4500 free and easy points, Airbnb’s most egregious request yet [Roundup]

News and notes from all over the interweb:

• If you haven’t linked your Marriott and Uber accounts yet there is a 3000 point bonus for doing so before December 31.
• Apparently people are approved for the Bilt World Elite Mastercard with credit ratings which are about what i expected,
  

  Various data points suggest that you need good or excellent credit to qualify for the Bilt Mastercard. Typically, this is a FICO score of 670 to 850.

  ..To have the best chance of approval, you can expect to apply with a credit score of 740 or higher, as this is the beginning of the excellent credit window. However, a score iv
  n the low 700s are also encouraging in many situations.

• 1500 bonuses for registering Cathay Pacific Asia Miles by the end of the year the program is a transfer partner of Amex, Citi, Capital One and Bilt and imposes lower surcharges on British Airways premiums than BA and American do.
• The journey of the new Senior Vice President of Loyalty at Air France KLM (slightly modified):
  

  So FlyerTalk is where I met Ben Smith, who was number two at Air Canada at the time. And finally, he proposed to me, I told him that I was interested in an internship. …[M]The internship was actually the coolest thing. I was about 20 years old, I sent him… a message on FlyerTalk saying, you know, I’m, I’m interested in working for Air Canada.

  I was really into the brand since I, ever since I was young…call me, you know, to his credit, he was willing to give it a shot. And I called him and talked to him and, and I realized that we were both very passionate about aviation. Uh, and finally he offered me an internship and I have to say it was probably the coolest job you could have at that age. I was actually responsible for benchmarking our competitors’ business class lounges and then designing the food and beverage menu for Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge.

  …[W]When I graduated they offered me a full time position and from there I worked in various business departments, strategy and marketing and revenue management and all that. And then finally, Ben started working directly for him. And then when he had the opportunity to evolve at Air France KLM, I joined him and I was his chief of staff. And then he moved to Flying Blue about six months ago.

• Delta says 29% of SkyMiles members have co-branded credit cards and frames that as a “only” with a benefit. This number seems high to me, suggesting a disproportionate number of dormant and/or very low spend accounts driving down average spend.
  

  When Delta announced an extension with American Express in 2019, it said the deal could be worth up to $7 billion by 2023. Delta now expects to hit that target a year later, in 2024. Hauenstein said Delta executives were thrilled because the goal was a bit over the top.

  “[CEO] Ed [Bastian] is the one who set that goal of $7 billion in 2017 or 2018,” Hauenstein said. “And we all looked at each other and thought, ‘Oh my God, are we going to make it? “”

  Now they aim higher. Hauenstein said Delta can push that number further, noting that only 29% of SkyMiles members have an associated American Express credit card. Historically, the airline has excelled in converting SkyMiles members into credit cardholders.

• Merry Christmas from airBaltic.

• Airbnb wants your Chase account types, balances, and all of your financial transactions in order to book.
  

  FOR YOUR INFORMATION: @Airbnb now requires you to “verify” with Plaid to book a stay with your Chase credit card.

  Extremely concerning as Airbnb wants access to your bank account numbers, full transaction history, financial data and contact details.

  Literally no reason for that pic.twitter.com/TC9hz0mwPO

  – Plan more trips (@planmoretrips) December 16, 2022

More view from the wing