United Airlines has partnered with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to provide a private-label credit card program offering promotional financing for travel on the airline, the companies announced earlier this month.
The United Travel Card allows customers to receive same-as-cash financing for 90 days when spending $199 or more on traveling with United, meaning that no payments are required and no interest is charged. The aim is to enhance the value of United's Mileage Plus program, said David Keenan, managing director of partnership marketing for United.
While such partnerships are more often targeted to the recreational traveler, analysts have said they are indicative of a trend that eventually will have more bearing on the corporate travel side as well. Airlines are looking for ways to cut costs, and the fees that are associated with processing credit card transactions increasingly are becoming the focus for such measures
(BTN, July 31). Chase, for example, already has a co-branded card with Continental Airlines that offers savings and miles to customers. As a part of that deal, Continental's transaction costs are cut whenever a customer uses that card.
In some cases, such deals already target corporate travelers. American Express has partnered with such carriers as American Airlines, British Airways and Alitalia for co-branded cards and is marketing the cards to midmarket companies as a means of earning rewards and savings, making up for the lack of negotiating muscle they have as compared with businesses with larger air travel volumes.