San Diego City Wire

The "Credit Competition Act of 2023," (CCA) sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), could threaten San Diego County's $13.3 billion tourism industry by eliminating airline credit cards and reward points for travelers, said Marli Collier, managing director at Airlines for America (A4A).

Tourism in San Diego County generated $13.3 billion through travel-related spending, $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue, and supported 96,000 jobs in 2022, according to a report by Visit California.

“Airline credit card reward points, which travelers love to accrue and use for tickets, upgrades and other benefits, are at risk if the Durbin-Marshall credit card bill passes,” Collier told Golden State Today. “The Durbin-Marshall bill would eliminate consumer choice over which network credit transactions are routed, increasing complexity and confusion.”

“The legislation would unnecessarily increase the cost associated with participating in these rewards programs, threatening the existence of not only the airline rewards points that enable millions of trips for Americans every year – but all credit card rewards programs that cardholders have come to value,” Collier said.

The CCA, S. 1838, would require banks to offer merchants at least two network options, one of which cannot be Visa or Mastercard, for processing credit card transactions.

The bill applies to credit cards what a similar measure in 2010, often referred to as the “Durbin Amendment,” applied to debit cards. The 2010 measure was a requirement of the “Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.” 

Collier said that, since the enactment of that “Durbin Amendment”, debit card rewards “have been nearly eliminated.”

“It is important that we don’t let history repeat itself,” she said. 

All of this, Collier said, could threaten California’s tourism industry which, according to Visit California, generated $134.4 billion through travel-related spending, $11.9 billion in state and local tax revenue, and supported 1.1 million jobs in 2022.

Collier’s organization released a report saying 2,065,209 visitors used airline credit card points for air travel to California in 2022. That travel supported 23,375 jobs and more than $3.3 billion in economic activity, said A4A. 

Based in Washington, D.C., A4A is a trade association representing major U.S. airlines. It was founded in 1936 as the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) and rebranded as A4A in 2011. 

S. 1838 is currently pending in the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.