Since three weeks ago, there have been "rumors" about upcoming major changes to Citi Prestige, which has been temporarily discontinued to new applications since August.  It seems like Citi has learned a lot from Chase regarding this type of marketing strategies - remember two years ago before Chase unveiled Sapphire Reserve there had been all these down-to-details type of rumors about the new card circulating around for months.  When the "rumors", a.k.a. strategic sourcing of unofficial information, started three weeks ago, I called Citi and the custom service representatives did not disclose or confirm any of the information that was circulating around.  But I knew the information was highly likely to be accurate.  Now we finally have it - official words from Citi: existing Prestige cardmembers started receiving emails from Citi regarding the revamp and Citi now also have a dedicated page for this information at information.citi.com/prestige/intro.

The changes will start kicking in on January 4, 2019 when supposedly Citi Prestige will be back online for new applications.  I ran some quick numbers and it seems like as long as Citi offers at least 20K points signup bonus, Prestige will finally take the crown back from Sapphire Reserve as the #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card, after about 2.5 years later.  We won't update the list until then, but let's first look at the changes.

• On January 4, 2019, Citi Prestige will offer 5x points on dining (up from 2x), airfare (up from 3x), and travel agencies (up from 3x), 3x points on hotels (the same as before) and cruise lines (up from 1x), 2x points on entertainment (which is the same, but will go way on 8/31/19), and 1x everywhere else.  Recently, we have seen Amex dramatically increased category bonuses on its personal Gold Card and Business Gold Card with introduction of some 4x categories (personal card now has groceries and dining as 4x and business card has two categories you spend most each month from six categories).  Now Citi pushes the bonus game even further with almost too-good-to-be-true type of bonuses.
• On January 4, 2019, the annual $250 airline credit will be expanded to cover all travel purchases, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, parking, ground transportation, etc.  This is similar to Sapphire Reserve's $300 annual travel credit and will make it much easier to effectively reduce the annual fees.
• The annual relationship bonus will be removed - you will receive your last relationship bonus on your next account anniversary.
• On May 1, 2019, cellphone protection will come to Citi Prestige.  Note that Prestige has already the best in industry consumer and travel protection, along with American Airlines Executive WEMC.
• Coming on September 1, 2019: annual fees will be increased to $495 (from $450) for primary cardmembers and $75 (from $50) for authorized users -  but if you are Citi Gold members, your annual fees will be kept the same at $350.; the Fourth Night Free feature will be capped at 2 times per year (now it is unlimited);  25% bonus ThankYou points when redeeming for flights will be removed - any travel redemption will have fixed value of 1 cent per point - however, the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points remains the same, and thus our valuation of ThankYou points will remain 1.5 cents per point; 2x points earning on entertainment will be reduced to 1x points.

In general, with the already impressive perks and protection and the dramatic increase in category bonuses, Citi Prestige is surely on the way to take back the glorious #1 Best Credit Card spot.  As an existing cardmember who has been thinking about canceling Prestige after obtaining Sapphire Reserve, I can't wait 2019 to come!

August 26, 2018 is a date when several Chase credit card related changes kick in.  First of all, Chase has eliminated two consumer protection benefits: Price Protection (for all Chase cards) and Return Protection (for Sapphire Preferred, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Preferred, United Explorer, and probably other products).  Secondly, Korean Air which used to be a great transfer partner for redeeming Ultimate Rewards points has been removed; on the other hand, JetBlue is added as a transfer partner and the transfer ratio of 1:1 is actually better than the competitors' (Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou, Marriott Rewards).  Lastly, JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite, which has been discontinued to new applications since late last month, receives two enhancements for its existing cardmembers - an annual Marriott portfolio free night capped at 50K points and one extra point earning for all categories.  If you currently have this card, there are many reasons to keep it as long as you can.

In addition, we regularly review the current and recent (within a year) signup bonuses as well as the availability of the top credit cards for adjustment of our ranking.  As a result, our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list has been updated.  Below is a before and after comparison.

As you can see, Amex SPG Card, which used to be a powerhouse for general spending, has disappeared from the list because the earning rate has been reduced from 3x Marriott points (i.e. 1x SPG points in the old system) to 2x Marriott points as of August 1, 2018.  Citi Prestige, which has been pulled from Citi website and unavailable to new applications but will be relaunched in the near future, has been removed as well (hopefully temporarily).  Chase United Club Visa is now #7  due to the consistent signup bonus of 50K miles.  Also note that the enhanced JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa could have landed on this prestigious list for the very first time and also replaced Amex Platinum Card as the #1 Credit Card for Perks if it has not been discontinued to new applications, and unlike Citi Prestige, it seems that Chase has no plan of relaunching this premium card due to the Marriott-Amex-Chase agreement that makes Amex the issuer of premium Marriott credit card.

With the final integration of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programs, we have updated our Featured Review: Marriott Rewards vs. Membership Rewards (MR) vs. Ultimate Rewards (UR) vs. ThankYou (TY) vs. Club Rewards (CR).

In this review we will compare five most popular and versatile rewards programs in the market.  They are similar in that their points can be transferred into miles/points of a number of frequent traveler programs (airlines/hotels).

Marriott Rewards
Marriott Rewards is the frequent guest program of Marriott International whose hotel portfolio includes Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, JW Marriott, EDITION, W Hotels, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, AC Hotels, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, Protea, Moxy, Four Points, element, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club.  Marriott points can be valuable when redeemed for hotel stays in Marriott portfolio hotels.  Here we don't want to go into details of hotel redemption, please visit marriott.com for more information.

Marriott points can be extremely valuable when transferred into miles of 40+ frequent flyer programs, mostly at 3:1 ratio.  This ratio may seem low compared to other programs, but you have to understand this essentially represents the same value as the old Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points which transfer to airline miles at 1:1 and to Marriott points at 1:3 before the final integration of Marriott Rewards and SPG programs.  In fact, with the merger, the number of airline partners actually further increased from 34 to 44.  As Marriott points are generally obtained more easily than the points in the other programs in this review, they do continue to represent great value.

• Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus (3:1)
• Aeroflot Bonus (3:1)
• Aeromexico Club Premier (3:1)
• Air Canada Aeroplan (3:1)
• Air China Phoenix Miles (3:1)
• Air New Zealand Airpoints (200:1)
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (3:1)
• Alitalia MilleMiglia (3:1)
• All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (3:1)
• American Airlines AAdvantage (3:1)
• Asiana Airlines Asiana Club (3:1)
• Avianca LifeMiles (3:1)
• British Airways Executive Club (3:1) 
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (3:1)
• China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles (3:1)
• China Southern Airlines Skypearl Club (3:1) 
• Copa Airlines ConnectMiles (3:1)                                                                                             
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (3:1)
• Emirates Skywards (3:1)
• Etihad Guest (3:1)      
• Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns (3:1)                                                                            
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (3:1)     
• Hainan Airlines (3:1)                                                            
• Hawaiian Airlines (3:1)
• Iberia Plus (3:1)
• Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (3:1)
• Jet Airways JetPrivilege (3:1)
• JetBlue TrueBlue (6:1)
• Korean Air SkyPass (3:1)
• LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass (3:1)
• Miles and More (3:1)
• Multiplus (3:1)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer (3:1)
• Qatar Airways (3:1)
• Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan (3:1)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (3:1)
• South African Airways Voyager (3:1)
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (3:1)
• TAP Air Portugal TAP Victoria (3:1)
• Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus (3:1)
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (3:1)
• United Airlines MileagePlus (3:1.1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (3:1)
• Virgin Australia Velocity (3:1)

Most importantly, if you transfer 60,000 points you receive a bonus of 15,000 points, i.e., 60K Marriott points = 25K miles, or 2.4 Marriott points = 1 mile of most partners.  You can transfer your Marriott points to a household member's Marriott account but there is paperwork you will have to do and sign.  However, you can only transfer your Marriott points to a frequent flyer account under your name.

In addition, you might redeem Marriott points for the Travel Packages (Hotel + Air Packages): your points will be converted to a certain number of frequent flyer miles plus a seven-night hotel certificate at a certain redemption level.  Marriott revamped the Hotel + Air charts in August 2018, with major devaluation.  The new travel packages do not represent good value compared to the simple miles transfer without the hotel certificate; for example, you might redeem 330K Marriott points for 100K miles plus a 7-night certificate at Category 1-4 hotels - you essentially only save 60K points for the hassle of finding a single hotel to stay for 7 consecutive nights.
                                                                                                                                                                     
Membership Rewards (MR) from American Express
On the earning side, you earn one extra point for each dollar spent on travel booked through MR (American Express Travel); however, Amex charges a booking fee on airfare or air-hotel packages ($6.99 per domestic ticket; $10.99 per international ticket) so most likely it is not a good deal.  Effective May 2015, Amex waives the booking fee for Platinum and Centurion cardmembers.  Amex used to have a shopping portal that allowed you to earn up to 10X bonus points; however, it was closed in 2013.

On the redemption side, MR points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel (Pay with Points), and so on, at up to 1 cent per point.  However, some cards are eligible for a transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to over 20 frequent traveler programs.  Let's look at these two groups:

• Not eligible to transfer points: Blue ($0), Blue Business ($0), Zync ($25); however, if you have another card that has the transfer feature, all your MR points will be pooled together and all of them will be eligible to transfer points.
• Eligible to transfer points: EveryDay ($0), Blue Business Plus ($0), EveryDay Preferred ($95), Membership Rewards Business Card ($75), Green ($95), Business Green Rewards ($95), Gold ($125), Ameriprise co-branded Gold ($125), Premier Rewards Gold($175), Business Gold Rewards ($175), Mercedes-Benz Credit Card ($95), Platinum ($550), Business Platinum ($450), Mercedes-Benz co-branded Platinum, Ameriprise co-branded Platinum, Morgan Stanley co-branded Platinum, Goldman Sachs co-branded Platinum, Centurion ($2,500).

MR points can be transferred into miles or points of the following programs:

    Airline Partners

• AeroMexico Club Premier (1:1)
• Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1)
• Alitalia MilleMiglia (1:1)
• All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (1:1)
• British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1:1)
• EL AL Israel Airlines Matmid Club (50:1)
• Emirates Skywards (1:1)
• Etihad Guest (1:1)
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
• Hawaiian Airlines (1:1)
• Iberia Plus (14:1)
• JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)

    Hotel Partners

• Choice Privileges (1:1)
• Hilton HHonors (1:2)
• Marriott Rewards (1:1)

Compared to airline miles transfer, hotel points transfer does not represent  good value.  Even though MR does not have the built-in 25% transfer bonus like Marriott, Amex runs limited-time transfer promotions on certain partners several times a year, so the value of MR points can be higher.  Another huge advantage of MR over Marriott is that the transfer to most partners is instantaneous rather than days or weeks.  This can be very useful when you find a particular award ticket available and want to grab it immediately before it is taken.  The downside of MR is that Amex charges 0.06 cent per point up to $99 for transfer to domestic airlines.  For example, if you transfer 100K points to 100K Delta miles, you will be charged $60 for the transaction.  You can not transfer your MR points to someone else's MR account.  However, you can transfer your MR points to your authorized user's frequent traveler accounts.

Three Ways of Using MR points for Airfare: In addition to the aforementioned two options to redeem MR points for airfare - Pay with Points (fixed value, 1 cent per point) and the transfer feature, Amex also offers certificates for economy tickets for the following airlines: Cathay Pacific, Swiss, Qantas, and South African Airways.  Note that they (except Swiss) are not transfer partners: you can't transfer MR points to their miles but you rather use a bulk of points in exchange for certificates that can be used for economy tickets (or companion tickets).  The use of certificates is not subject to capacity control and you can actually earn miles on them.  There is no certificates for business or first class tickets.

For example, using the certificate a round-trip economy ticket on Swiss from SFO/LAX to Europe costs 65K points no matter how much the revenue ticket actually costs.  If you use Pay with Points feature and the revenue ticket costs $1,000, you will need 100K points.  For comparison, if you want to use Swiss' own frequent flyer program - Miles and More, which by the way is a transfer partner of Marriott, it will cost 50K miles plus fuel surcharge (which can be as high as, say $400) and is subject to capacity control.

Ultimate Rewards (UR) from Chase
Chase  Ultimate Rewards (UR) is a knock-off of Amex Membership Rewards.  On the earning side, you earn one extra point for one dollar spent on airfare booked through UR, but unlike Amex, Chase does not charge a booking fee.  You also earn up to 10x points when shopping through UR.  

The regular UR program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, cash, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point.  However, premium UR cards including Sapphire Preferred ($95), Sapphire Reserve ($450), JPM Reserve ($450), and Ink Preferred ($95), have two premium redemption features: one is 25% bonus to travel redemption via UR (1 point = 1.25 cent); the other is to transfer points into miles/points of frequent traveler programs.  Just like MR, transfer from UR to miles/points is instantaneous.  Also like MR, if you have a regular UR card such as Freedom and another premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred, you can pool all UR points together and enjoy the premium features.  You can transfer your UR points to the UR account or a frequent traveler account belonging to one household member.  Points transfer to third parties is prohibited.  Currently, UR has the following partners:

    Airline Partners

• Aer Lingus AerClub (1:1)
• British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
• Iberia Plus (1:1)
• Korean Air SkyPass(1:1) - partnership ending 8/26/18
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1:1)
• United Airlines MileagePlus (1:1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)

    Hotel Partners

• IHG Rewards Club (1:1)
• Marriott Rewards (1:1)
• World of Hyatt (1:1)

ThankYou (TY) from Citi
For several years, Citi's ThankYou Rewards (TY) had been lagging behind with only one transfer partner Hilton HHonors (this relationship ended in December 2017), and we were excited to see that Citi finally introduced several airline partners in July 2014.  Currently there is no points earning for shopping with Citi.

The regular TY program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, statement credit, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point.  However, premium TY cards including Citi ThankYou Premier ($95), Citi Prestige ($450), and Citi Chairman, have a transfer feature similar to Marriott, MR, and UR, that allows ThankYou points to be transferred to frequent traveler programs.  If you have a regular TY cards such as ThankYou Preferred, you may pool all your points together and the points earned through the regular TY cards become eligible for transfer.  You may share your TY points with someone else; however, the shared points will expire in 90 days.  You can only transfer your TY points to a frequent traveler account under your name.  TY partners include the following:

• Avianca LifeMiles (1:1)
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (1:1)
• Etihad Guest (1:1)
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
• Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (1:1)
• JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
• Jet Airways JetPrivilege (1:1)
• Malaysia Airlines Enrich (1:1)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer (1:1)
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club (1:1)
• Sears Shop Your Way (1:12)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (1:1) 
• Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (1:1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)

Club Rewards (CR) from Diners Club
Club Rewards from Diners Club has always had the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to miles/points.  Club Rewards points earned from Diners Club cards such as Diners Club Premier ($95) and Diners Club Elite ($300), both of which hasn't been accepting new applications since late 2014, can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, cash, travel, etc., at up to 1 cent per point.  In addition, CR points can be transferred to the following frequent traveler accounts, mostly at 1:1:
​
​    Airline Partners

• Air Canada Aeroplan (1000:1000)
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (1075:1000)
• British Airways Executive Club (1000:1000)
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1075:1000)
• El Al Airlines Matmid Club(1000:20)
• EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands (1000:1000)
• Hawaiian Airlines (1075:1000)
• Icelandair Saga Club (1000:1000)
• SAS EuroBonus (1000:1000)
• South African Airways Voyager (1000:1000)
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1613:1200)
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (1000:1000)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1000:1000)

​    Hotel Partners

• Best Western Rewards (1250:3300)
• Choice Privileges (1250:2400)
• Hilton HHonors (1250:2000)
• Hyatt Gold Passport (1250:750)
• IHG Rewards Club (1250:1500)
• Marriott Rewards (1250:1500)

For the master comparison chart, please see the updated review.

Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier World Elite MasterCard now has a 105K + $50 credit signup bonus, the best we have ever seen on this card or the card it replaced (IHG Rewards Club Select MC).  The $89 annual fee is not waived for the first year.  The signup bonus: $50 statement credit after the first purchase + 100,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening + additional 5,000 points after adding one authorized user and making the first purchase within the same 3-month period.  The bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received a signup bonus for this card in the past 24 months. Note that this card is NOT subject to Chase' infamous 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for a new card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months).

So do you apply now?

• Pros: (1) The best ever signup bonus on any IHG-brand credit cards (the previous best bonus was 85K).  (2) The card is NOT subject to the 5/24 rule, so for people who are over 4-card limit it could be be approved.  (3) The anniversary free night capped at 40K level, even not as lucrative as the un-capped free night previously available on IHG Select MC, is still a good reason to keep the card after the first year.  (4) If you still have the old IHG Select MC, you will have two anniversary nights going forward.
• Cons: The value of IHG points are generally not that great - our value is 0.4 cent a piece.  So the signup bonus in our book after considering the $89 annual fee is $380.  If you are interested in other great signup offers, you might want to check out our Promotions page for the list in the order of signup value.

Effective July 29, 2018, Citi has updated the travel and consumer protection benefits provided by its credit cards, and they get worse!  The last time Citi revamped the protection benefits was in May 2016 and it was a major enhancement.  We think it was a little too generous and undoubtedly represented industry-leading benefits, and this time around Citi has reduced certain benefits to get closer to the rest in the market.  The following summary is for Citi Prestige ($450 annual fee) which offers the best level of protection among Citicards; other cards may not have all these benefits, but if they do the changes will be the similar.  However, at this point, we are not sure if Citi AA Executive WEMC which used to share all the same protection benefits as Citi Prestige will be affected, though we highly suspect Citi will exempt one card from what seems like a system wide change.

• Car Rental Insurance: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $75,000, reduced from $100,000. In addition, coverage won't apply to charges or expenses for the loss of use of the rental car, rental agency fees, or taxes any more.  Note that cheaper cards continue to have a maximum of $50,000.
• Trip Cancellation & Interruption: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $5,000 per trip - this maximum used to be per person per trip.  Note that some cheaper cards reduce the maximum accordingly, for example, from $3,000 per trip to $1,500 per trip.  In addition, coverage will be limited to you and your family members - it used to also cover traveling companions.  Citi used to be the only issuer that cover traveling companions and it makes sense for them to reduce it to meet competitions.
• Trip Delay Protection & Baggage Delay Protection: Coverage will be limited to you and your family members - again it used to cover traveling companions. In addition, coverage will only apply to delays of 6 hours or more, down from 3 hours or more.  Citi used to be the only issuer that cover delays of 3 hours or more, for certain cards (Citi Prestige and Citi AA Executive), which was very generous and beneficial in practice.  Some other cards such as Citi ThankYou Premier continue to cover delays of 6 hours or more.
• Lost Baggage Protection and Travel & Emergency Assistance: Coverage will be limited to you and your family members - again traveling companions won't be covered any more.
• Citi Price Rewind: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $200 per item and $1,000 per calendar year - the maximum was down from $500 per item & $2,500 per year.  In addition, coverage won't include consumables, tires, watches, firearms, or ammunition any more.  You also won't be reimbursed if the lower priced item is found at a warehouse club where the merchant requires a membership fee.
• Damage & Theft Purchase Protection: You may be covered for up to $10,000 per incident for 90 days from the date of purchase or delivery of the item purchased with your card - it used to be 120 days from the date of purchase or delivery.  In addition, coverage won't include lost items, firearms, ammunition, jewelry, watches, tires or items that are under the care and control of a third party including, but not limited to, the U.S. Postal Service, airlines, or delivery services.  Also note that coverage will be secondary (meaning if you have another insurance policy, this benefit will cover only the amount your other policies do not). 
• Return Protection: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $1,500 per calendar year, down from $2,500 per year.  Coverage won't include firearms, ammunition, tires, jewelry, furniture or appliances any more.

In general, we are sad to see Citi reduces these benefits, especially the loss of traveling companion coverage, Trip & Baggage Delay coverage minimum changing from 3-hour to 6-hour, reduced maximum for a few benefits, as well as loss of consumer coverage for items like lost items, firearms, jewelry, tires, furniture, etc.  However, they are still considered reasonable adjustments.  Note that Citi's travel protection is still considered the best in industry, probably on par with Chase's, as it covers cardholders plus family members as well as awards tickets; also Citi's Extended Warranty is still industry leading (now on par with Amex, see below) because it covers two additional years.

In comparison, you need to be aware of the fact that effective August 26, 2018, Chase will be eliminating two consumer protection benefits: Price Protection (for all Chase cards) and Return Protection (for Sapphire Preferred, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Preferred, United Explorer).  So we should actually give credits to Citi for at least not taking some benefit items away completely like Chase does.

Interestingly, when Citi and Chase scale back on the protection benefits, Amex has decided to improves some of its.  Effective August 1, 2018, Amex will increase Extended Warranty from one additional year to two and will extend Purchase Protection from 90 days (from date of purchase or delivery) to 120 days.

We haven't written many posts in the recent year or so, and the reason was explained in the previous few posts.  However, now we would like to change things up again, based on feedback from readers.  We will have more short, Twitter like posts, for new or updated reviews as well as credit card and poitns/miles related news.

Chase has introduced Southwest Rapid Rewards (RR) Priority Visa, with a up-to-65K points signup bonus.  The 7.5K anniversary points and the $75 annual Southwest credit combined more than offset the $149 annual fee, and you will enjoy upgrades to Business Select (who will mind A1-A15?) four times a year, 20% onboard discount, potential Tier Qualifying Points earning, etc. for free. A great card to keep after 1st year.  For details see our updated Southwest Visa Review.

The recent highlights on the site include the rebranded U.S. Bank Radisson Rewards Visa, the new Chase World of Hyatt Visa, the new Chase Ink Unlimited Business Visa, the revived Barclays Arrival Plus WEMC.

We have been continuing making updates throughout the site, and here are some highlights:

• Barclays has further increased the signup bonus on its Barclays AA RedAmerican Airlines Aviator Red Card.  Now at 60,000 miles (~$960 in our book), the best signup bonus we have seen on this product, and you only need to make one purchase to receive the bonus!
• Chase has brought back 60,000 points offer (~$840) for all three Southwest cards: Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Premier Business Visa, and Southwest RR Plus Visa.  This is the highest signup bonus on these cards.  Please see our review for details and the signup links.  When you sign up two of these cards, you will receive 120,000 points which more than gets you the very lucrative Southwest Companion Pass status.  After you receive the signup bonuses, you will be upgraded to Companion Pass status for the rest of 2017 all the way to February 2019.
• We also added the "5/24 rule" language to all Chase cards that are affected.  What is Chase's infamous 5/24 rule?  Based on anecdotal reports, you won't be approved for certain Chase cards if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards; authorized users are also counted towards 5/24 by computer, but calling in and explaining it is an authorized user account may get them to remove it from 5/24 counting.  Currently, you can bypass the 5/24 rule when you are targeted (pre-approvals in branch; "selected for you" when you are logged in your account; targeted offers in the mail).
• Citi ThankYou has added Turkish Airlines, a Star Alliance member, to its transfer partners.  The transfer ratio is 1:1.  Also note that through September 6, 2017, there is a 20% bonus promotion for transferring ThankYou points to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1.2 instead of 1:1).

July 23, 2017 has been a daunting date for many Citi Prestige cardholders for about a year, since over a year ago, Citi announced the (mostly negative) changes that would come to Citi Prestige as of this date.  Now the changes finally kicked in: (1) American Airlines Admirals Club access is gone; (2) ThankYou (TY) points fixed value flight redemption has gone down from 1.6 cents per point (cpp) on American flights and 1.33 cpp on other airlines to 1.25 cpp across the board; (3) three rounds of free golf is gone; (4) 4th Night Free feature is based on the average rate over the entire stay rather than the actual rate of the 4th night (taxed will also be excluded in the statement credit), and you may now book hotels through ThankYou.com, in addition to calling Citi Concierge.  Citi threw in some enhancements: a new metal card design (everyone else in the high-end market has had this for a while), increased cash rewards from 0.5 cpp to 1 cpp (cashing out is not the best option to redeem TY points anyway), and the best ever signup bonus of 75,000 points (we don't know how long it will last though).

Obviously, we consider this as a major devaluation of this once dominating player in the high-end card market. It drops out of the Top 10 Best Card for Rewards (previously #9; our valuation of TY points earned from Citi Prestige has gone down from 1.6 cpp to 1.5 cpp, as the flexible feature that allows points to be transferred to frequent flyer programs such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Flying Blue, Etihad, etc. remains untouched).  Citi Prestige's position on the Top 10 Best Cards for Perks also changes from #3 to #7.  As a result, even the increased signup bonus doesn't prevent Citi Prestige from dropping one position on our Top 10 Best Credit Card list, surpassed by U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards.

At the same time, another Citi card - ThankYou Premier is gaining ground with the increased signup bonus from 30K to 50K.  ThankYou Premier is now #4 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card, right behind its big brother.

Here are the snap shots of our Top 10 list before and after the changes.

We have been continuing to make updates throughout the site.  Here are the highlights of the week.

• Effective June 1, 2017, Amex Business Platinum has reduced the 50% rebates to 35% for its fixed-value redemption option when you use "Pay with Points".  Amex introduced the 50% rebate feature back in October 2016, essentially making the Membership Rewards (MR) points worth a fixed value of 2 cents each, when buying First or Business Class tickets with any airline through amextravel.com, and Economy Class tickets with your selected airline also through amextravel.com.  We wrote, "This makes Business Platinum Card a 2% & 10% rewards card, for general purchases and airfare, respectively.  In addition, it opens up opportunities for other MR cards to become more valuable, at least on paper.  For example, when paired with Business Platinum Card, EveryDay Preferred will return stunning 9%, 6%, and 3% rewards for grocery, gas, and general purchases; the personal Platinum Card will return 10% rewards for airfare; Amex PR Gold will return 6% and 4% rewards for airfare and gas/grocery/dining."  Amex has come to the conclusion that this feature is too generous and thus decided to kill it.  Now with the reduced 35% rebates, MR points will be worth 1.54 cents each when you use the "Pay with Points" option, and this value is actually similar to our valuation of MR points when you transfer points to the 21 partner airline or hotel programs.  If you applied the card between October 5, 2016 and May 31, 2017, you are allowed to keep the 50% rebates for a full year.
• Chase has brought the best ever signup offers for its Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa cards, you will receive 60,000 points (~$840 in travel rewards) on each of the three cards: Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Premier Business Visa, and Southwest RR Plus Visa.  This is the highest signup bonus on these cards.  Please see our review for details and the signup links.  When you sign up two of these cards, you will receive 120,000 points which more than gets you the very lucrative Southwest Companion Pass status.  After you receive the signup bonuses, you will be upgraded to Companion Pass status for the rest of 2017 all the way to February 2019.
• Amex has another round of limited-time offers for its Delta SkyMiles cards: 70,000 miles on Delta Platinum Amex (both personal and business) and 60,000 miles on Delta Gold Amex (both personal and business).  Please see our review for details and the signup links.

Amex Blue Business Plus now replaces Amex Blue Business as the entry level Membership Rewards (MR) business card, with no annual fees.  Not only does it offer better rewards for most consumers - 2x (up to $50K spent per year) vs. 1.3x MR points, but it allows points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points without another premium MR card.  Amex Blue Business Plus is the first card ever that returns 2x points for general spending while allowing frequent traveler miles/points transfer.  Previously, the best cards of this type (earning SPG, MR, UR, TY, etc.) "only" return 1.5x points: Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee) returns 1.5x UR points but requires another premium UR card to allow miles/points transfer; Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee) returns 1.5x MR points with a requirement of at least 30 transactions per month.  Based on our current valuation of MR points at 1.5 cents a piece, the Blue Business Plus returns an impressive 3% travel rewards for general spending; the only downside is that the 2x applies to the first $50,000 spent each year.  Please see our Amex Blue Business Plus review for details.  We are now even calling this no-fee card the "King of Business Cards" due to its lucrative rewards potential.

UBS has joined the already (over) heated high-end credit card market, with its Visa Infinite credit card.  Its 3-2-1 rewards structure competes well with its competitors, and while the maximum value is 1.8 cents per point (cpp), our more realistic valuation is around 1.5 cpp.  However, bear in mind that these points can not be transferred to frequent traveler points/miles, as in the case of its major competitors, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, Amex Platinum.  Please see our UBS Visa Infinite review for details.  While it could be potentially rated high on our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, as UBS's intention is to cater for its ultra affluent clients, we need more time to evaluate how easily accessible it is to regular consumers.  Now if you are not a UBS client, you have to call the 800 number and request an application to be mailed to you.

We have been continuing to make updates throughout the site, including an updated review for Delta SkyMiles Amex Cards with enhanced signup bonus (60K for Gold versions, 70K for Platinum versions)

© 2017 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.