Category Archives for Credit Cards.
I love reading these insider details, almost as much as the players involved probably hate their being published.
I think both sides come out really well here – Wells Fargo aggressively experimented, found something wasn’t working, and pulled back while they retooled. Meanwhile Bilt Rewards has a lucrative program in place for a long time that consumers benefit from.
A dirty secret is that cash has its drawbacks, too, and it’s often cheaper for a merchant to accept credit cards than it is to take cash. It’s not so secret anymore when businesses start adding extra steps and costs for cash acceptance.
You get this card for the bonus and that’s worth it, you get an Admirals Club membership, and you get loyalty point bonuses if you earn enough loyalty points in the AAdvantage program (you do not have to spend on this card to earn these). It’s probably worth charging an Avis rental to the card. And then you may keep it if you want to retain Admirals Club and the loyalty point bonuses.
A year ago Bilt Rewards added a card-linked dining program that let you earn points at participating restaurants whenever paying with a card linked to your Bilt account (it didn’t have to be Bilt’s own co-brand credit card). They were only in larger cities, but the curated lists of restaurants was outstanding.
Now they’ve done a couple of deals to hugely expand their presence to around 20,000 more restaurants in what they call their Neighborhood Dining program.
New Cardless cards for Star Alliance member Avianca LifeMiles are live. I’m really excited about the premium card, which is chock full of benefits.
With Bilt Rewards adding Alaska Airlines as a transfer partner, they are also introducing the ability to earn miles paying rent with an Alaska Visa. That option is finally live.
Bilt Rewards has added Hilton Honors as a transfer partner. Just like with their addition of Marriott as a transfer partner in the fall, it doesn’t add much to the program. It’s not that Hilton Honors points aren’t valuable, it’s that everything at Hilton is inflated by a factor of three or four – on both the earning and the redemption side – and that balances out fine except when transferring points 1:1. (Bilt requires a 2,000 point minimum transfer for base members, and 1,000 points for elites.) First transfers from Bilt to Hilton through June 8th receive 1,000 bonus Hilton points. That’s worth about $4, and doesn’t make up for 1:1 simply not being a worthwhile transfer ratio to Hilton. Crockfords, Las Vegas Bilt points now transfer to all of the major U.S.-based hotel…
Qatar Airways just launched two new U.S. credit cards and they are really interesting since just getting the premium card gives you oneworld status that includes lounge access when flying American Airlines and Alaska Airlines domestically – for less than buying a lounge membership – and even includes access to American Airlines business class Flagship lounges.
Increased regulatory capital requirements and private equity financing are reshaping the profitability and sustainability of banks’ credit card programs, an overlooked impact that could alter the landscape of credit card rewards.
Last week the American Airlines flight attendants union reminded cabin crew at the airline that they aren’t allowed to strike or take other actions that hurt the company, unless first permitted by the government to do so.
They even have to make the optional credit card announcements. At a minimum, they’re warned, that if they write on social media that they aren’t going to pitch the credit card they may be fired.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
