You’ve no doubt heard that USAir and American Airlines are merging. Those of us who enjoy making the most of airline loyalty and credit card programs are naturally wondering what’s going to happen to our frequent flyer miles and credit cards.
It’s too early to say for certain what’s going to happen, but we can and will speculate–nay, we must speculate–because speculation is fun. Hard-hitting reporter Tony Mecia looks at what’s happened in previous mergers:
When Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines merged in 2009, American Express (which offered the Delta card) and US Bank (which offered the Northwest card) traded barbs touting their superiority via billboards, full-page newspaper ads and letters — and offering enticements for customers to sign up. Ultimately, the merged airline stayed with American Express in a five-year, $1 billion deal, and US Bank offered its customers a replacement card not linked to any particular airline. Northwest sued US Bank because the replacement card, called FlexPerks, sounded like the old Northwest-affiliated WorldPerks card, in a case eventually settled out of court.
When US Airways and America West Airlines merged in 2005, Bank of America (which offered the US Airways card) and Barclays (which offered America West’s) battled for the right to market a card to the merged airline’s customers. The new airline chose Barclays — and was promptly sued by Bank of America. The case was settled a few years later, but for a few years, both banks offered US Airways cards, increasing options for consumers.
…It is also possible that both banks — and maybe even others — could offer cards if the new airline doesn’t want to promise exclusivity to any one bank. In Australia, for example, 15 banks offer credit cards linked to the country’s leading airline, Qantas.
Two banks offering cards for the merged entity would be great for credit card customers, so let’s hope for the best here!
No matter what happens, though, making sure you capitalize on sign-up bonuses from both airlines is a no-brainer, as frequent flyer miles are likely to be combined. Citibank has a few different flavors of AA cards and Barclays is known to allow churning of the USAir card. The Points Guy has a good rundown of the relevant offers from each airline, and he also has a great rundown of the potential postives and negatives of the merger.
Another move you can make: Hack My Trip points out that the merger represents a good opportunity to earn status, but you might want to wait in order to maximize the amount of time the status will be good for. He reckons that a status challenge with USAir later in the year could give you status on the merged entity through February 2015.
Broadening our horizons a bit, Matthew Yglesias at Slate thinks that this merger will contribute to higher prices, fewer flights, and worse service. We think he’s right on the first two but possibly wrong on the last, depending on how things shake out. If this merger lets USAir/AA and other airlines increase their margins and be more profitable, we would expect the quality of airline service might actually increase for the first time in recent memory. We can dream, right?
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