's Visa started with the 4011 series - it could be a German card, which is not really a credit card per se, as they are bank-account linked in Germany, with the bill automatically being paid from your bank account each month. Therefore, no need to worry about trying to get a good credit rating and higher spending level in the U.S. - just fund up a German account and spend it down.

As for money - Afganistan is the major source for hashish, as is Pakistan, but most of the cells are financed by "over organizations", much like state political funds versus federal ones.

Thanks for the expl. on the German debit card thing, I hadn't thought of that, I was mearly pointing out HOW a student (as many of them were) was able to perform such a spending spree without picking up some kind of attention (pilots training etc...), natuarally if the card were linked to a nicely funded account there would be no problem...