Airlines make more money selling miles than seats

Dallas

DOES your wallet contain an airline-branded credit card? If so, your daily Starbucks visits, iTunes selections, and dining habits serve a critical role in keeping the US airline industry fat and happy.

For carriers such as American Airlines riding Citigroup Inc plastic, or Delta on American Express Co, these programmes are a cash cow, a golden goose, or any other fiscal livestock you care to conjure. Each mile fetches an airline anywhere from 1.5 cents to 2.5 cents, and the big banks amass those miles by the billions, doling them out to cardholders each month.