News and notes from around the interweb:
- Another two year old kicked off a flight for not wearing a mask
- American Express plans new perks to get customers to upgrade from Platinum to Centurion and Green to Gold, Gold to Platinum.
American Express Co. will focus on refreshing many of its most popular cards next year to help retain fee-paying customers and persuade more of them to upgrade.
…“As we put more value into the products, we have people upgrading from Green to Gold, Gold to Platinum and Platinum to Centurion…As we look at next year, and we obviously focus more on acquisitions and we do the product refreshes, we believe we’ll continue to grow our cards, which will continue to grow our card-fee revenue,” [CEO Steve] Squeri said.
- Lufthansa indefinitely postpones changes to Miles & More they were supposed to go into effect in 2021, but were delayed during the pandemic to 2022. Now they say it won’t be 2022 either.
Copyright: jremes / 123RF Stock Photo - Delta eliminates international change fees on non-basic economy itineraries originating in North America, copying American. Then United got pushed into it, too.
- Hyatt’s friends and family rate code THANKYOU for health care workers has been extended for stays through September 12, 2021. The rate is eligible for elite night credits.
- Delta is looking for more voluntary unpaid employee leaves to hold down costs
Unless Amex plans to completely redesign its ecosystem (i.e completely change what each card offers) I don’t understand what the CEO is talking about. Why would an Amex Green Card holder (who presumably got the card for the travel earnings) “upgrade” to the Gold card where the travel earnings are laughable? Likewise, why would anyone who got the Gold Card (presumably for the good return at supermarkets and restaurants) “upgrade” to the Platinum card which has horrible earnings rates on both? Either we’re about to see a massive set of changes from Amex or the CEO doesn’t really know what Amex’s various cards offer. The days of there being a hierarchy leading from Green to Gold to Platinum we’re over years ago so I’m struggling to understand what is being suggested.
That “we’re” towards the end (which should have read “were”) is going to annoy me
If only KE would extend the delay of their new program too.
I don’t think people who set the mask age at two has really interacted with a two-year-old in the midst of terrible twos. Even if they wear the mask, they are unlikely to wear it for long, or correctly. Having a best effort to get 2 and possibly 3 year olds to wear masks but not enforcing it is probably the best compromise.
I’m with @Ziggy. American Express would have to come up with some truly insane values to get people to upgrade from the card they want to the card American Express wants them to choose. I’m already dubious that the platinum card I just got will have sufficient value for me to keep it for several years; I can’t fathom a situation where I’d find the centurion card worthwhile.
@ Gary — AMEX is full of it. Their cards are not worth the annual fees, especially the laughable $5,000 Centurion card. Only an idiot (and TPG) would pay this fee. For those in the know, they have basically turned their annual fees into cheap MR point sales via retention offers. I have received an offer on EVERY card that has come up for renewal in the last 3 months (including ones I rarely use and ones I received an offer on 12 months ago), and MR are basically sold to you for about 1 cent each. However, when this ends, I will close the cards because I have more valuable things to do with my time than try to figure out how to squeeze every penny from the $200 annual airline fee credit, the $20 monthly streaming credit, the $20 monthly cell phone credit, the $15 monthly Uber Eats credit, and the $50 semi-annual Saks credit. These all add up to a giant waste of my time. I would be better off without the stupid card in the first place.
@John H – My 2 year old nephew is able to wear a mask correctly.
I’m guessing if TPG pays for it, he is probably getting a kickback from Amex. The only real reason to have the card is status or if they give you one free.
While I’ve kept the platinum card I just canceled the Green card after getting the bonus. I think they offered me 7,500 points to keep it but I’ve been on a cutting my cards kick. (Also canceled Citi AA Exec despite a $200 offer since I haven’t flown AA in nearly 2 years.)
And yeah the offers/bonuses are designed to have people chase after them. Some are stupid such as 25% off but then is limited to $5. Really? I’m not on a budget where $5 matters to me.
I’m in if I can have a Platinum card for the Gold annual fee amount.
Hi iam American Express customer for so many years I would like to have a black card thank you so Much
I’m with Ziggy as well. I don’t know why Amex continues to insist there is a “ladder” of Green –> Gold –> Platinum. Yes, the fees goes in that order, but the cards are all for entirely different audiences.