If the history of the trading cards industry can tell us anything, it’s that virtually any sport, cultural phenomenon or historical event can be immortalized in card form. (Readers of a certain age may remember the existence of Operation Desert Storm trading cards, which are exactly what you think they are.) More recently, trading cards have been used to commemorate concerts, among other nontraditional happenings and institutions.
So it isn’t all that surprising to hear that an airline — specifically, Spirit Airlines — is also trying its hand in the world of trading cards. There’s something appealing about having a souvenir of a flight, and this is a relatively low-stakes way of going about it. Writing at The Points Guy, David Slotnick has details on how the airline will dispense cards to travelers making their way across the country.
Complete sets of, say, baseball cards can include representations of hundreds of players. Spirit Airlines’ set is taking a more modest approach: it will feature six cards, each dedicated to a different type of Airbus plane in Spirit’s fleet. As for how you can get one, travelers will need to ask pilots when boarding or departing the plane once it’s arrived at the gate.
As Slotnick points out, Spirit Airlines is joining the ranks of several other airlines in getting into the card business. Southwest Airlines recently announced that it was debuting a line of cards; last year, Delta Airlines printed five million trading cards to give away to passengers.
And if you’re curious if there is a secondary market for them, there certainly seems to be, if this listing for eight Delta cards selling for over $50 is any indication.
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