HOME BUYERS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF : AIRLINE, LENDERS TEAM UP TO OFFER FREQUENT-FLIER MILES FOR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS.Byline: Dawn Yoshitake Daily News Staff Writer Home buyers stretching their budgets to make monthly payments might be in for an unexpected luxury: free air travel. American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the announced Monday that it has teamed up with five home lenders to offer frequent-flier miles for making mortgage payments. Great Western Financial Corp., California Federal Bank California Federal Bank, often abbreviated to "Cal Fed", was a savings and loan bank in California. It existed from 1926 until 2002, when its parent company Golden State Bancorp was acquired by Citigroup, resulting in the bank being merged into Citibank. , Downey Savings & Loan Association, HomeSide Lending Inc. and PHH PHH Provinciale Handelsschool Hasselt (school) PHH Pasukan Anti Huru-Hara (Anti Riot Task Force) PHH Phillips Head (screw) PHH Planar Halogenated Hydrocarbon Mortgage Services will award one frequent-flier mile for every dollar of interest paid on certain loans. The promotion marks the first large-scale effort by the banking industry to link up with airlines. Long-distance telephone carriers and credit card companies have been big players in the frequent-flier marketing game. The cost to consumers? An annual $39 fee that goes toward American's administrative costs administrative costs, n.pl the overhead expenses incurred in the operation of a dental benefits program, excluding costs of dental services provided. . Lenders are not allowed to charge more for loans that offer frequent-flier miles, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. their contract with American, said Caren Roberson, California Federal's marketing director. Customers also can collect frequent-flier miles when buying or selling a home through a participating real estate broker - PHH Mortgage Services. Every $100,000 of the sales price is good for 15,000 miles. There is no fee. The frequent-flier program also applies toward refinancing some loans and will continue even if the lender sells the loan to another company. Free domestic flights require 25,000 miles, while international flights range from 30,000 to 50,000, said American spokesman Tim Smith Tim Smith is a common name. Notable people with the name Tim Smith include:
``I think 25,000 miles is an easy target for anyone to accrue in three years,'' said Randy Petersen Randy Peterson is editor and publisher of Inside Flyer magazine, sponsor of FlyerTalk, an online travel bulletin board. Peterson is frequently called upon by news media for opinions about the frequent flyer and travel industry. , publisher of InsideFlyer Magazine. ``Home buyers see their interest add up in the first several years of their loan. I think there is a lot of pent-up demand for this product.'' Great Western said tying its loans with another product, known as affinity lending, is a strategy it intends to expand. ``This is our first affinity lending program and we intend to be a big player in affinity lending,'' said Sam Lyons, vice president of mortgage banking for Great Western. |
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