The hobby
What are Pilot Trading Cards?
Free collectible cards that airline pilots hand out to passengers, known to collectors as PTCs. Despite the name, they show the airplane, not the pilot.
Where they come from
Delta Air Lines printed the first one in 2003 to mark the retirement of its MD-11. It was meant to be a one-off. The cards proved so popular that Delta kept printing them, and other airlines followed. Today airlines, airports and independent makers around the world issue them, and collectors chase complete sets the way others collect baseball cards. The hobby has gone viral on social media more than once.
What's on a card
Front
One aircraft from the airline's fleet, photographed or illustrated.
Back
Facts about that airplane: speed, range, engines, seats, or its history.
Size
Most are the size of a regular trading card, upright or sideways. A few are larger, slimmer or square.
Not always an airplane
Frontier's cards feature the animals painted on its tails, and the airport cards show an airport.
Why pilots hand them out
Airlines describe them as a way to start a conversation between the people flying the plane and the people riding in it, and to get passengers excited about aviation.
For the pilot
An easy hello at the door, and a way to share the airplane they fly every day.
For the passenger
A souvenir that came straight from the flight deck, and a reason to look up the airplane.
Are they real, and are they free?
Yes to both.
Real
The airline cards are printed by the airlines themselves.
Free
Pilots give them away. Airlines generally don't sell them.
Not on every flight
Not every pilot carries them every day, which is part of the fun. Collectors trade for the rest, or buy on eBay.
Are they worth anything?
Most are worth more to the person who was handed one than on the market. Roughly what they sell for:
Recent series cards from current airline programs, widely distributed.
Older series, retired aircraft cards, or sets from airlines that no longer distribute.
First-edition cards, special livery variants, or early series from the early 2000s.
Complete sets or holographic variants. Some full sets list for thousands.
Rarity isn't age
What makes a card valuable is how hard it is to get, not how old it is. The rarity guide explains how collectors rate difficulty, and the beginner's guide covers buying safely.
Which airlines have Pilot Trading Cards?
More than most people expect. These are the airlines, airports and makers whose cards come loaded in PTC Binder, grouped by how their cards reach collectors. Each name opens its checklist.
Handed out by pilots on flights
Ask the pilot while boarding or right after you land.
- Alaska Airlines
- Allegiant Air
- American Airlines
- Breeze Airways
- Delta Air Lines
- Denver Air
- Envoy Air
- Frontier Airlines
- Garuda Indonesia
- GoJet Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Jazz Aviation
- JetBlue
- Jetstar
- Piedmont Airlines
- Porter Airlines
- Republic Airways
- Skymark Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Starlux Airlines
- United Airlines
- WestJet
From cargo crews
Cargo airlines carry no passengers, so these come from their crews or from other collectors.
At aviation events
Regional operators that hand theirs out at aviation events.
Mostly through trading
Collectors find these mostly through trades and sales.
From airlines that no longer fly
Their cards live on with collectors, through trades and sales.
- America West Airlines (until 2007)
- Maxjet (until 2007)
- Northwest Airlines (until 2010)
- Spirit Airlines (until 2026)
- Ted (until 2009)
From independent makers
Collectors who design and print their own aviation cards. You get them from the makers.
At airports
The NAACS airport cards show an airport instead of an airplane, and are handed out at the airports themselves. See every airport card →
How to get one from a pilot
- Pick your moment.While boarding or right after landing, when pilots are visible and not busy flying. Never approach the flight deck door in flight.
- Just ask.Something like “Do you happen to have any trading cards today?” works. Pilots who have them are usually happy to share.
- Thank them either way.Not every pilot has cards on every flight. If they don't, thank them anyway.
How to start collecting Pilot Trading Cards
Which ones are you missing?
PTC Binder comes loaded with the cards from every binder above. Mark the ones you have and each collection shows what's still missing, right on your phone. No spreadsheet, and no binder to carry around.
Free to download. No account required.