Can a flight attendant really make $400 in commissions hawking credit cards on a flight?
Just another reminder that airlines need to keep flying to support the underlying credit card businesses, even in these tight credit times, and that mileage programs continue to be the engines that drive their liquidity.
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Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
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Wow, did not know this. I thought it was always just a standard announcement that they had to make. I guess it doesn’t really bother me unless they become pushy sales people.
Yes, in 1993 you could put up boxes with credit card applications around college’s and get paid $40 per sign up. That is the same reason why at airports you see them giving you a stuffed doll or something in addition to the standard milage bonus – its 100% worth it to give our a doll or a shirt for a $40 sign up.
I can not find the affiliate rates for any airline cards, but it looks the the average low end affiliate payment for a new consumer credit card sign up is $45 from looking at Chase and Discover. Student card signups are worth less than that and higher level cards more.
So my guess is that an flight attendant gets some-sort of per card payment, plus a bonus for volume, all coming out in the $40-50 range, but the bonus rates could be huge for a top production nationally – my guess is up-to 100% of the base payments.