Posted by Seth on January 6, 2010 under News | 
A couple changes coming out from the American Express Membership Rewards program here in early 2010, one good and one bad.
First, the bad news. Southwest Airlines will no longer be a transfer partner for the Membership Rewards program as of July 1, 2010. They’ve given ample notice which is nice but the loss of a partner is unfortunate. The Rapid Rewards program never did anything good for me but I understand that a lot of folks do enjoy the program, especially with the companion ticket program. So that’s an unfortunate loss of benefits.
And, now, the good news. The American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program now has an online booking engine. Finally. The new website allows US-based Platinum and Centurion card-holders to research rates, benefits and availability online. Members can also complete bookings directly through the website. The site is a bit slow, flash-based (which I find annoying since it adds no value) and doesn’t display rates at all until you click through to the individual properties. Still, it is a nice improvement from the old system of having to call in. Also, the functionality is set only at the Platinum cardholder level. For Centurion members to receive their added benefits (time-of-booking upgrade and better rates) they will still have to call.
Posted by Seth on December 18, 2009 under points |
American Express announced several months ago that they would be adding British Airways as a transfer partner for their Membership Rewards program by the end of the year. They pushed that “end of year” bit almost to the limit, but as of earlier this week they’ve finally opened up the partnership.
Even better, there is a bonus available for folks who make a transfer before the end of January 2010. It is 5,000 BAEC points for any transfer and the minimum transfer amount is 1,000 so that’s not too bad a deal.
Of course, they might be going out on strike over Christmas ruining travel plans. Or they might arbitrarily decide to cancel a ticket that you bought ruining travel plans. Or you might have to pay the exorbitant fees that they charge for fuel surcharges and taxes on reward flights. But if you can get over that stuff this seems like a decent deal.
Posted by Seth on November 18, 2009 under News, points |
The dance of buyouts and other aid offers surrounding Japan’s JAL sped up a bit overnight with Delta leading the effort from SkyTeam to offer over USD$1Bn in cash and loans to the beleaguered carrier should they be willing to defect from the OneWorld alliance. American Airlines offered back a similar amount, though without the need for $300MM in alliance-switch penalty guaranties. Yes, things are truly interesting over in Japan these days.
But with the two airlines in question hemorrhaging cash these days there is a rather important question that needs to be answered: Where are they getting the money to make such offers?
The answer, it would seem, has a lot to do with frequent flyer points. Lately the only way the airlines seem to be raising any cash is by selling their points to credit card companies. Both American and Delta have recently signed deals to raise funds from Citibank and American Express, respectively. So the airlines are selling a ton of points to third parties and then turning around to use that cash in an attempt to buy JAL. Yup, they’re trying to buy an airline with points. Not quite as crazy as getting a boob job using points though almost certainly a better value on a dollars/point ratio.
As for the actual effects of the loans/merger/buyout/bailout/whatever we’re calling it, that isn’t particularly clear. JAL holds the largest share of takeoff and landing slots at Tokyo’s Haneda airport and they are definitely worth a fair amount of money. Of course, that value depends on having a Japanese economy that is functional and able to push passengers onto the flights.
Perhaps Delta is looking to recreate the Pan American route network buy purchasing 5th freedom rights around the world. Then again, that didn’t work out so well for Pan Am.
And maybe they’re actually trying to drag SkyTeam out of its current position of the “we got picked last” alliance, though I’m not really sure that picking up an almost bankrupt carrier really helps on that front. Still, having the JAL route network would be a huge boon for SkyTeam, though perhaps not quite as significant as the hit OneWorld will take from losing their only representation in that region.
It doesn’t seem likely that anything will actually be decided in the immediate future so there will be plenty of time to watch this one play out. And it should be a rather entertaining dance to watch.
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Posted by Seth on July 30, 2009 under Uncategorized |
I’ve been speculating for a while on some of the changes that will be coming out as part of the new TrueBlue 2 program, jetBlue’s planned re-launch of their loyalty program. I heard some bits direct from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and other bits were inferred from some of the surveys they’ve sent around and other bits of information that have made their way onto the intertubez. Now, finally, the carrier has actually announced some of the details of the new program. And, as with any change in a program, there is some good news and plenty of not so good news, too. The impact will depend on one’s personal travel patterns but the new program definitely looks to be an improvement for at least some customers.
The new program is going to be based on dollar-spend on flights with the carrier. This isn’t really a surprise (I mentioned it as far back as March). Now they’ve released some of the details of that earning. Earning will be at 3 points per dollar spent on airfare. The earning will double to 6 points per dollar for flights booked online, keeping with jetBlue’s double credit for online booking approach that they’ve had since the launch of the original TrueBlue program. The fact that the earning is on fare and fees (like EML seating or checked baggage) but excluding taxes is likely to cause some confusion for some customers (Why did I only earn 291 points if my ticket cost $110??) but such is life.
The new program will also be much better for the customer in terms of point expiration. The current program expires all points 12 months after they are earned, regardless of whether there is additional activity with the TrueBlue program (with an exception for folks who carry the co-branded AmEx card). The new program will not expire any points as long as there is activity on the account within 12 months. That is a pretty good deal, though the 12 month horizon is still at the short end in the industry. But at least the points no longer expire just because. And there will also no longer be a forced issuance of rewards once a customer hits the magic 100 point threshold, another problem with the old program. I actually think that this is a major improvement in the program.
And then the bad news. They haven’t released a reward chart yet. The only information available is this:
You will need at least 5,000 points to earn an Award for a oneway flight. The number of points required to redeem an Award flight will vary according to the flight chosen; for example, some flights may require more than 5,000 points depending on your choice of destination, day of the week, time of year and how far in advance you are booking your flight.
Considering that the lowest price jetBlue traditionally publishes fares at (excluding most sales) is $44-49 each way, that pretty much puts the value of the points earned at a penny each. Not too much of a surprise. So lets extend that out a bit. Earning 5,000 points will actually cost somewhere between $833 in airfare purchases (excluding taxes) assuming an online customer. And as a reward for that spend you get a $50 plane ticket. That’s actually a 6% ROI for the travel spend (excluding taxes). This scheme should appeal to folks who are constantly buying more expensive tickets, as they are now going to get more value for their short flights. And compared to the programs of the legacy carriers it actually is much better in that regard since short, expensive hops are a terrible value in the legacy programs. But that seems to be where the benefits end.
Looking at a leisure traveler, one who does really well in the program today, however, and things are not quite as clear. Take the customer who pays, on average, $250 for a transcon round trip (which is a pretty good price) and buying everything online. Those folks used to get a free reward flight for spending about $1,200 and earning 100 TrueBlue points. That same spend will earn 7,200 points in the TrueBlue2 program at the online rate of 6 points per dollar spent. That’s enough for about $75 in travel credit, nowhere near enough for a round trip ticket. That $1,200 spend used to be enough for a flight anywhere within the jetBlue network. Now it might get you from Long Beach to Las Vegas. That pretty much sucks.
For the Florida or Caribbean commuter – jetBlue’s other major traffic center – the number are similarly bad. At around $200-300 for a round trip flight (again, at the low end of the price scheme) it would generally require about $1,500-2,000 in spend to realize a reward. Now that same spend nets 9,000-12,000 points, or about $100 in travel credit. So the amount of travel required would at least double to realize a reward. At the most expensive end of the jetBlue fare structure – a $439 ticket one-way from New York to Ft. Lauderdale – it would take just over $5,000 in spend to get to 100 TrueBlue points and a reward in the current scheme. In the new scheme that would be 30,000 TB2 points. Assuming the value applies linearly that’s about $300 in travel credit, barely enough for a discount round-trip ticket.
Finally, a quick look at the earning options for the credit card folks. The TrueBlue AmEx will now earn points at a straight $1 = 1 point rate. That is basically in line with every other program out there. At $25,000 in spend that’s 25,000 in TB2 points, or about $250 in credits. Not horrible, but not the same as a reward ticket anywhere in the jetBlue network, which is what $20,000 in spend used to accomplish. Moreover, at $50,000 in spend ($60,000 on Delta) one normally could redeem for last seat availability. At $439 each way on jetBlue that will cost many more points.
There are still no details available about the potential for redemption on jetBlue partners such as Aer Lingus or Lufthansa, something that was supposed to be part of this program. I’d be disappointed, but at the rates involved for other redemptions I’m not really sure it matters at all.
The marketing guys are going to work really hard to sell no blackout dates and great availability since they no longer will need to restrict inventory. But the cost of these improvements, and the commensurate loss of value in the program, really hurts. I was afraid that this was coming. The writing was on the wall. And now the writing is on their website and it doesn’t look good at all. TrueBlue will remain an “also ran” in the world of loyalty programs, at least for me. There are too many great earning opportunities elsewhere for my money.
Update: Wow did I ever screw this one up. I received an email shortly after this post and just got to have a conversation with Dave Canty, the Director of Loyalty for jetBlue. Suffice it to say that I made a pretty big ass out of myself and umption with some of the stuff posted above. The revised and much more accurate details can be found here. Sorry about that.
Posted by Seth on December 22, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Sure, credit limits are being slashed all over the country, but that hasn’t hit me yet. What has hit me are cuts to the travel benefits that AmEx offers for their Platinum and Centurion (“Black Card”) members. The travel benefits were always of questionable value to begin with, depending on travel patterns and whatnot, but I’m pretty confident that they are truly losing most of their appeal, and doing so rather quickly.
The first benefit to go this year was one that was only recently introduced – a domestic 2-4-1 ticket deal for both Platinum and Centurion programs. The program was limited, with blackout dates, only 6 carriers participating (the major legacy companies) and ridiculous ticketing fees on both the “free” and the paid ticket. Still, I managed to use the program a couple times and saved $1-200 each time on flights I’d have taken anyways. Not a bad benefit to have. Sadly this one died about 5 weeks ago.
Next up were changes to the Mandarin Oriental benefit for the Centurion program. I’ve only ever once stayed in an Oriental property. We did so in Bangkok as part of our honeymoon. It was phenomenal. I’m not sure that I can really justify spending that much for hotel rooms on a regular basis (says the guy booking in to hostels for the next few vacation nights to save beer money) but it really was an impressive hotel. The Centurion program offers a BOGO deal at each participating property. Pay for one night and get a second night free, with a few minor limitations. That’s a phenomenal deal. The number of hotels participating continues to drop, however, and the substitute benefit is pretty miserable. You now get a $200 food/spa credit instead of a free night. Ouch.
And finally there is the fabled International Airline Program, AmEx’s 2-4-1 international premium airfare deal. This one is so fraught with caveats that it is almost never a good deal. You have to pay pretty much the highest fare available but inventory for cheaper fares needs to be available, and those discount fares can often be half of the top fare. The carriers and destinations are limited. And the free ticket collects no points. Still, every now and then there were deals to be found. Those diamonds in the rough are going to be harder to find if the rumors of airlines departing the program are true. It seems that Continental, Delta and Emirates are all departing the program.
There are a few new hotels joining the Fine Hotels & Resorts program, but that really only benefits folks spending a lot of money on hotel rooms, of which I am not one. I might be getting rid of the card when it comes up for renewal this year after carrying it for about 5 years. The value is disappearing pretty rapidly for me.
Posted by Seth on October 8, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Last night I came across the news that one of the best travel benefits of the American Express Platinum Card is going away. In March 2007, AmEx introduced a 2-4-1 deal for domestic airline tickets. Unlike the International Airline Program 2-4-1 deal which always required purchasing tickets that were way more expensive than what you could normally buy, the domestic program actually had some value. There are, as usual, restrictions and limitations to the program and it certainly isn’t perfect. But when it works there are real, measurable savings to be seen. I’ve been able to take advantage of it a couple times and have saved a couple hundred dollars each time. That pretty much covers the $450 annual fee before taking in to account any of the other benefits that are there. But with this disappearing the value diminishes significantly.
The last day to call in for the program is November 15th, 2008.
Posted by Seth on July 16, 2008 under Uncategorized |
The American Express Membership Rewards program has been around for a long, long time, allowing the accrual of points for redemption on a variety of airlines, hotels, stores and even casino chips at one point. The participating airlines seem to vary at any given point in time depending on whether AmEx is willing to pay and whether the airline is willing to sell the points. In the past week or so AmEx has quietly added a new airline transfer partner to the US-based Membership Rewards program – the Spanish carrier Iberia. Iberia is the second Membership Rewards partner to participate in the OneWorld alliance, bringing another means of accessing redemptions within that alliance to the Membership Rewards program. That’s the good news.
American Express will transfer your points to Iberia at a ratio of 1,400:100. The reward charts are pretty granular, with flights within Spain or to the Balearics or Gibraltar only 900 points for a round-trip ticket (so only 12,600 AmEx MR points) in “Tourist Full” class, which seems to have no inventory controls. Flights are 1/3 cheaper for “Blue Class” which is limited inventory from what I can tell. Flights from Spain to the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America are only 4,750 points (or ~66,000 MR points), again in the “Tourist Full” class which seems to not be inventory restricted. They also offer one way rewards, with some fares just being 1/2 of a round trip and some (the transatlantics) having a premium attached. But these are only on Iberia-operated flights. When you start getting into partners the numbers go up pretty quickly, which is the bad news.
The redemptions are based on total miles traveled and class of service, with the breakdown looking like this:
| |
Miles Required
|
| Total miles traveled |
Coach |
Business |
First |
| 0 – 600 |
18,200 |
35,000 |
53,200 |
| 601 – 1,000 |
22,400 |
44,800 |
65,800 |
| 1,001 – 2,000 |
28,000 |
54,600 |
82,600 |
| 2,001 – 4,000 |
33,600 |
75,600 |
99,400 |
| 4,001 – 5,000 |
39,200 |
82,600 |
116,200 |
| 5,001 – 8,000 |
44,800 |
88,200 |
133,000 |
| 8,001 – 12,400 |
56,000 |
112,000 |
168,000 |
| 12,401 – 18,000 |
77,000 |
154,000 |
232,400 |
| 18,001 – 25,000 |
105,000 |
210,000 |
315,000 |
| 25,001 – 30,000 |
110,600 |
221,200 |
331,800 |
| 30,001 – 35,000 |
133,000 |
266,000 |
399,000 |
| 35,001 – 40,000 |
154,000 |
308,000 |
462,000 |
| 40,001 – 50,000 |
176,400 |
352,800 |
529,200 |
The numbers at the top of the chart aren’t terrible, but when you start getting into ‘Round The World ticket distances, particularly in the premium cabins, the numbers are pretty bad.
So if you’re looking to get around within Spain or between Spain and something nearby, this looks like a decent option. For longer flights or partner flights the numbers aren’t so great. Then again, the rates of redemption in Mexicana, the other OneWorld partner don’t seem to be all that great either (70K in coach between N. America and Europe versus 44,800-77,000 on Iberia), so this might not be so bad.
More options is always good, even if not all the redemption values are terrific.
Happy Flying!
