American Express Pays Delta More Than Delta's Entire Profit

In 2025, American Express paid Delta $8.2 billion. Delta's operating profit for the entire year was $5.8 billion. Both numbers are in the same annual report.

Is your airline in the business of flying planes, or selling miles? This episode follows the money from the swipe fee to the mile.

In this episode

• What a mile costs the airline (United buys its own miles at "a minimum rate of one cent per mile, plus an additional margin")
• Why the miles were worth more than the airline in 2020, and who bailed out whom
• Why the card, not the flight, is what keeps your miles alive
• About $27 billion of unredeemed miles on the big three's books, and the number none of them will publish
• Who actually pays for your miles