The DC debate on frequent flyer and credit card rewards programs continues

May 11, 2024

The politics of points and travel

by Brian Kelly

The U.S. Department of Transportation has added a series of consumer protection rules related to travel, and the Senate included those rules in the new Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill.

In general, I’m all for more consumer protections in this industry, and I think the airlines should do more to make miles flexible — like United Airlines did recently when it added family pooling.

And when airlines cancel your flights, you should absolutely get a prompt refund. I don’t know why it took us so long to get that, but that’s kind of standard — if you order a product online and it never shows up, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.

There was a hearing Thursday in Washington, D.C., held by the DOT and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and positioned as a fact-finding hearing into the fairness of airline frequent flyer programs and credit card rewards programs for their users — think things like surprise devaluations.

In my opinion, this hearing wasn’t as much about consumers as it was about Sen. Dick Durbin pushing the CFPB and DOT to investigate airline programs so he can create a negative narrative around the need to legislate the credit card industry.

As I’ve discussed before (and we’ve written about), he is trying to pass the Credit Card Competition Act, which would force credit card processing networks to have an additional option outside of Visa and Mastercard — these new networks could potentially put consumer data at risk and end points-earning as we know it today.

While I applaud the DOT for making positive changes for travelers, I think there’s still more to be done. I do think that airlines should take notice and slow the rate at which they are devaluing their programs — the same goes for hotels, with recent devaluations from Hyatt and Hilton.

In general, these programs have become so popular and profitable for airlines and hotels that they’ve almost become a victim of their own success. With more scrutiny from lawmakers, I think it might benefit them to throw consumers some bones with fewer mass devaluations and more perks like promotional awards. And finally, the expiration of points and miles should be a thing of the past.

Summer travel outlook

Now, on to summer travel — it’s expected to be another busy travel season, and United Airlines alone expects over 3 million travelers on Memorial Day weekend.

The good news is airfare this year should be similar to last year — we haven’t seen huge increases like in previous years. There are deals to be found this summer; you just have to be savvy, act quickly and use technology.

Millions of travelers means millions of bags, and there’s a chance your luggage could go missing at some point on your journey. One thing I always recommend when traveling is Apple AirTags.

Having an AirTag in my bag has saved me on more than one occasion — I even put one in my carry-on bag. They are an affordable way to have peace of mind when traveling — you can get a single AirTag on Amazon for $24.99 or a four-pack for $79.

And don’t forget, when you’re booking any travel, make sure you use a credit card offering trip insurance so you are protected if delays and cancellations happen.

Have a great weekend,

BK

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