Originally Posted by
sykotic
So you say... but plenty of people are happy to be able to earn AP/SP via swiping cards.
Doesn't make them any less important than those that only earn by flying contrary to some people views.
I'm sure you are aware that only half of a status can be earned by swiping. People still need to be flying a good amount for the higher tiers.
It is not about importance but how Air NZ is managing in the sea of APD floating around and coping with that. Other airlines e.g. QF also do this (albeit not for status credits) but they appear to achieve a better balance of points vs redemption rates vs tiers.
Myself, I am also happy earning AP/SP on my cards, given my spend can easily be over 10k/m, but it is not my source of AP/SP.
The benchmark burn is approx around the 1% mark for loyalty programs. For Airpoints credit cards you are looking north of 1.3% for the same burn rate. The famous Chase Sapphire Reward (even at $450 pa where JPMorgan literally run out of physical cards to issue from the factory) is only approx 1.25% flight reward from non travel spend.
With the interchange fee decision in AU, it is a matter of time to assert which direction this is heading. But looking at UK, it is obvious what will happen