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| An alarming trend in airline award inventory |
| by Brian Kelly |
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An alarming trend I have seen is that airlines are gatekeeping more and more of their award inventory for those with elite status or those who have the airline’s cobranded credit card.
This is clearly to counter the current trend of consumers ditching airline cards for more valuable transferable rewards cards. I’ve been recommending this strategy for the last 15 years: Diversify your spend and accrue valuable transferable rewards points versus putting all your points and miles in one particular airline or hotel program. Transferable reward points are a more flexible currency, providing many redemption options and outsize value depending on how you use them.
So, do airline credit cards make sense to have in your wallet? The answer depends on your situation.
While I don’t recommend always spending on airline cobranded cards, it can be beneficial to hold one if it helps you earn elite status, provides priority boarding or free checked bags, or, in some cases, gives you access to award availability you might not otherwise see.
Award availability
Recently, a friend was trying to book an award ticket on Air France through Flying Blue but could only find one-way business-class seats for 200,000 miles each. When I logged in to my Flying Blue account (as an Air France elite status member), I was able to find more valuable award space for 60,000 miles.
It seems that United Airlines has also been withholding a large portion of Polaris saver award inventory from partners and instead only making it available to elite and cobrand cardholders. You can unlock the full award inventory with United if you hold MileagePlus elite status or have a United cobranded credit card in your wallet, like the United Quest℠ Card. Time will tell if this is a one-off, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see airlines gatekeeping more and more inventory.
I’ve rounded up a few of the best airline cobranded card offers below in case you are considering one:
Alaska Airlines
First, the new premium card, the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card, offers 100,000 points and a Global Companion Award worth 25,000 points after you spend $6,000 on purchases within the first 90 days from account opening.
In addition to a newly added top tier for elite status, those members will now be eligible for international upgrades to lie-flat business-class seats. Status isn’t just based on spending as at other U.S. carriers — you will be able to choose your earning path through distance flown, price paid or segments flown. And award travel also counts toward status earnings.
American Airlines
If you want Admirals Club access, there’s only one card that offers it. The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is currently offering 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $7,000 within the first three months from account opening.
Delta Air Lines
The current offers on the Delta Air Lines credit cards can help you earn a good stash of airline miles. Some cards are offering the highest offer we’ve ever seen from them!
United Airlines
The new United Quest Card currently offers 70,000 bonus miles and 1,000 Premier qualifying points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open. The card also comes with a $200 United travel credit, a 10,000-mile anniversary award flight credit to use toward flights on United or United Express, and a long list of benefits, including free checked bags.
While I don’t recommend only having and using an airline credit card for your spending, there are good reasons to have one — especially if you get it while the bonus is elevated.
If you’re still firmly in the points and miles free agent camp and prefer cards that earn transferable rewards, also check out TPG’s best offers of the month.
Have a great weekend,
BK
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| Photo Credit: JONNO RATTMAN . |
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