Category Archives for Credit Cards.
This is interesting of course for the 7x points-earning categories, though that doesn’t represent huge spending for most people (which makes 7x possible to offer!), and even with 4x on dining this is strong earn for a no annual fee card.
The Hyatt program is smaller than many of Chase’s co-brand partners, but it hits above its weight because it’s a good program and members know it. A small business card is going to be a small slice of the smaller program pie. But Chase has been willing to do smaller portfolios – we’ll be seeing the Air Canada U.S. credit card soon, they are introducing an Instacart card.
By narrowcasting it’s possible to really target what a small group of consumers want, delivering things that group values without spending to build a card that delivers well for everyone. In other words it should be possible to deliver greater subjective value at lower cost. That was my frame as I walked into an event Chase and Hyatt hosted to announce the card.
Capital One keeps doubling down on adding value to travel, and they did so in April introducing… 1:1 transfers to some airlines so you really could earn 2 airline miles per dollar on all of your spend.
It was a limited set of airlines initially. That’s changing. They’ve added several airlines to the 1:1 transfer tier, making the earn power of Capital One Venture as well as Spark Miles even better.
It’s a complex process for the card issuer to remove the offer across all of the places where it’s been available.
So the truth is all signs point to the offer ending, but I don’t think we know for certain the exact moment when it’ll end.
What are the cards that really offered outsize value and aren’t available anymore, or played a real role in the development of where we are today?
I don’t know how The Points Guy can offer such a list without talking about Diners Club.
United elites striving for status will find this card valuable, though, and those who would pay for a club membership are better off doing so in most cases via this card’s annual fee in my view anyway. The rest of the add-on benefits are gravy.
I don’t see any points bonuses without being logged into my American Express Membership Rewards account. But as soon as I log in, it’s a bonanza. Through September 30 American Express is offering simultaneous points transfer bonuses, including with programs where we rarely see Amex offering a bonus to all of 12 different programs.
There have been several rumors about a new Hyatt card finally launching. We don’t know what that card would look like. The Points Guy just dropped a piece on why Chase needs a Hyatt small business card which I took as one hint, though Danny Deal Guru reports on a rumor from Chase customer service about a new Hyatt premium card (think $400+ annual fee).
Chase created Chase Dining with Tock offering special restaurant reservations at top places set aside for cardmembers. This was part of a continued assault on American Express as the category leader in travel and entertainment. Amex, by the way, didn’t stand still. They traditionally offered a special reservations program but double down by acquiring reservations platform Resy. The American Express Gold is my favorite card for dining spend, earning 4 Membership Rewards points per dollar. Chase’s premium Chase Sapphire Reserve® has offered 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar since card launch. Recently Chase revamped its Sapphire cards and made them even more rewarding on dining. The $95 annual fee Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card improved its earning to 3 points per dollar on restaurant spend, and added a getting a 10% anniversary bonus on spend during…
Capital One made a $170 million investment in Hopper, the online booking service which uses machine learning to guide customers on when it’s the best time to buy a plane ticket. And they’re partnered with Hopper to roll out their new online travel tool which will layer Hopper’s prediction analytics with guarantees for the traveler. They’re offering the most guarantees of any places customers might book online – all while letting them use their points to pay for travel if they wish.
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 »
