Tag Archives for american express.
We’re in a recession. We’re not traveling. Rewards credit cards that are optimized for travel may not be top of wallet. Cards that are optimized for heavily travel customers may also not match current spending patterns. We’re beginning to see brands and issuers adapt.
A month ago I wrote that frequent flyer programs would save the airlines because they offer rich sources of value and cash. However while United and Delta are reportedly in talks to sell large chunks of miles at a discount to their credit card partner banks, it’s actually Hilton that’s first out of the gate with this.
Hilton shared with the SEC that they’ve pre-sold $1 billion worth of points to American Express. That probably somewhere around half a trillion Honors points.
In the years following 9/11, as airlines struggled, and again during the financial crisis airlines pre-sold miles to their credit card partners at a discount in order to raise cash quickly. United and Delta each pre-sold miles, the former for about $500 million and the latter twice totaling about $1 billion. American did it too with Citibank. These ‘cheap miles’ paved the way for banks to offer big bonuses to consumers both for acquisition and for ongoing spend.
These conversations have started again as a way to raise cash.
Everyone pauses in place and gets a do-over. That’s the message from Delta which announced an extension of elite status, club memberships, vouchers and more.
There’s a natural reason why Delta is first among U.S. airlines to do this – and an advantage they have in rollover qualifying miles that better positions them to still take advantage of their elite program when travel comes back.
The American Express Centurion Lounge LAX opens Monday in the Tom Bradley International Terminal and features a spa, celebrity chef meals, and more.
The 13,295 square foot lounge is located between the D and E concourses on the top level (you take an elevator upstairs). It features a bar, showers, family rooms, and great views of downtown and of airport operations.
The Austin airport has been working to add an independent lounge apart from the American, United, and Delta clubs that are already open there. They solicited a bid for the space back in the early spring, and the airport selected MAG (“Manchester Airport Group”) USA which runs Escape lounges. These are pay per use and accessible free to American Express Platinum cardmembers.
National Car Rental will give their top tier elite status, Executive Elite, to new members who enroll with an(y) American Express card. Enrollment needs to be via this link by February 29, 2020.
Status is supposed to last through February 2021 but some reports suggest that it actually lasts through February 2022. And there’s a bonus free rental day offer, too.
Airline President Glen Hauenstein says the model works like this: Fly Delta -> like the experience -> join Delta programs -> like them even more.
They believe the “relevance of [their] offering and how much people like you” determines allegiance and spend. The implication is that brand experience and scale matter more than value proposition of the card.
American Express is running a pop up Centurion lounge in Manhattan next weekend. They want to be where their customers are, and they want to be where their customers are shopping.
Other pop ups have foretold where they wanted to offer a permanent lounge. For instance they had a pop up at LAX before getting a deal done to build a lounge there. They did a London pop up and then announced a London Heathrow Centurion lounge.
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.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
