Airlines plan to pre-sell miles to bring in much-needed cash
Airlines are taking increasingly drastic and creative measures to monetize whatever assets they can.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are looking to sell loyalty miles in bulk at a discount to their credit card partners, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The airlines have been in discussions about selling miles in advance to their respective partners JPMorgan Chase and American Express.
Citing people familiar with the discussions, no agreements have yet been reached, the WSJ says.
Co-branded card loyalty programs generate billions of dollars of revenue particularly in the corporate travel market, but it could be many months before business travel takes off again.
Banks and credit card companies regularly buy miles to reward high spending card holders.
"If airlines start seriously talking about mileage presales, we’ll know things are particularly dire," said Joseph DeNardi, an airline analyst at investment bank Stifel.
According to DeNardi, American Express spent about $4 billion last year buying miles from Delta.
Global airlines have been hawking slots, real estate and owned aircraft as collateral to secure billions in loans to ease cash-flow worries.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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