The Frequent Flyer Club: The battle for passengers takes off to new heights
Aviation clubs, promising discounted flight tickets, have become a major profit engine in the Israeli credit card market, with membership jumping to nearly 800,000. Fly Card, FlyAll, and SkyMAX cardholders spend twice as much as those with regular cards, driven by the desire to earn bonuses on their spending, especially abroad.
If you feel a great urge to fly abroad more often lately, you are not alone. Perhaps it is a desire to break free from the pressures of daily life after almost three years of a multi-front war, but it is certainly also thanks to the well-oiled marketing machine of credit card companies. They offer discounted or even free flights if you join their aviation club.
Aviation clubs allow members to accumulate benefits based on credit card usage volume. Users earn points convertible into flight tickets, class upgrades, duty-free discounts, hotels, car rentals, and tickets to events abroad. This is how credit card companies convince consumers that everyday shopping or restaurant bills bring them closer to their next vacation.
And it works. If a year ago there were about 550,000 aviation club credit cards in Israel, today there are close to 800,000, a growth of about 40%. About 70% of these cards were issued by Fly Card (El Al's frequent flyer club), whose operation recently moved from CAL to Isracard, while the rest is divided between FlyAll (the new card from CAL) and SkyMAX, issued by Max.
"A gateway to offering loans"
Reports from credit card companies show how central income from commissions on transactions abroad is to their business. In 2025, Max's income from overseas transactions totaled 211 million shekels (13% of credit card income). At competitor CAL, this figure was 278 million shekels (12% of income). Isracard's incentive to take over Fly Card is revealed in the results, where its share was only 146 million shekels (5.8% of the sector).
A senior industry official notes: "The activity of Israelis abroad is very profitable. Foreign currency conversion and clearing fees are higher there than in Israel. Club cards are intended to make it the first card the customer pulls out abroad. It is the strongest club in the State of Israel".
"Aviation clubs are a very strong means for acquiring customers, getting them to switch from a bank card to a non-bank one. It is a gateway to offer holders loans at high interest rates and other services", adds a source in one of the companies.
The biggest expense after a mortgage
Industry sources note that people with cashback cards spend twice as much or more per month than those with regular credit cards. On an expenditure of 160,000 shekels a year on an aviation club credit card, you get back about 1,000 shekels. Those wanting a "premium" card commit to fixed monthly spending of 10,000 shekels on Fly Card or 8,000 shekels on SkyMAX.
"Israel is one of the countries with the highest number of flights per capita in the world; it is our national sport. We have no choice: to leave the country you must fly, and an Israeli must always perform a foreign currency conversion. Credit card companies want to capture as much of that share as possible", explains an expert.
"Everyone wants to be like Fly Card"
The competition for the Israeli traveler's pocket is a struggle for prestige and significant money. In just one week in June, the Fly Card credit card from Isracard invested about 4.6 million shekels in promotion. For CAL, losing this contract was a painful blow, as Fly Card accounted for over 15% of its income. In response, CAL invested 4.4 million shekels to promote its new FlyAll card, which has already attracted over 130,000 holders in three months.
Unlike Isracard, Max and CAL market their cards as universal, not tied to a single airline. However, Isracard remains confident: "Everyone wants to fly El Al. Competitors are a copy from AliExpress; they cannot offer the experience we offer", stated Fly Card CEO Moshe Morgenstern.
"Marketing the 'free flights' dream"
The consumer question is no longer just "which card gives more points"; one must consider card fees, accumulation conditions, and foreign currency transaction costs. Yaniv Lanis, founder of 'Secret Flights', believes that "the trend of aviation-based credit cards relies mainly on shiny marketing of the 'free flights' dream, but for the average consumer, these cards barely justify the foreign currency fees and expensive card fees. A consumer who simply follows price drops and promotions in real-time saves many times more than someone who accumulates points for years".
