Earlier this week, Skift Research’s Seth Borko and Pranavi Agarwal hosted a LinkedIn Live session to discuss the evolving role of credit card companies in the travel industry. Their conversation was based on a previous Skift Research report on travel banking and loyalty.
The conversation, which you can watch in its entirety below, begins with an overview of how credit card travel programs became so important, especially after the pandemic. Borko identifies the key factors driving this trend, including competition for direct bookings, inflation, and financial benefits for travel companies and banks.
Agarwal identifies future implications, noting that younger consumers are increasingly booking trips through credit card platforms rather than traditional online travel agencies (OTAs). He shows data that bank-branded travel platforms are becoming more popular and can outperform OTAs, with high consumer satisfaction and a broad user base.
The discussion also touched on benefits to banks, including acquiring valuable demographic data and taking advantage of the halo effect of travel.
Watch the session
What they say
Seth Borko: «Credit cards are probably now, in many cases, the largest issuers of many hotel and airline miles and points currencies.»
Pranavi Agarwal: «(B2B agreements are) a very important source of income for (online travel agencies). But I think it’s important to note that this comes at a cost. It’s not free, nothing is free.»
Seth Borko: «Could banks be ready to revolutionize the travel sector? “I think there is a real possibility that travel loyalty is reaching a limit in its current form.”
