Credit Cards

Category Archives for Credit Cards.

Delta Air Lines Had A Good Thing Going, Then They Got Greedy

by Gary Leff on September 23, 2023

Sep 23 2023

For years they’ve been taking away from the program, sometimes a little at a time and sometimes a lot. And they’ve been requiring more and more from customers to get less and less. Like the proverbial boiling lobster, SkyMiles elite members went along for the most part every step of the way. And that was very good to Delta, generating around $7 billion from American Express at around a 40% margin and accounting for the vast majority of the airline’s profit.

Delta wasn’t satisfied with that, and they got greedy.

Bilt Rewards Adds New Premium Hotel Award Search Tool As Free Service

by Gary Leff on September 14, 2023

Sep 14 2023

Ultimately this is a great tool, that’s normally premium priced, but available free at no cost through the Bilt app – a way to help make the most of Bilt points or any points, the way that they’ve done with airlines and point.me.

New Premium Hyatt Credit Card Under Consideration, Here Are The Potential Benefits

by Gary Leff on September 11, 2023

Sep 11 2023

The other possibility that was speculated two falls ago was a premium Hyatt credit card. And that’s back on the table, as a survey of possible benefits reveals. Some of the things under consideration appear to be:

30% Bonus On Chase Transfers To British Airways, Iberia, And Aer Lingus

by Gary Leff on August 29, 2023

Aug 29 2023

With the American Express Membership Rewards 30% transfer bonus to British Airways ending August 31, Chase is picking up the mantle. They’re offering a 30% bonus on transfers to British Airways and fellow Avios airlines Iberia and Aer Lingus through September 22, in addition to their less valuable Marriott transfer bonus which continues through September 30.

Bilt’s September Rent Day Offer

by Gary Leff on August 29, 2023

Aug 29 2023

Rent Day is the first of the month, and every month Bilt Rewards has special offers. Several of those are recurring, and there’s a new offer as well each month.

Getting 20,000 Loyalty Points Right Away With New Citi AAdvantage Executive Card

by Gary Leff on August 15, 2023

Aug 15 2023

You no longer need to spend any money on this card to earn its Loyalty Point bonuses, and the potential to earn these bonuses has doubled. What’s more, it appears that new cardmembers receive the bonuses right away if they’ve already hit the 50,000 and 90,000 Loyalty Point thresholds this year.

Credit Card Debt Hits A Record $1 Trillion, And That’s No Big Deal

by Gary Leff on August 9, 2023

Aug 09 2023

There’s been a lot of hype and handwringing over reports that U.S. credit card debt has reached a record $1 trillion. That’s framed either as an alarm for the economy or a cautionary tale about consumer behavior. But neither of those things seem to be true.

I Just Transferred 200,000 Bilt Points Into 500,000 Virgin Points

by Gary Leff on August 1, 2023

Aug 01 2023

Bilt Rewards is back with Rent Day and for some members this will be the most lucrative one yet by a wide margin. They have the usual offers of free points for trivia questions, double points on their credit card, and an opportunity to your rent paid for. But this is also the first time they’ve added an elite status benefit as part of Rent Day transfer bonus.

The first of each month is extra rewarding.

Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Competition Act Fails

by Gary Leff on July 29, 2023

Jul 29 2023

The Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act without the Credit Card Competition Act from Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) included, pushing off risk of new rules driving down interchange rates in the near-term. To placate the Senators, Senate leadership promised a future vote on their long-running quest to deliver a gift to retailers at the expense of card issuers.

Advice From The CEO Of Loyalty Startup Bilt, Fastest Company Ever To A $1.5 Billion Valuation

by Gary Leff on July 27, 2023

Jul 27 2023

I recently had the chance to catch up with Ankur Jain, founder and CEO of Bilt Rewards. He’s a serial entrepreneur, having sold connections tool Humin to Tinder; became their Vice President of Product (he’s rumored to have created the separate celebrity version of Tinder); and helped launch a company that solves the cashflow problems renters face from security deposits.

And he’s created the first loyalty program for renters which underscores that the single largest expense for most people wasn’t covered by loyalty marketing before. It’s such a no-brainer that Bilt became the fastest company to hit a $1.5 billion valuation, just over a little more than a year after public launch.