Travel Rewards on Debit Cards

While other issuers of debit cards have tried to gain consumers' acceptance by offering opportunities for cardholders to earn travel miles, Card Forum has cited a Citibank program to enable its MasterCard Debit cardholders to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles. Other programs involving debit cards enable cardholders to accumulate "points" that can be applied to the purchase of tickets from any airline. In contrast, the Citibank program is limited to American Airlines. There are now 2.6 million co-branded AAdvantage credit cards outstanding. According to Wayne Malone, a Citibank vice president, "There's a big difference in the perceived value of miles versus points. The value of miles, we believe, is much better."