Tag Archives for american express.
American Express just announced ‘Rewards Checking’ for U.S. credit card customers. It has no account fees or minimum balances, pays half a percent annual yield on balances, and comes with a points-earning debit card (1 Membership Rewards point per $2 spend). I expect this will be my go-to for tax payments.
Through December 9th, 2021 all US consumer American Express card cardmembers can sign up for a 60-day free trial (“valued at $192”) of ONDA which is a membership service that gives you access to clubs, co-working spaces, and gyms.
The Austin airport was supposed to be getting a new lounge accessible by American Express Platinum cardmembers. A contract was set to be awarded right before the pandemic. But the owners of Priority Pass disputed the award, wanting to build their own club. This stalled the process, the award was cancelled, and now the airport says they have no plans to try again.
When you build a nice airport lounge it’s going to be busier than you expect even after accounting for the knowledge that it’s going to be busier than you expect. People come to the airport earlier. They stay longer. They go out of their way to reach the lounge by changing terminals. Add in that the food and drink is actually pretty good in American Express Centurion lounges and they’ve become so busy nobody goes there anymore.
The Port Authority of New York New Jersey is scheduled to consider an agreement for an American Express Centurion lounge at Newark airport this Thursday.
Back in December I broke the news that American Express was looking at making substantial changes to their premium Marriott co-brand card. There was talk of a $650 fee (or more) to go along with better points-earning, waived resort fees, and even confirmed suite upgrades.
American Express is now surveying a more specific product, that appears to be taking shape.
During Delta’s earnings call on Tuesday the airline shared several fascinating statistics, for instance that corporate travel rose from 20% of 2019 levels in March to being 40% recovered in June, and the airline expects to be back to 60% of 2019 levels by September.
Perhaps even more interesting is the detail they shared on their American Express credit card relationship.
Existing American Express Marriott co-brand cardmembers who enroll between July 14 and September 15, 2021, will be able to earn 6x Marriott Bonvoy points (up to 4 additional points) for each dollar of eligible purchases through September 30, 2021 in four categories.
Aeroplan launched its new suite of credit cards in Canada back in November, and now through August 3, 2021 they’re running the richest initial bonus offers we’ve ever seen for their American Express co-brands, plus generous spend offers for existing customers.
These aren’t available to most Americans, but Chase will be issuing a U.S. Aeroplan Mastercard this year and the Aeroplan program promises “many additional promotions, partnerships, and feature announcements” this summer as well. So take it as a sign of aggressive cardmember acquisition and promotion, even if you can’t pick up 150,000 Aeroplan miles with a single credit card yourself.
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?
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 »
