Why You Should Cut Up Your Affinity Travel Credit Card

[MULTIZ321]

Why You Should Cut Up Your Affinity Travel Credit Card - by Christopher Elliott/ The Blog/ Travel/ Huff Post/ huffingtonpost.com

"A recent poll bears out something I already believed to be true, and am happy to see: Consumers are finally losing their enthusiasm for airline and other affinity credit cards.

Bankrate, an aggregator of financial rate information, reports that its Money Pulse survey found that cardholders "express little enthusiasm for accumulating extra rewards." In fact, half the respondents said they wouldn't care if their card stopped offering loyalty rewards altogether..."

Richard

 

[bogey21]

I gave up on Rewards Cards a couple of years ago as awards kept getting tougher to get and annual fees started being imposed. I am sure there are some out there that are worth the trouble but I now only use two Cards both with no annual fees and cash back. I don't even care if I have the best cash back deal or not. I just take what they give me and move on,

George

 

[Conan]

The savings in checked bag fees more than compensates for the cost of my American Airlines affinity card. I do use a Capital One 2% cashback card for everything I charge apart from the airfare itself.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Points cards / cut up one - apply for a new one / get bonus

Credit cards are a commodity .

The points are a gift to get your loyalty . The best plan is to churn your card portfolio often enough to get new " bonus " points .
Some cards may be worthwhile to keep due to certain benefits ( rental car ins. , no foreign trans. fee , etc)

We eat every day at our house & have to buy food - We use one card just for groceries - that way you stay on top of usage . The points gained from eating paid for a chunk of a MF last year .

Never pay interest when using credit cards or you lose
Cancel cards before the annual fee / if not worth it
Generally points programs are changed over time by the issuer so that the point value is devalued / so use them in less than 18 months .

It is a personal choice & a bit like getting "gift" for attending a TS sales presentation .

 

[Timeshare Von]

I suppose it is how you use them and what benefits you receive.

While it is true that the airlines (and Amtrak) have significantly devalued points for free travel, if you are aware of and manage the offers out there, you can still reap plenty of value out of them.

I am a "churn n burn" user and generally speaking not very loyal to any of the cards. I carry the DL AmExp for the reason mentioned earlier (free checked bags) as well as their frequent rebate offers for using the card at select merchants.

I also carry a Capital One Venture card as our "go to" card when we're not buy meeting the minimum spend on new card offers.

All in all, I am still able to make the credit card rewards programs work for us and our travel needs.

 

[elaine]

me too! As in flying a family of 6 to Europe every few years in July using 30K each way rewards. The ticket price is always at least equal to 2% (at least $1200 RT). With a FF ticket, I can rebook if there is space with no fee to a different day for some in the party if they need to come back early. Plus, I can canx the entire trip and put the miles back into my account for a nominal fee (on AA). The free luggage pays for the card with 1 domestic family trip. We also use the primary payer rental car ins. from the United CC and I also have used the free 1 year extended warranty a few times. We also churn once in a while for a 30-50K bonus. We do have to commit 11 months out to get 6 tickets (and fly in/out of PHL or even JFK vs. DC), but there is no way our family would go to Europe if I had to shell out $10K in airfare. For long hauls in coach, I think they still work well.
But, we all know that tuggers are the travel experts for getting the deals. Most of my friends decide they want to go somewhere about 3 months out, 5 at the max. Can you imagine trying to trade in RCI at 5 months? Same for trying to get airline seats.

 

[geekette]

I've never flown enough to bother having a credit card for miles but I do carry Amex Costco for the rebate $ and will use replacement Costco Visa when the deal ends. I will probably keep Amex for the cash back and extra services like extended warranties. I'm more interested in a discount today on what I am actually buying than a vague hint at possible savings on something I might buy in the future if it's within certain parameters... I'm also keen on picking the flights I want vs the ones that fit with what I have to trade for em...

 

[Talent312]

I use the Cap-One Venture which gives me a 2% credit off any travel expense - hotels, airfares, car rentals, even a 2-hr harbor cruise. No need to book with points. Just erase the charge. Easy as pie.
.

 

[Ken555]

Articles like this aren't for those of us who know how to manage, churn, and otherwise benefit from the loyalty programs. Hopefully they will help others realize they don't need their cards if they aren't benefiting, such as the overly dramatic examples mentioned in this article.

For myself, I'm still doing well - at least for the moment - with my Barclaycard Arrival+, Chase British Air, and AMEX Starwood cards. I've got more but I don't use them often and they pay for themselves in various ways, though I probably should get rid of at least one of them.


Sent from my iPad

 

[ondeadlin]

Articles like this aren't for those of us who know how to manage, churn, and otherwise benefit from the loyalty programs.

Couldn't agree more on this. In the next six months I'm going to pocket at least 375k points in various airline reward programs & a SW companion pass, all from credit card spend and churn. But you've gotta know how to play the game ...

 

[MuranoJo]

We've gotten so many trips to HI (and freebies for friends now & then) and the Caribbean from my UA card. And just recently upgraded us to Biz Class to & from Europe with the miles. A lot of the points were from previous work travel, but for a few years I've just charged everything to build up points.

And I've got a boatload of Marriott points just waiting for the right trip.

Don't think I'll cut up my cards soon.

 

[BocaBoy]

The author of this article, Christopher Elliot, has been on a crusade against all loyalty programs (not just credit cards) for years. He is a consumer advocate who doesn't understand them. I know in our case that loyalty programs (and affinity credit cards) have made possible a MAJOR upgrade in our lifestyle for little cost. He writes from the perspective of consumers who don't make any effort to know how these things work and therefore never get much benefit from them. He blames the programs and not the consumers' ignorance. He claims no one benefits except the travel companies and when some of the facts were pointed out to him his reply was "we have to agree to disagree." He refuses to acknowledge that a program that is good for an airline or hotel company can also be good for program members. He makes no effort to understand or even acknowledge that there is a legitimate opposite viewpoint.

 

[MULTIZ321]

The author of this article, Christopher Elliot, has been on a crusade against all loyalty programs (not just credit cards) for years. He is a consumer advocate who doesn't understand them. I know in our case that loyalty programs (and affinity credit cards) have made possible a MAJOR upgrade in our lifestyle for little cost. He writes from the perspective of consumers who don't make any effort to know how these things work and therefore never get much benefit from them. He blames the programs and not the consumers' ignorance. He claims no one benefits except the travel companies and when some of the facts were pointed out to him his reply was "we have to agree to disagree." He refuses to acknowledge that a program that is good for an airline or hotel company can also be good for program members. He makes no effort to understand or even acknowledge that there is a legitimate opposite viewpoint.

BocaBoy,

Thanks for filling in the background of this author.

As many have posted on this thread - there are benefits to be had if one knows how to work the system.

Best regards,

Richard

 

[DebBrown]

I love my mileage earning credit cards. I use different ones depending on our goals. Sometimes I even surprise myself! We are going to a family wedding in NYC next week and while trying to find reasonable hotel prices, I realized that I had enough Starwood points for everyone in the family to spend 3 nights in NYC. Yay! My United and AA cards have supplemented our "butt in seat" earnings for many years and given us some great trips. Last summer I burned one million AA miles for 10 business class tickets to Spain. I sure didn't earn those million miles by flying.

Deb

 

[BocaBoy]

I love my mileage earning credit cards. I use different ones depending on our goals. Sometimes I even surprise myself! We are going to a family wedding in NYC next week and while trying to find reasonable hotel prices, I realized that I had enough Starwood points for everyone in the family to spend 3 nights in NYC. Yay! My United and AA cards have supplemented our "butt in seat" earnings for many years and given us some great trips. Last summer I burned one million AA miles for 10 business class tickets to Spain. I sure didn't earn those million miles by flying.

Deb

But Christopher Elliott would not acknowledge that you are better off because of these programs. He refuses to believe that you can often get great reservations with your miles and/or points. He actually writes a pretty decent consumer advocacy column, but he has a few blind spots that lead to misguided tirades, and loyalty programs in the travel industry are at the top of that list.

 

[chriskre]

The author of this article, Christopher Elliot, has been on a crusade against all loyalty programs (not just credit cards) for years. He is a consumer advocate who doesn't understand them. I know in our case that loyalty programs (and affinity credit cards) have made possible a MAJOR upgrade in our lifestyle for little cost. He writes from the perspective of consumers who don't make any effort to know how these things work and therefore never get much benefit from them. He blames the programs and not the consumers' ignorance. He claims no one benefits except the travel companies and when some of the facts were pointed out to him his reply was "we have to agree to disagree." He refuses to acknowledge that a program that is good for an airline or hotel company can also be good for program members. He makes no effort to understand or even acknowledge that there is a legitimate opposite viewpoint.

I can understand his wanting to protect the innocent.
Many people sign up for these things just like buying a timeshares and then never use it.
We on TUG are not in that category but there are so many that are.

I personally love the AA and Hotel affinity programs.
Being able to change your flights without a penalty or cancel and not lose your points has saved my butt
with AA a few times and the milesaver First class tickets can't be beat.
And I can't remember when I last paid for a Marriott hotel room in a big city.

 

[BocaBoy]

I can understand his wanting to protect the innocent.
Many people sign up for these things just like buying a timeshares and then never use it.

The big difference is that with timeshares many are bought after a hard sell face-to-face sales meeting. With affinity credit cards people just apply for them after seeing an ad or getting a mailing. Since there is no sales pressure, I don't understand why the innocent need protection. The maximum downside they face is an annual fee, and that is usually only after the first year of having the card.

 

[chriskre]

The big difference is that with timeshares many are bought after a hard sell face-to-face sales meeting. With affinity credit cards people just apply for them after seeing an ad or getting a mailing. Since there is no sales pressure, I don't understand why the innocent need protection. The maximum downside they face is an annual fee, and that is usually only after the first year of having the card.

Because I believe that most of these companies know full well that most people won't be redeeming anything, so in essence these people are "innocent" in the eyes of these crusaders of justice for the consumer.

Obviously these cards makes huge lumps of cash for these companies or they wouldn't be doing it in the first place. Seems everybody has an affinity card. Maybe TUG should have one too.

 

[cubigbird]

The SPG AMEX is truly a rewards card. That is one that I haven't cut up, but rather kept. You can get tremendous value out of it.

 

[MichaelColey]

Just like timeshares, if you work the system, you can get great results. If you don't, it won't be worth it.

 

[falmouth3]

My most frequently used affinity card is Hilton Honors American Express. I've had some very nice vacations from using it. And more to come.

I also have a United card - one free account for me and one for my DH. We use them infrequently but enough to keep our mileage in our accounts from expiring. However, last week I was trying to use up some miles for a trip to an annual professional meeting next Sept. With the new tiered system, I didn't have enough miles on United for a round trip. I also didn't have enough on Delta. Then the light bulb went on and I was able to get a one way trip on each airline. It's getting hard to use those miles, even 11 months out.