In the latest congressional push dubbed consumer advocacy in the travel rewards credit card space, two U.S. senators are looking into "unfair and deceptive practices in airlines' frequent flyer and loyalty programs," per a joint press release.
On Monday, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., asked the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau how they protect consumers against "deceitful marketing tactics" incentivizing award spending generated from cobranded credit cards.
"There are troubling reports that airlines are engaged in unfair, abusive, and deceptive practices with respect to these loyalty programs," Durbin and Marshall said in a statement. "For example, reports have suggested that airlines are changing point systems in ways that are unfair to consumers, including by devaluing points, meaning it takes more points than initially marketed to achieve the promised rewards."
Additionally, the senators allege that airline frequent flyer programs "incentivize consumers to purchase goods and services, obtain credit cards, and spend on those credit cards in exchange for promised rewards—all while retaining the power to strip consumers of those rewards at any moment," per DOT rules allowing airlines to change their programs without notice to consumers via their terms of service.
Approximately 30 million Americans, or 1 in every 4 households, have cobranded airline credit cards, per data from Airlines for America, a trade group representing the major U.S. airlines. In 2022, airline credit cards generated $23 billion in economic activity, according to A4A.
In their letter to the DOT and CFPB, Durbin and Marshall also cited the cost of purchasing points from airlines at a higher value than the points are worth themselves while flagging the transaction fee airlines charge for transferring points to partners.
"This means that consumers can spend three cents to purchase a point worth roughly one cent," they said. "This disparity between the value of points at purchase and at redemption can be even more extreme, depending on when, how many, and even where on the website the points are purchased."
A CFPB spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter and said the agency is "reviewing it."
The joint Durbin-Marshall effort stems from their Credit Card Competition Act, which they introduced in 2022 to inject more competition into the credit card industry to lower the fees merchants pay whenever shoppers swipe their credit cards. The bill would direct the Federal Reserve to require credit card-issuing banks to offer a minimum of two networks for merchants processing electronic credit card transactions, prohibiting a Visa-Mastercard
The website maxtravelz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Amid the sandstone cliffs of Petra, a group of Bedouin gathers under a starlit sky to share stories passed down through generations. It's a scene that has been replayed in this ancient Nabatean city for centuries, but today a new medium is weaving its way into the narrative. As TikTok and Instagram gain traction across Jordan, Petra's Bedouin are using them to connect with global audiences, casting their tales across vast distances and cultural divides.
Anyone interested in food as a window to class could do worse than exploring the options available on the RMS Titanic. The handful of menus that survived the wreck reveal important differences in the way the ocean liner's passengers ate. While third-class passengers dined on rice soup, gruel and cabin biscuits (essentially, a stomach-settling hardtack), first-class diners had a panoply of options.
Frontier Airlines is strengthening its existing service from a major Midwest city early next year. This week, the ultra-low-cost carrier revealed plans to establish a new crew base at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) in March of 2024. To celebrate, it’s offering discounted fares, priced as low as $29, to the 17 destinations to which it now flies from CLE.
Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett, CD, MP, has set a new target to welcome 250,000 visitors out of the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland by 2025. This follows on the heels of Jamaica being the number one Caribbean destination among British travellers last year.
MSC Cruises has revealed a new and expanded Young and Teen Program across its entire fleet, accompanied by a new MSC Cruises’ original teen music video dedicated to Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
It was the biggest and brightest TPG Awards yet as we celebrated the airline, hotel and loyalty programs our readers and staff loved the best this year.
In a fitting consensus for the first Condé Nast Traveler Points of View summit to be held in-person since 2019, travel editors and specialists alike came away with a relieving, reinvigorating declaration: that we are so back. It’s a grand “we,” one that encompasses the travel industry at large—those in attendance in our offices and online as well as everyone in the wider industry is basking in the knowledge that business is booming. But that does not mean it is time to get complacent—there is always work to be done to improve, to implement thoughtful changes that will better not only travelers, but the places they visit.
American Airlines is adjusting its course during the pandemic recovery to boost its profitability, such as by focusing on under-served routes in the U.S. and by making its frequent flyer program an even bigger revenue generator.