Credit Cards

Category Archives for Credit Cards.

Why Merchant-Funded Credit Card Offers Can’t Last

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Nov 18 2021

In the past few years we’ve seen a proliferation of merchant-funded credit card offers. Whether it’s a year of Door Dash Dash Pass from Chase or $15 per month credit at Uber from American Express Platinum, a credit with airport security fast track service CLEAR, or $50 twice a year with Saks, numerous businesses want access to a credit card company’s customers.

Banks are attracted to benefits they can deliver to customers at no or low cost (or even at a profit, the details on each deal are different). And bundle enough of these benefits and you can sell an annual fee increase, too, helping the bottom-line for a card product that may be struggling to earn a profit despite being very attractive to consumers.

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[LAST DAY] Will Citi Transfers To American AAdvantage Really End November 13, And What Comes Next?

by Gary Leff

Nov 13 2021

In mid-July Citibank points suddenly became transferable to American Airlines. That was a huge surprise and for many cardmembers with Prestige and Premier products a nice increase in the value of their points. Citi hadn’t had one of the large U.S. airlines as a transfer partner.

In fact, it was odd that American Airlines wasn’t a transfer partner before this. And odder still that the relationship was introduced as temporary, running only though November 13.

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Disappearance Of Barclays American AAdvantage Business Card – Is Only Temporary

by Gary Leff

Nov 12 2021

The Citibank and Barclays premium consumer cards get a year’s grace period on their spend threshold bonuses for elite status under the new Loyalty Points system of qualifying for AAdvantage elite. The Barclays business card, however, does not.

And, it seems, Barclays wasn’t just able to remove this benefit from its applications and instead has taken the applications down – they can’t promise something to cardmembers they aren’t going to deliver.

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New Paper Shows Credit Card Rewards Aren’t Benefiting Rich At Expense Of Poor

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Nov 11 2021

Rewards credit cards frequently cost merchants more money to accept than plain vanilla credit cards without rewards. Merchants want to accept credit cards – it’s good for their business – but they’d love to pay less for the service. Many associations of retailers turn to governments or the courts to try to force lower fees from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

One of the arguments employed by merchants, to disguise self-interested behavior, is ‘concern for the pooor’ claiming that the rich benefit from rewards while the poor face higher prices as a result.

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Leaked Details Of New Chase Aeroplan Credit Card

by Gary Leff

Nov 10 2021

There’s been a leak of details of the new Chase Aeroplan credit card that’s coming next month. A spokesperson for Air Canada Aeroplan confirms the details, though suggests that what has been revealed so far is only a small part of what the card’s features, and explains details of how the initial bonus will work.

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10,000 Extra Miles And 10 Upgrade Certs, Sign Up To Be Notified About New Air Canada Credit Card

by Gary Leff

Oct 25 2021

Details on the new Air Canada Aeroplan credit card from Chase will come out in December. As a result of the co-brand relationship, Air Canada is already a transfer partner of Chase’s Ultimate Rewards.

Already you can get an extra 10,000 miles with the card if you sign up to be notified when it launches. Now they’re adding 10 upgrades into the mix as well and dropping a hint about a card benefit. This adds onto an easy status match for U.S. frequent flyers.

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