Credit: Flying on Air

“Air travel for pleasure is a consumer product, just like a new car or TV set, and people should be able to buy it just as easily as a consumer product, in installments.” So says American Airlines President Marion Sadler—and he is seeing his wish take wings. Air travel is the fastest growing segment of the nation’s credit-card business. Already, a total of 61 U.S. and foreign airlines have agreed to honor American Express’s credit card, 48 are honoring Diners’ Club, and 31 do business with Hilton’s Carte Blanche.

Last week American Express signed up with Trans World Airlines for global flights on the installment plan (Diners’ Club and Carte Blanche had earlier linked with TWA). In the first analysis ever made of this new market, American Express this week will announce that air travel in 1964 accounted for $14 million of its $340 million credit-card billings; it expects that figure to rise to $50 million this year.

Marion Sadler pioneered credit-card flights after noting that only 2% of all U.S. airlines’ business came from their original “go now, pay later” plans. He figured that broadening into the mass card market could increase the lines’ revenues by $250 million yearly. American Express then surveyed its card holders, concluded that almost half of them who had not traveled abroad in the past year would be interested in making the trip if they could charge it. Amexco, which got airborne in May, now permits cardholders to pay for flights over a period of twelve months, charges them interest at an annual rate of 6% (Diners’ Club and Carte Blanche, which started later, charge 9½% , and have made a major departure from their usual billing procedures by giving air travelers up to two years to pay for trips). The idea’s immediate success helped American Express pass Diners’ Club in U.S. membership last year for the first time—1,200,000 to 1,000,000. Diners’ now reckons that its own airline business will ultimately exceed its restaurant volume.

The card corporations have lately begun to deal in many other businesses. Last week Cities Service began offering travel accident policies to its card holders, as a dozen other card companies already do, and the Southern Railway hopped on the American Express card. Besides charging their travel, tippling, and trencherman’s tabs, card holders now can sign for such merchandise as wigs, garden supplies, model railroads and pets.