Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Vox runs a piece repeating the old trope that credit card rewards benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, because credit card processing fees result in higher prices – including for people who don’t pay by credit card. There’s a unique twist to the piece though since they call for taxing card rewards.
It comes with a TikTok making the argument, which turns out to be highly misleading.
This week only a new no annual fee rewards card, offering as much as 5x return in some categories, is offering a $500 initial bonus which is fairly unprecedented for this type of product. I interviewed the card issuer’s President to understand the strategy.
The American Express Black Card (Centurion Card) has a $5000 annual fee and you pay a $7500 initiation fee your first year as a cardmember, too.
They send cardmembers occasional gifts. How about a $500 gift card to use, because you’re rich and can afford an expensive credit card?
Cardless gives us a glimpse into how FinTech can disrupt credit card rewards. There hasn’t been a new major issuer since 1994. Now it’s possible to issue cards with smaller brands at lower cost, and rebate more to the customer.
Frontier Airlines won’t offer you business class award tickets to the Seychelles. But if you live in a Frontier Airlines city, and you’re reasonably likely to fly them, the credit card can be a great deal because every purchase on the card counts towards elite status with $1 of spend earning 1 elite qualifying mile.
And Frontier’s elite program offers real benefits – top tier 100,000 mile flyers see no fees at all, which is impressive with a fee-based ultra-low cost carrier.
What if I told you there’s a way to earn an effective 6% back on rideshare, streaming services, and some of your restaurant spend – on a no annual fee card – and you’ve never heard of it?
That’s because if you came across the new Manchester United Credit Card from fintech startup Cardless you might have skipped right over it, but that would have been a mistake.
Capital One has done more than any other issuer, I think, to improve the benefits across several cards but most especially the Venture card which has a 100,000 mile initial bonus offer right now. On top of other new benefits, Capital One introduced transfer of its miles to several airline programs at the end of 2018.
Now Capital One has introduced new airline transfer partners and improved the rate that mileage transfers to some of those programs, and provided new details on its forthcoming network of airline lounges and new travel booking portal.
Marketing is all about knowing who your customers are, and figuring out how to find more people like that. It’s why it matters that marketing staff understand your customer base, and not just have models predicting the characteristics describing who the median customer is. Especially at the high-end, high-touch, send something… a little more personalized. Indeed, maybe a personalized welcome note to someone forking over $10,000 or more up front for a credit card?
Currently American Express Platinum and Centurion cardholders can bring two guests into a Centurion lounge.
Starting in 2023, only Centurion cardmembers as well as Platinum cardmembers who spend $75,000 per year or more on their card will continue to receive free guest access. Platinum cardmembers who do not spend that much on their card will have to pay $50 per guest.
Marriott has just introduced the first hotel co-brand credit card in the South Korean market, Marriott Bonvoy® The BEST Shinhan Card.
It lets cardmembers earn Platinum status with less spend and at a lower fee than U.S. customers have access to, and comes with a hotel breakfast credit benefit.
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 »
