The Hidden Economy Behind Loyalty Programs

<p>Did you know that the biggest buyer of airline miles are credit cards and the banks that issue them? Year to date, 6% of Alaska Airlines&rsquo; operating revenue is from selling miles to credit card issuers.</p> <p>When you dig into the numbers it becomes even more interesting. Year to date, Alaska has generated $7.4 billion in passenger revenue (tickets, amenities, and luggage fees) and accumulated $7.5 billion in operating expenses. That means without its mileage plan, which generated $483 million of nearly pure profit, Alaska would have been operating at a $100 million loss rather than a $362 million operating profit over the first 3 quarters of 2023.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/alpha-beta-blog/the-hidden-economy-behind-loyalty-programs-3c3ba0b3f3ec"><strong>Website</strong></a></p>