The Growing Importance of Credit Card Spend to Airlines, All Over the World

Earning points towards elite status via credit card spend is mostly a US phenomenon. But the practice is spreading. The Global Traveller reports that you can get halfway towards your Air New Zealand status with their Global Plus co-branded credit card.

I’ve written many times in the past (e.g. here) about how fundamentally important credit card spend is to an airline’s bottom-line, often much more important than frequent flying customers.

About Gary Leff

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 »

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