We look at how issuers can adjust their strategies to match millennial and Gen Z travel behaviors.

The tie-up comes two years after Visa, Mastercard, and Discover began working with the firm

Exclusive experiences like this are helping Amex to win over millennials and Gen Zers

With luxury poised for a modest recovery in 2025, brands and retailers need to understand consumers’ buying habits and intentions in the world’s largest personal luxury goods market to win a share of spending.

The wallet has pushed to capture more payment volume from inbound travelers to China and Chinese travelers abroad

Other airlines like Alaska Airlines have also pushed into the premium space as the cards can bring in higher volume and revenues

By now, all the largest airlines and hotels have mature credit card portfolios. Delta Air Lines, for example, had upward of 7.5 million cardholders in 2023, per View from the Wing. But even airlines with smaller US footprints have gotten in on the action. Low-cost carrier Breeze, founded in 2021, launched a co-brand in partnership with Barclays in March 2024.

Card spend from these factors helped lift revenues 9% YoY

Delinquencies slightly improved for both issuers, but Discover’s card volume fell behind

American Airlines earned almost $1 billion in loyalty reward revenues in Q3 2024, which made up over 7.2% of its total operating revenue, according to public filings.

The card’s unique waitlist promotion can help the card gain a sizable user base

The card’s innovative offering should help it to pick up steam, boosting the network’s volume

Luxury brands are grappling with downturns in the US and China, the largest markets for personal luxury goods, and will have to seize opportunities for growth from new markets and product innovation.

Growing its network of airport lounges can help Capital One compete with American Express and Chase for frequent flyers

The rollout keeps U.S. Bank competitive with other issuers, like Chase, and can help encourage greater travel spend on its cards

US travel industry digital ad spend will grow by 8.9% this year and 7.9% next year, per our forecast, representing a slow down after years of double-digit growth.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what commerce media encompasses, the size of the financial and travel networks, and the companies to pay closest attention to in this space. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Senior Analyst Arielle Feger and Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano.

Commerce media is becoming more competitive as retailers and non-retailers continue to build out their networks and advertisers prioritize measurement for proven results. Looking ahead to 2025, cross-industry partnerships will grow and in-store media will enable retailers to merge online behaviors with in-person shopping.

US travel media network (TMN) ad spend will reach $2.13 billion this year and increase to $2.96 billion in 2026, per our September 2024 forecast.

But a diversified mix of card volume will help keep the issuer in a strong position moving forward