3.2.4. enRoute
Diners Club expanded its customer base in Canada by acquiring the enRoute card from Air Canada in 1992, and marketed the card under the combined name for a period of time as the Diners Club/en route Card. Diners Club remains a minor player in Canada.
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.
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 travelers, 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.
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".
Today, enRoute remains the name of Air Canada's inflight magazine.
Source: wikipedia.org
