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- Some frequent flyer programs allow customers to rack up points through everyday purchases.
- This has led some couples vying over who should get the points for household expenses.
- Some "friendly competition is always good," American Airlines told WSJ.
When it comes to frequent flyer statuses, couples are not screwing around.
Since loyalty programs like American Airlines' AAdvantage and Delta SkyMiles have started to allow customers to gain points by shopping — not just flying — with co-branded credit cards, some couples have started vying over who should be making the next grocery trip to rack up points.
Take Florida couple Gil and Tracy Sternbach, who spoke with The Wall Street Journal about their amusing dilemma.
Tracy hopes to jump from Gold to Platinum status on the AAdvantage loyalty program. She told the Journal that she wanted to catch up to her husband, who was just 650 points away from Executive Platinum, the highest status in the program.
So it's only fair, Tracy thought, that moving forward, all household expenses should be put toward her AAdvantage-linked card.
"I can't deny she's right," Gil told the newspaper, later adding, "I don't know if American is even cognizant of the fact that they are creating this strife!"
Chris Isaac, director of American Airlines' AAdvantage program, told the Journal, "We certainly don't want to sow marital discord. But some friendly competition is always good."
Flyers have come to cherish the perks and statuses earned from loyalty programs — so much so that two people sued American Airlines after claiming the company stripped them of more than 1 million in collective reward miles.
An American Airlines spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.