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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: [QB] Montana Jim, credit cards are customarily sent as "low key" as possible; it has been that way since I had my first one, which was likely before you were on the planet. Otherwise, Today's Wall Street Journal has an article suggesting how the (still) financially challenged airline industry could raise a bit of quick $$$$ by selling (spin off) of their frequent flyer plans. Could there be same for Amtrak if they were to "pull the pin" on Guest Rewards? I know people who once signed up for an airline plan when they were both working and both had business travel requirements. Now they have retired, immediate family all resides in the same area, and travel is "not exactly on their to do list". Apparently, they have both earned AND redeemed points from and to sources other than air travel. I realize anyone here earning points for either the Guest Reward or the affinity card plans wants to redeem them for one thing only - rail travel. But it would appear that there are persons out there who wish to redeem the points for other purposes, and as the article suggests, these reward plans are simply a business independent of the airline. The article suggests that United's plan likely has a market value of some $5.7B; American's, the largest, likely has a market value even higher. While the "market value' of Amtrak's, if even any, likely is measured in the M's, might there be some quick $$$ from "pulling the pin"? Of course, I make this suggestion with great trepidation; after all, the Warrington Gang started to wonder if there was some quick cash for "hocking" Amtrak's previously unencumbered rolling stock. Brief passage from the article at Journal's subscription site (or newsstand for $1.50): [i]The latest head scratcher for airline executives: Is it possible to peel off one of your more profitable components -- your frequent-flier program...........the spin-off idea, one which is building steam across an industry grappling with soaring oil prices and declining stock values. Investors, analysts and consultants alike are coming to believe that frequent-flier programs -- which sell miles to partners, like credit-card companies, who offer them as rewards -- can be better moneymakers than the airlines they support. Splitting off a subsidiary makes it unavailable to subsidize a struggling airline. That, the theory goes, can lead to better decision making at both units.[/i] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119093716757341981.html [/QB][/QUOTE]
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