The Banality Of Inflight Credit Card Pitches

Kevin Williamson doesn’t like the American Airlines inflight credit card pitch.

The awfulness of this is multifaceted. For one thing, there is the Clockwork Orange sensation of being literally strapped into a seat while someone screams corporate banalities at you on a loudspeaker fifteen inches from your head. That is beyond bad manners — it is positively abusive…

It is a “limited-time” offer in the sense that the sun eventually will run out of gas and become a dying star, first engulfing the Earth in fire and then leaving the wreck of the solar system a sterile plane of interstellar cold and utter silence, which will be interrupted only by some addled flight attendant screeching about the limited-time Barclays card offer.

Kevin forgot that the wake up call was used as a wake up call after a redeye flight. According to American Airlines, only a small percentage of passengers on flights have an AAdvantage credit card. There is an opportunity to grow the card portfolio. Those who already fly American Airlines are more likely to be interested in the American Airlines credit card.

Since American has two card issuers and customers can have both, the pool of potential applicants on board is even larger than American suggests.

The inflight card pitches shouldn't be done before 8 a.m. The entertainment can be paused during flight attendant announcements for one good reason. People can ignore card pitches when they use their own devices. The screens should be sponsored by American Airlines andBarclays.

I argue that American should plaster its lavatories with credit card ads. American would no longer have to view the fact that they have to provide lavs as a deadweight loss.