Credit cards tips

India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its first-ever travel focused credit card. ‘SBI Card MILES’ has been launched in three variants to cater to different types of travelers, from beginners to frequent flyers. 

Mobile virtual cards aren’t new. A virtual card assigns a unique number to a transaction or a specific period of time. Companies can set spending controls on these card numbers so that employees don’t go over a limit. You can store these virtual cards on your phone. 

Starting October 1, 2024, Citi and Chase will cover higher Global Entry fees for certain cardholders.

China has announced a 15-day visa-free entry for citizens of six additional European countries: Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

The Kenya Tourism Board has launched a marketing campaign in India. Under the campaign, the tourism board will provide travel agents with incentives to promote Kenya as a tourism destination to the Indian travelers. 

Capital One Travel has introduced upscale vacation rentals in a launch Tuesday through partnerships with Boutiq and AvantStay. A CapitalOne spokesperson said the company will bring on Inspirato and Key.co as inventory providers later this year.

Asian travel marketplace Klook has confirmed its first strategic partnership for 2024 – a deal with Krungsri, the Bank of Ayudhya PCL in Thailand. 

Chase Travel has at least one asset that CapitalOne doesn’t have — Chase owns its own technology while CapitalOne relies to some extent on Hopper.

IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Elie Maalouf has been on the circuit talking up his hotel group’s strategy for growth. One of his notable talking points has been on the company’s co-branded credit cards with Chase.

Air India announced it would be adding more than 400 weekly flights to its domestic and international route network until March 2024. On the back of expected new aircraft deliveries over the next six months, Air India aims to strengthen its domestic India network by adding more than 200 weekly flights. 

It’s the season for holiday surveys, with sentiment for exploration and unique experiences abounding.

Card giant Visa sailed past estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday as consumers on a post-pandemic travel rebound shrugged off worries of a looming economic slowdown and cost-of-living crisis.

Citi and Navan will soon be marketing a co-branded travel and expense solution for Citi Commercial Bank cardholders. The tools, powered by Navan, initially will be available only in the U.S., the two companies announced Thursday.

Delta has revised the changes to its Skymiles loyalty program that sparked a backlash when they were announced in September. Those changes shifted the key metric to build loyalty: The new emphasis would be on money spent.

American Airlines is making changes to its corporate travel loyalty program for small businesses – the airline said Monday the newly launched AAdvantage Business would replace Business Extra.

Booking.com hasn’t announced a deal to launch a co-branded credit card in the U.S., but a LinkedIn post Tuesday by a relatively new employee and a job opening for “manager, co-branded credit card growth & strategy,” provided grist for speculation.

10 travel tech startups announced over $78 million in funding over the past two weeks. 

Earning miles and points is easy for consumers who sign up for credit cards or special rewards programs. But knowing where and how to use those points to make their travel dreams come true has proven much more challenging – an estimated $30 billion in loyalty points go unredeemed each year.  

Hospitality company Sonder Holdings said that it has been investigating a data breach involving unauthorized access to some guest records.

Mastercard Inc forecast current-quarter revenue growth short of Wall Street estimates on Thursday, saying the boost from pent-up demand for travel will diminish going forward.

Seven startups involved in the travel industry have raised nearly $124 million this week.