Premium travel Credit Cards

[mountainboy]

*$50 AA GC on BoA PRE reimbursed as incidental airline fees

 

[bnoble]

Looks like there maybe a negative change

Despite the fact that I benefit from rewards cards, they are not primarily intended to benefit the consumer. Reining them in a little bit is IMO a good idea.

 

[Eric B]

Despite the fact that I benefit from rewards cards, they are not primarily intended to benefit the consumer. Reining them in a little bit is IMO a good idea.

… but they are intended to benefit the credit card issuers and sponsors (e.g., Hilton) and have the side effect of benefiting the economy by stimulating spending. Reining in rewards cards would thereby hurt the issuers, sponsors, and the economy, which would make it a bad thing. IMHO we shouldn’t be doing anything to hurt the economy!

 

[bnoble]

I don’t believe they stimulate spending so much as capture a fraction of the existing flow.

 

[mountainboy]

Despite the fact that I benefit from rewards cards, they are not primarily intended to benefit the consumer. Reining them in a little bit is IMO a good idea.

Canada has significantly capped interchange/swipe costs of CCs & hence the reward cards have significantly gone down there.....

I understand that many people use CCs irresponsibly/foolishly (just like they use the BNPL programs now foolishly or crypto & the like over time) but hate to see those of us who DO use our CC responsibly lose all the excellent benefits due to some/many people using their CCs irresponsibly...

Hope we will not go to the Canadian model (which would take away most of the awesome CC related benefits many of us have had the privilege of enjoying)..

Just like fire or TSs, if one uses CCs responsibly, they are amazing!


'Canada has significantly capped credit card costs for businesses through a new agreement with Visa and Mastercard that lowers interchange fees for small businesses, and by allowing merchants to add a surcharge of up to 2.4% to cover their costs. While these changes don't cap all credit card costs, they do provide relief for merchants and allow them to pass some of the costs onto consumers at a regulated rate, notes Canada.ca and CBC.
Fee reductions for small businesses

• Lower interchange fees: Canada has finalized agreements with Visa and Mastercard to lower interchange fees for small businesses, which are the fees that merchants pay to credit card companies for each transaction.
• Significant savings: The government announced that these reductions are expected to result in approximately $1 billion in savings for small businesses over five years.
• Specific cap for some businesses: The new agreements also include a cap of 0.95% for eligible businesses, according to CBC.

Surcharging rules

• Cap on surcharges: Merchants can now charge consumers a surcharge of up to 2.4% per transaction to cover their credit card processing costs, as detailed on Canada.ca and by CBC.
• Surcharge cannot exceed the merchant's cost: The surcharge cannot be higher than the actual cost the merchant pays to accept the card, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
• Transparency requirements: Merchants must clearly display the surcharge at the point of sale and on their receipts, as outlined on Canada.ca.
• Consumer choice: Consumers who prefer to avoid the surcharge can choose to pay with a different method, such as cash or debit.

Important note on Quebec

• Exceptions in Quebec: These new surcharging rules do not apply in Quebec, where credit card surcharges are forbidden under the province's Consumer Protection Act, according to Radio-Canada.

 

[mountainboy]

There is a whole new TUG thread on this new CC settlement...
Let's see if this significantly impacts our premium rewards cards or more merchants start charging extra fees for using CCs...

The Credit-Card Rule That Powers Rewards Cards Just Got Broken

https://www.wsj.com/finance/visa-mastercard-reach-settlement-with-merchants-to-lower-fees-c5fde9b7?st=NvYR1n I still think much of this is merchants shooting themselves in the foot. You start making people worry about their card being declined, you see less people buying. You also have the...

tugbbs.com

 

[ljmiii]

Interestingly enough, I was checking my CSR account to look for something else and noticed that it said I had used my $150 Chase Dining Credit. I tracked it down and found that it was triggered by spend at a restaurant in the Visa Dining Collection but NOT in the Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables collection.

No idea if this will continue...but some of our favorite NYC restaurants are in the Visa Dining Collection and not the Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables collection.

 

[Eric B]

Ate at Pig & Khao UWS in NYC for DW’s CSR table. We got the family meal, which was way too much food - about 3 dinners worth of leftovers. Total bill was ~$200 including tip - it would be simple for two to dine well here for <$150 including tip. Food was good - southeast asian fusion. Worth coming back to.

 

[Eric B]

For comparison, we ate at El Taller del Xiquet in DC last week for my CSR table. Food was great there, too. No leftovers and bill came to ~$350. Still worth a visit, but will always be out of pocket if two dine.

 

[mountainboy]

@Eric B , Thx for sharing the DPs!