Delta shared unusal date about its SkyMiles partnerships at an investor conference on Wednesday.
- 4 million linked Starbucks accounts
- 2 million linked Uber accounts
- 9 million Delta American Express cards
Programs almost never reveal the actual number of members with a credit card. At the end of 2023 Allegiant did reveal 485,000 cardmembers. That kind of detail is rarely ever made public.
American Express says the Delta co-brand portfolio represented ~13% of their worldwide billed business and ~21% of worldwide cardmember loans at Dec. 31, 2025. All Amex co-brand portfolios combined were ~26% of billed business and ~36% of loans.
- That implies Delta is about half of Amex’s global co-brand billed business
- And that the Delta portfolio is especially lending-heavy, with 21% of loans against 13% of billed business.
Remember that the real ‘cross-subsidy’ in rewards cards isn’t between rich and poor, it’s from those who don’t pay off their card every month to those that do. The richer rewards cards can rebate the full value of interchange (merchant swipe fees) to the cardmember. They make their money on fees and APR. So they’re spending on rewards to acquire lending, and in the case of ultra-premium cards, to earn the annual fee.
At the investor conference we again heard that Delta Amex spending is “approaching 1% of U.S. GDP.” They’ve been making this claim for three years, and it’s still only ‘approaching’. In fact it doesn’t appear to have gotten closer.
- Three years ago I wrote that it was probably 0.67% of GDP and they were rounding up to 1%.
- Amex data gives us another window into this, suggesting that’s still about right. Amex 2025 worldwide billed business was $1.67 trillion, and Delta was ~13% of that, suggesting ~ $217 billion spend on Delta co-brand cards. U.S. GDP is an annualized $31.8 trillion, so spend on the Delta Amex is about 0.68% of GDP.
So what do we know about competitors? Well, Amex broadly has 86.6 proprietary cards open.
Chase has 59 million active accounts, and has been opening about 10 million new accounts per year. Important point: banks and loyalty programs generally only disclose how many new accounts they’ve opened, not how many accounts get closed. It’s the net that’s important, and there’s churn.
Citi ThankYou Rewards has over 15 million members.
Overall, though, for as important as these cards and programs are financially, we get very little disclosure about them. And then we continue hearing executives complain their stocks are undervalued, that this business is a huge driver of value, and that they’ll be ‘working’ on greater disclosure going forward. I’ve been hearing that for a decade and so far it’s never really come true – except that we now know how many Delta Amex cardmembers there are.
Ever since they got rid of the MQD waiver, I’ve no longed spent the $25K/year that P2 and I used to on these cards for the better part of a decade to earn at least Platinum Medallion. Two free checked bags won’t bring me back. Good riddance!
Headline says the card holders are “carrying a lot of debt”, but the article doesn’t provide any detail about that debt or even how much it is.
How common is it for American Express card holders to carry a balance on their cards? I know it’s doable, but traditionally that’s not how American Express cards are used.
@LAX Tom – you are thinking of traditional Amex charge cards like Gold and Platinum that are paid off monthly (unless you use their layover time option). The co-branded cards are regular credit cards just like Visa or MC with minimum payments and interest usually over 20% on the unpaid balance. All Amex Delta cards are such credit cards.
Doesn’t look like the ecosystem is growing int he past 3 years. Thats about the time they started devaluing their miles. Coincidence ?
If the airlines want the financial markets to better appreciate the affinity card business that is part of the airline operations, then an airline needs to disclose the details that make the valuations more accurate and comparable over time for that affinity card business.
I suspect that the 21% loans against 13% of business isn’t necessarily people who don’t pay off their cards each month (open end debt), as much as people who apply for (usually by so-called “pre-approval”) and carry closed-end debt arranged through Amex Bank. Every month, I get solicitations from Amex for personal loans, auto loans and other closed end debt (usually both fixed-term and fixed-rate) with my Amex Plat card. This would be immensely profitable for Amex, as the Platinum and Black cards are usually high-net worth individuals who are lower risk (not necessarily low-risk), even if it isn’t at 20% APR or higher.
So the cobranded cards, all cards, get a share of interest paid by card holders on balance carried forward each month? I thought it was profitable for the swipe fees. But if this is the case, yeah who needs to make money flying airplanes if they’re raking in part of the monthly interest jackpot.
@One Trippe — Banks with wings. And yet, a global jet air travel system is a social benefit to mankind. So… is it just business, profits, shareholders, or, like, the whole common ‘good’ thing…(Should be a balance of both, no?)
@ 1990
25k/yr is basically nothing. Delta and AMEX don’t care about that piddly level of spend.
@SingleMaltScotch — Not saying I’m special; I’m saying, in the aggregate, it adds up. Many folks changed their annual spend habits due to that, not just me.
@One Trippe said asked: the “global jet air travel system is a social benefit to mankind. So is it just business, profits, shareholders, or, like, the whole common ‘good’ thing?” IMO, there is more involved in the balance of ‘common good’ than just the global utility of flying and the business/profits consideration. There, too, are the air travel industry’s *growing* impacts on the climate and environment (e.g. noise & air pollution near airports, and land appropriations for new or expanding airports). Importantly, in applying these thoughts to Gary’s article and the comments discussion, the ‘common good balance’ needs to consider whether the marketing for air travel — growth through rewards cards and the monetary extraction they afford and which contribute to the growth of those impacts — should be regulated at the national and/or global levels. At what point does a common good become a common bad, and if so — what to do about that?
retired lawyer is undoubtedly correct.
and all this data proves -which DL leaked for a reason – is because no other airline or its financial service partner can match it.
DL wants Wall Street to increasingly value DL for its deep advantages – and they are seeing success given that DAL stock is outperforming not just other US airlines but also broader market indices.
@Retired Gambler I’ve had a Reserve card for two years and never noticed that. I’ve been treating it like my other Amex cards. Thanks!
“$1.67 trilling” – thats almost 1 MILLION?
Using your link to Amex- In 2025, Card Members generated $1,670 billion of billed business on 86.6 million proprietary cards, plus $227.2 billion of processed volume on 66.2 million third‑party cards.
1670 Billion / 86.6 M cards is about $19,000 spend per year average on an Amex card
Third party cards $227B/66.6M = ~ $3500 average per card.
That seems people prefer their charge cards still overall, but maybe some are corporate cards…..
Those are some massive numbers, very interesting to get a glimpse into some actual figures. Ordering a replacement card with the new design just for fun.
@L737 — Got a 747 on my Reserve *wink*
@1990 — Niiiccce. Jealous!
This is not surprising, we know that delta fanfolk are often innumerate since they think paying 500K SKypesos for flying via Saudia is a good deal.
Not surprising they run up CC balances !
So…the airlines do get a rake off the interest portion of credit card balances the card holders are paying?
Only at Delta does 0.68 = 1! Keep lying hairplugs and cukman!
Delta is a credit card company with airplanes. And a good one!
The vast majority of Delta’s co branded Amex cards have interest rates at 20% or more; the game that folks forget the payment date and a couple of hundred bucks are added to the balance on a $10k spend. It’s the age-old game. If you don’t chase status you get a free bag (big deal) and perhaps Zone 5 (the cutoff for not having to check your carry on bag). Big deal.
Now the Amex personal loans were a bargain at 6% just a few years ago when it made sense to load up on TQQQ at 5X that rate (yes, 30% annualized the last five years…it’s returned 42X since 2010. Seriously.
“Well, Amex broadly has 86.6 proprietary cards open. ”
Wow, I have 10% penetration
So the $6b in interchange fees earned on these cards is not a subsidy?
Right.
Pigs fly too.
@Mary – I don’t think you know what a subsidy is