In 2024, the largest airlines in America made combined $14B operating profit (Delta, United, American, Southwest). The profit nearly all from credit card issuers paying airlines for points (every airline operated passenger business at a loss). 1% of US GDP spent on Delta Amex cards (!!!) and just last quarter: ▫️ Amex paid Delta $2.1B (airline’s entire operating profit) ▫️Citigroup paid American $1.4B ▫️JPMorgan paid United $800m All the programs floated by ~2% credit card interchange fees paid by merchants, reaching a total of $160B last year (on a $100 transaction, CC issuer takes $2…it typically gives $1.50 as reward/rebate/points back to customer and keeps rest). Delta and American doubled revenue from selling airline points in past 8 years (but programs def feel like hitting limits with higher credit card fees and everyone losing their minds over lounge wait times). *** Full read here: