Travel and Credit Cards, IAG and Green Fuel and Luxury Done Well

Skift Daily Briefing Podcast

Listen to the day’s top travel stories in under four minutes every weekday.

Good morning. It's Tuesday, March 4. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Skift Research’s latest deep dive report examines the growing clout of banks and credit card companies in travel. Senior Research Analyst Pranavi Agarwal provides three key takeaways from the report.  

Agarwal notes banks and credit cards are moving from facilitating other brands’ loyalty programs through co-branded credit cards to launching their own dedicated travel booking platforms. In addition, credit card companies are rapidly capturing market share in the travel industry, with Chase Travel expecting to make around $15 billion in gross bookings this year. 

Agarwal adds that online travel agencies are increasingly partnering with banks looking to launch their own travel booking platforms, creating a business-to-business model that gives OTAs access to a huge pool of potential new customers. 

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Next, IAG — the parent company of British Airlines and Iberia — recently said it used 16% of the world’s total sustainable aviation fuel last year, writes Climate Reporter Darin Graham. 

Despite not being among the world’s top 10 airlines in terms of fleet size, passenger numbers, and distance flown, IAG said it’s disproportionately affected by mandates around greener fuel. Both the British government and the European Union have enacted sustainable aviation fuel mandates, starting at 2% and increasing over time. 

Finally, skiing in the U.S. has become obscenely expensive. But Columnist Colin Nagy writes there’s one resort in particular — Deer Valley in Utah — that delivers an experience justifying the $329 lift tickets.

Nagy praises the resort’s staff for communicating luxury, detail and warmth consistently. He adds Deer Valley has conducted nothing short of a master class in owing its price point by ensuring guests truly understand why it’s worth paying those high prices.

Deer Valley caps the number of daily skiers to help keep the slopes uncrowded. That may cost the resort millions in potential revenue during peak periods, but it preserves the premium experience.