Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Back in the fall I wrote that Citi would be ending the benefit of no annual fee authorized users with Admirals Club access, and likely raising the annual fee on the card itself as well. The ability for a single $450 annual fee to generate 11 cards (primary plus up to 10 authorized user cards) each with the ability to enter Admirals Clubs and also bring up to two guests was simply too good a deal.
Sometimes a question really just gets it. Is the Bilt World Elite Mastercard too good to be true?? How can they make money giving so much to cardmembers?
Two Americans vacationing in Costa Rica were charged $29,994.33 for one Uber ride. It was supposed to be 29,994 a single Uber ride due to a suspected currency conversion error. The couple claims that the cost of the ride should have been 29,994 Costa Rican Colón – or US$55.16.
Complaining to Uber, they were told to contact their bank. The bank says Uber’s the one who charged them this way. And since they paid via debit card, their bank account has been fully drained. They shared their story having made it to Guatemala with “no access to funds” for their five year anniversary.
You’re losing up to 4,166 points per month if you rent and do not have a Bilt Mastercard. This card offers something literally no other card does and it can mean a huge difference in your points balance.
A coalition could form to make this legislation viable by bundling rules that would prevent card issuers from discriminating against guns and other disfavored businesses.
At a minimum, Republican legislators concerned about movement in the direction of banning certain types of transactions from incumbent card networks could lead them to support legislation they believe reduces the relative power of those networks.
Before the pandemic the American Airlines co-brand portfolio had the largest charge volume, but American, United and Delta were all over $100 billion annually. Delta now says they’re “approaching 1% of U.S. GDP” on their co-brand cards, which would be ~ $255 billion.
Inflation helps, but it’s reasonable to think they’re suggesting they’re around $200 billion in annual charge volume on Delta Amex cards. Even if American and United are lagging Delta’s growth surely then these three airline co-brands are now taking a slice out of more than 2% of U.S. GDP.
At the beginning of the year, Capital One launched their premium hotel collection with extra benefits for Venture X cardmembers. Now they’re extending this to a new type of hotel and crucially these are available to Venture X, Venture X Business, Venture, and Spark Miles cardmembers.
Bilt Rewards, the program that rewards you for paying rent, has the most lucrative partnership with Lyft. You earn their transferable points for rides you would take anyway, in addition to points earned on your credit card for the spending. For Rent Day – Bilt has lucrative special offers on the first of every month – Bilt and Lyft are offering free ride credit. All Bilt members are eligible for a $10 ride credit Members with the Bilt Mastercard receive a $20 ride credit If you ride Lyft on July 1 (Rent Day) you get an additional $5 credit. Link your Bilt and Lyft accounts in the app, if you haven’t already, and you should because you earn Bilt points for your rides and this is better in my view than earning Delta, Hilton or…
Rewards are not for everyone. If you can’t be strategic, if you can’t handle your finances, then you shouldn’t play. Dave Ramsey profits off scams but also has advice that is helpful to a segment of the population that can’t manage money. The problem is that Ramsey thinks it applies to everyone, and he’s wrong.
There are some situations where getting one card precludes you from getting something else, whether it’s the best deal on a mortgage (usually not an issue, but always best to be safe before applying) or another credit card. When there’s a tradeoff you have to consider which choice delivers more value to you.
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 »
