EnRoute (credit card)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is enRoute. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
- This article is about a credit card. For other uses, see Enroute.
enRoute was the name of Air Canada's credit card division. The exact date of creation of the card is unknown. However, one Air Canada commercial dated of 1978 mentions the card.[1]
Initially, the card was used only for Air Canada transactions, but over time, the card was expanded into a more general credit card for business travellers, being accepted by hotels, restaurants, and other merchants. It offered such features as detailed transaction details and sorting of expenses by category.
In 1989, enRoute card became the first credit card to earn its cardholders Aeroplan miles with their purchases.[2]
In 1992, Air Canada sold the $300 million enRoute card business to Diners Club. The move gave enRoute cardholders access to the existing Diners Club network of 2.1 million merchants at the time, while earning existing Diners Club Canada cardholders Aeroplan miles. For several years following the business transaction, Diners Club credit cards were marketed as in Canada "Diners Club/en route".[3]
Today, enRoute remains the name of Air Canada's inflight magazine.