Category Archives for Credit Cards.
The Financial Times reports on American Express lowering the fees they’re charging merchants in order to drive greater acceptance for their cards. Several readers sent me this link asking for my take, including whether “lower fees would mean less rewards?”
Iberia is great because — although accounts that have been open 90 days and have had some activity can move between Avios programs already — you can circumvent the active accounts requirement and go straight to the Spanish carrier’s program. And that lets you redeem for Iberia flights for far fewer miles, and without huge fuel surcharges.
Despite this deepening relationship with IAG I wasn’t expecting news that Chase would issue an Iberia credit card in the United States.
United and Marriott offer reciprocal benefits. Chase issues both the United co-brand card and the Marriott card.
So it’s not surprising to see United and Marriott working together through Chase.
Southwest Airlines expects new Hawaii service to drive growth in signups for its credit card.
They also diss on competitors’ basic economy fares and reveal some of the economics behind Rapid Rewards.
Instead of earning miles, cash back, or travel credit you’ll earn bitcoin or ethereum.
Somehow merely dropping the word “bitcoin” makes some people believe they have a business model. Blockrize doesn’t yet have a bank issuing partner. And the company’s founder only just “started investing his own savings in cryptocurrency in September.”
One of the great benefits of many premium travel rewards cards is trip delay coverage. If your flight is delayed — the length of delay required varies — you can send the bill to your credit card company’s insurance provider for things like transportation to and from a hotel, your room night, and meals.
Chase revealed several interesting facts about its credit card business in an investor deck this week.
While the average FICO score is 785 that means many cardholders have lower scores, just as they have higher scores. Annual spend of $39,000 sounds high but equates to $3250/month, not low but not as intimidating. I’m intrigued that 90% of users are keeping the card after the first year.
Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of Chase, American Express, and Citibank. So Virgin Atlantic miles are really easy to get. In general I don’t value their miles as much as many other currencies but there are strategic uses like 120,000 miles roundtrip for first class from the East Coast on their partner ANA.
Another strategic use is when they discount their own flights. Virgin adds fuel surcharges to awards, but when the mileage cost is low enough even that makes sense.
There are many great ways to earn miles, and many of those are neglected by the average frequent flyer. While the greatest miles and points deals ever are long gone, that’s how these things work. The best deals don’t last. Which is why it pays to stay alert, and not leave miles on the table.
We often delve into the extreme detail and minutiae of rewards cards, there are tons of benefits and features and lots of details but it’s easy to lose the forest from the trees.
I thought I’d try to keep it simple, with just a single statement to encapsulate the key value proposition offered by several of the best rewards cards. See if you agree with my cutting to the chase on each.
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 »
