Travel and dining rewards don’t mean much when you can’t travel or dine. Here’s how credit card companies are fighting to keep your business — and your money
Dave Grossman spent seven months planning his blowout honeymoon, which was supposed to happen in April. The plan was to fly business class on Qatar Airways to the Maldives using miles; spend six nights at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives using Hilton points, then a week in Sri Lanka; and then fly home to New York in the Etihad First Class apartments. Grossman estimates the flights and hotel stays he booked on miles and points were worth close to $40,000.
Cards that were once focused on travel and dining are, like all of us, embracing life at home. Airline cards are now offering extra points on grocery store purchases. Hotel-branded cards that come loaded with hundreds of dollars of resort credit — funds earmarked for spending at a certain hotel or resort chain — are instead counting everyday restaurant takeout and delivery purchases against those amounts.
They’re right to be worried. Annual fees for high-end travel rewards cards can reach hundreds of dollars annually. These fees are easier to swallow when you’re using points and credits to book a five-star suite in Bali, but might feel less valuable when you’re using the pricey card to buy toilet paper. Ted Rossman, an industry analyst with creditcards.com, was surprised by the backlash when Chase Sapphire raised its annual fee by $100 in January to a total of $550.
But “there are only so many categories you can add, so when everyone adds the same ones it makes it — for someone with multiple cards at least — less valuable,” says Chris Hutchins, another so-called points optimizer and head of autonomous financial planning at Wealthfront.
For instance, a Platinum Amex can be downgraded to Gold or Green while maintaining Membership Rewards points. The top-of-the-line Citi Prestige can be downgraded to the Premier or Rewards+ cards without losing ThankYou Points. Hutchins cautions that some card issuers may allow you to downgrade your card to another card that isn’t part of the same rewards program, which could result in losing your points balance or losing the ability to use them in certain ways, so check first.
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