**** me! A billion dollars' worth of frequent flyer miles, "sold" now for use in 2012-2016. How much (or little) did Citi pay per mile for them? How many did they get? How will they flood the market with them starting in 2½ years' time, and what will be the effect of that?

It must have been a corker of a deal for Citi, and AA must be really desperate for that $1bn - having almost nowhere else to turn to for immediate cash, judging by them only being able to raise $280m now from selling other assets.

If it's this bad for AA, how bad is it for the others? Suddenly I am realising why people are talking about Chapter 11 again.

Long-haul flying - how to sleep your way around the world.