Recently, the Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell about the Bilt Mastercard®, a credit card that allows users to earn points on rent payments without transaction fees. Wells Fargo, Bilt's bank partner, is experiencing significant financial losses due to this partnership, and there are concerns about whether the contract will be renewed.
In 2022, Bilt launched with a simple premise: to help people earn points on rent payments without incurring transaction fees. This concept was familiar to some, reminiscent of options like RadPad, which charged a 2.99% fee.
The Bilt Card appealed to credit card users as it could help earn points on a category that was otherwise dismissed, for no additional cost. Despite initial skepticism, the card gained traction.
Use the card 5 times each statement period to earn points. See the Bilt Mastercard® rates and fees here: https://www.asksebby.com/rates/bilt
Ankur Jain founded Bilt in 2019, initially partnering with Evolve Bank before moving to Wells Fargo to scale the business. This transition highlighted a common fintech strategy: partnering with traditional banks for their user acquisition and interface capabilities.
Despite Wells Fargo's initial enthusiasm, the financial losses have been substantial. The bank is losing as much as $10 million every month on the program, mainly from savvy customers who maximize the card's benefits without carrying balances.
Wells Fargo anticipated that the card would attract younger customers who could eventually be cross-sold other banking products like mortgages. However, these projections have not materialized. The goal of cross-selling fell flat as Wells Fargo pulled back from mortgage lending.
Additionally, the card's economics didn't hold up as expected: only 35% of the spend was non-rent, and the expected interest from carried balances was significantly lower than projected.
Ankur Jain, CEO of Bilt, responded to the Wall Street Journal's report, clarifying that Wells Fargo's losses are primarily acquisition costs.
He emphasized that the Bilt Card's primary users are young professionals in major cities, often with high incomes. Customers that would otherwise cost competitors a lot more money to acquire than what Wells Fargo is paying Bilt.
Given the financial strain, I see a few ways this situation could be address:
From my perspective, the best approaches might be to pay Bilt less for rent payments or to increase the number of required swipes. These options could balance the financials without alienating customers.
This would address one of the primary issues (more everyday purchases) without causing too much friction.
This situation presents a complex challenge for both Bilt and Wells Fargo. The future of their partnership (post-2029) will depend on finding a sustainable financial model that benefits both parties.
If you're considering diversifying your credit card portfolio, explore options like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, both offering competitive intro bonuses and solid benefits.
Act fast! Park Hyatt Niseko just opened up award space for the end of January 2025! If you’re into skiing or snowboarding, this is one of the best redemptions. ⛷️
Side note: if you're not into skiing, there's wide open availability for the rest of 2024 for 35,000 points/night. Great for hiking or enjoying nature before the ski season!
Niseko offers some of the best skiing in the world and awesome if you’re looking for fresh, dry powder, with heavy snowfall. They even have a term for it — JAPOW — Japan Powder!
The retail price for 3 nights is about ¥600,000 (~$4,233 USD).
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Even with a favorable exchange rate, you're looking at ~$1,400 / night.
Retail
$1,400 / 45,000 Hyatt = 3.1 cents per point
My hurdle rate (how much value I need to get before using them) for flexible / Hyatt points is 2 cents per point, and this is a great redemption.
I’m generally happy to pay upwards of $1,000 per night for 5-star ski hotels (for example, we paid out of pocket for The Chedi at Andermatt).
Would Pay
$1,000 / 45,000 Hyatt = 2.2 cents per point
YMMV, but a great booking in my book :)
The Park Hyatt is nestled on the Hanazono side of Niseko, which is great for intermediate and advanced skiers — tons of reds (~blues in the U.S.) and backcountry options for this ski area.
It’s not a bad option for beginners either, but you might be stuck on the same few runs!
You can watch the in-depth reviews of the Park Hyatt Niseko on the Sebby Fung and Mandy Roams channels. I also made a Niseko ski guide video about what to expect on the slopes.
Dreaming of seeing Taylor Swift live, without paying the outrageous prices on the secondary market? Capital One just dropped exclusive access to the Eras Tour!
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Capital One is giving eligible Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card cardholders exclusive access to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Miami, New Orleans, and Indianapolis.
Look for the email subject line "Venture X access to Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour."
This is a limited-time offer, so let's dive into the details.
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If you're a Swiftie with a Venture X card, this is a no-brainer. The exclusive access could mean better seats and less competition compared to general sales. Even if you're not a huge fan, these tickets could be valuable for resale (though I don't encourage this practice).For those without a Venture X card, it's probably too late to apply just for this offer. But it's worth noting for future promotions – the Venture X often comes with perks like this that can offset its annual fee.
This is a solid perk for existing Venture X cardholders who are Taylor Swift fans. Remember, time is of the essence – you only have until September 11 to register.
Even if you're on the fence, I'd recommend registering. You can always decide later if you want to purchase tickets.
Delta Airlines and American Express have reintroduced the limited-edition Boeing 747 Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, following positive feedback from their initial launch in 2022.
The card is crafted from metal sourced from retired Delta Boeing 747 aircraft, featuring a cloud-white glossy finish. Available for a limited period from April 25 to June 5, 2024, the card aims to appeal to aviation enthusiasts by incorporating a piece of aviation history.
Enhanced travel benefits accompany the card's release, enriching the overall travel experience for Delta loyalists.
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. See Rates & Fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card. See Rates & Fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card.
If you're an existing Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card cardholder, you can login to your American Express account and request the new design.
Go to Account Services and click on Card Management.
Order a replacement card and select "I want to change my Card's design."
Select the Boeing 747 design for the replacement card.
The next step is to enter the 3-digit CSC on your existing card.
After you verify the number, you'll get a confirmation screen and an expected date for the replacement card.
Act fast! For a limited time, if you have Delta SkyMiles Medallion status, you can status match to JetBlue Mosaic.
JetBlue is only accepting the first 30,000 applications or until 10/31/23, whichever comes first.
After getting Mosaic status, you can keep it until 12/31/2023. To keep this status for the year 2024, you will need to complete a challenge. Enjoy new benefits with your Mosaic status this year.
In the status match form, you'll need to submit screenshots of your Delta status as proof.
Depending on the Delta level you're matching from, you'll enjoy various benefits until December 30, 2023. You'll need to complete additional tasks to keep the status through 2024.
As a Mosaic 1, you'll receive the following Signature Perks:
Plus, you'll enjoy Mint Suite® Priority as your pre-selected Mosaic 1 Perk You Pick.
As a Mosaic 2, you'll receive the following Signature Perks:
Plus, you'll enjoy the Pet Fee Waiver as your pre-selected Mosaic 2 Perk You Pick.
As a Mosaic 3, you'll receive the following Signature Perks:
Plus, you'll enjoy the FoundersCard Blue Membership as your pre-selected Mosaic 3 Perk You Pick.
As a Mosaic 4, you'll receive the following Signature Perks:
Plus, you'll enjoy 15,000 TrueBlue Points as your pre-selected Mosaic 4 Perk You Pick.
All status and perks are valid through 12/30/23, and keeping your status through 2024 is as easy as successfully completing this challenge. This challenge can be completed in one of two ways:
This status match offer is available to a maximum of 30,000 applicants, or until 10/31/2023, whichever comes first. Once the maximum number of applicants is reached, the signup form will no longer be accessible and no additional applicants will be able to register.
MGM Resorts and Hyatt recently announced the end of their strategic partnership, effective September 30, 2023.
We did a quick search for new trademark filings to see if we could find any clues to what's next. Note: these are my predictions, I could be completely wrong :)
On June 13, 2023, MGM filed a trademark for "MGM Collection" relating to hotel accommodation services, restaurant, and bar services.
Could MGM take the Hyatt playbook of partnering with other small boutique hotels?
The more exciting prediction that I hope is happening is that MGM could potentially partner with Marriott Bonvoy. There's a lot of connecting dots.
The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is part of Marriott Bonvoy, and MGM acquired Cosmopolitan for billions. Despite the sale to MGM, Cosmo was keeping the Mariott partnership.
The Marriott partnership didn't extend to other MGM resorts because of their Hyatt partnership. Could this whole situation be that Marriott and MGM have finalized a partnership?
To me, that's the most interesting outcome because a lot of us also have Marriott status. If that happens, it means that there's still a path to waived resort fees for half The Strip.
On May 9, 2023, Marriott International filed a trademark for "It's In The Cards" related to promoting the sale of credit card accounts through the administration of incentive reward programs.
We'll have to wait and see what's next for MGM Rewards!
Over the weekend, we noticed that Citi recently filed a trademark application for the "Citi Strata Elite." We don't know anything about the new card yet, but we have high hopes that it will be Citi's new luxury travel card.
From what we can gather from the trademark application, it's for the promoting and sale of credit cards. More importantly, "credit card services." This is the same trademark category like the Sapphire Reserve, which makes us have hopes that the new card will be at a similar card tier.
American Express is updating their signup bonus terms and conditions to stop people from gaming the system. The updated terms allow Amex to freeze accounts and claw back bonuses if you break any rules. h/t Flyer Talk
You can find the updated terms and conditions on most of the cards:
"... points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account 8-12 weeks after you have met the purChase requirement. If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with the welcome bonus offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, if you applied for one or more cards to obtain a welcome bonus offer (s) that we did not intend for you; if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; or if you cancel or return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount), we may not credit Membership Rewards to, we may freeze Membership Rewards credited to, or we may take away Membership Rewards from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us.
American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke offer at any time.
Your account must be in good standing and not in default at the time of fulfillment of any offers.
*Qualifying purchases are purchases for goods and services. Qualifying purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards; person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply."
There are three main changes:
For all three of these topics, they can either freeze your points, cancel your cards, or claw back the signup bonus. We've seen this in the past with leaked Amex Platinum cards. People who manufactured spend for the leaked link had their signup bonus clawed back and account closed.
The first major change to the terms is that if you apply for a credit card, you have to be targeted for it. If you want to apply for a particular offer, be sure it's not a leaked link.
Don't use links that are not publicly available or not targeted towards you. Most leaked links are only available for a few hours before they're shut down. Last year, there was a leaked link with a 100,000 signup bonus.
All of the offers we talk about on AskSebby are publicly available. Increased offers are okay to use. For example, if we talk about how the Amex SPG card normally has a signup bonus of 25,000 points, and there's an increased offer of 35,000, then this is okay because it's publicly available.
The second change in terms is related to hitting minimum spend. Amex wants you to make real transactions. Some people buy $3,000 in items and refund the items once the bonus posts. Be sure if you do purChase an item and return it, there is enough remaining balance to cover the minimum spend requirement.
The other change in regards to hitting minimum spend is related to gift cards. Amex can see third level data, meaning they can see exactly what you purChased. The main issue is buying Visa gift cards because they are cash equivalents.
If you do a product change or cancel the card before 12 months, they can claw back the bonus. Amex refunds the annual fee if you product change or cancel the card within 30 day of the fee posting.
Don't cancel or downgrade the card until after the second the annual fee hits. For example, if you apply for the Amex Platinum card on July 31, 2017, wait until after July 31, 2018, to cancel or product change the card. In this situation, you can downgrade or product change starting on August 1, 2018.
If you are considering canceling a card, be sure to call the retention line first to see if they can offer points to make the annual fee more reasonable.
Again, you're free to downgrade or cancel after the one year mark. As long as you call within 30 days of the second annual fee posting, they will refund the fee.
These changes seem reasonable and fair because the people who are taking advantage of these loopholes are the ones that are doing it to an extreme. Amex is cracking down on individuals who abuse their programs and benefits.
Each card issuer is different, but I do foresee other banks taking a similar stance to combat people gaming the system. For me, I think it's fine to pay the annual fee during the first year because I only apply for cards that have a generous signup bonus that outweighs the fee.
A recent American Express survey found that 60% of respondents arrive at the airport early to enjoy airport lounges.
In 2023, American Express plans to open a Centurion Lounge on Concourse E at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The new lounge will be the largest in the Centurion Lounge network– measuring approximately 26,000 square meters with distinctive amenities that passengers will enjoy.
Let's go over the details we've got so far!
The Centurion Network is composed of over 40 locations worldwide. Around 13 of those locations are found across the U.S., including:
The Centurion network also includes International Lounges and Escape Lounges (the Centurion Studio partner).
Amex Centurion Lounges are one of my favorite lounge networks when traveling domestically. They offer amenities like fast Wi-Fi, comfortable seating, an open bar with complimentary wine and drinks, and meals that outperform what you’ll find in most other airport lounges.
The newest lounges, such as the JFK Centurion Lounge in New York City (JFK) and the Centurion Lounge in Denver (DEN), have taken what makes Centurion Lounges unique and elevated it with some local style, signature touches, and plenty of additional space.
The new Centurion lounge at Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta, will surpass both the Denver (DEN) Centurion lounge and New York’s Centurion lounge in terms of size and special amenities. Currently, Hartsfield-Jackson features nine Delta Sky Clubs, one United club, one American Admirals Club, and one common-use lounge called The Club ATL on international Concourse F.
The new Atlanta Centurion lounge will be the largest in the world, measuring 26,000 square feet, and will be constructed on top of the existing roof, next to gate E11.
Located in Concourse E between the domestic and international terminals, this new lounge will be accessible from all terminals by The Plane Train or by walking along the Transportation Mall. The lounge will also provide Card Members with travel needs like high-speed Wi-Fi, shower suites, private telephone rooms, private noise-canceling workspaces, and more.
Furthermore, according to American Express, qualified Card Members will receive an authentic taste of Atlanta thanks to unique features such as:
Atlanta is the biggest and busiest airport with approximately 300,000 passengers passing through every day.
The airport is about seven miles south of Downtown Atlanta. From Atlanta International Airport, over 1,000 aircraft services run to numerous international and local destinations. It is also considered Delta Airlines' primary hub. The airport features two terminals and seven concourses, totaling around 195 gates.
Despite the fact that the Delta mega-hub is filled with Sky Clubs, there are few lounge options for passengers traveling with other carriers. The Club at Concourse F is the only Priority Pass Lounge, in addition to lounges for American and United frequent travelers.
As stated by the Atlanta City Council in public records about the lounge, this will leave passengers flying on the remaining 15 airlines at ATL with just one substantially undersized option, even if they are flying in a premium class.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Council approved a contract for the lounge in June, but American Express stated that construction, permitting, design, and staffing will take until next year to complete. The council also mentioned that American Express will foot the bill for the lounge's $40 million shell construction.
Centurion lounges are complimentary to all American Express card members with The Platinum Card® or The Business Platinum Card® on the day of their flight.
Alternatively, if you have the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card or the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and are flying on a Delta flight the same day, you can also access a Centurion Lounge at no cost.
In the past 18 months, American Express has opened new additional sites including JFK in New York, Centurion Lounges in Denver (DEN), and London’s Heathrow (LHR) airport. The former lounge at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York was also replaced with a new location in the airport's reconstructed Terminal B.
Apart from the Centurion Lounge at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, another new lounge is being built at Reagan National (DCA) in Washington, D. C. airport and is set to open later this year. Meanwhile, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board has approved the construction of a Centurion Lounge in Newark (EWR) airport's new Terminal A, which is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2023.
We don’t have the exact date yet but it was reported that the new Centurion Lounge at Atlanta Airport Concourse E is expected to open in 2023. While this is a pretty broad time frame, I don’t think it'll open until the third or fourth quarter of next year.
Amex seems to be spending more on its lounges as the network expands. Especially now that the annual premium for the Personal Platinum card in the United States has been raised to $695, they would be wise to broaden their lounge portfolio.
Capital One is kicking off March with a bang with three announcements. While the generous welcome bonus on the new Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card will officially end this 14th of March, the bank will also create two big moves in the coming weeks:
The bank will offer a 20% transfer bonus to three airline partners to get even more out of Capital One card.
Here's everything you need to know about the Capital One program's upcoming changes.
When Virgin Red officially becomes Capital One's 16th transfer partner, you'll be able to transfer Capital One miles to Virgin Red at a 1-to-1 ratio, which means that one Capital One mile equals one point or mile in the respective partner program. With a few exceptions, most of Capital One's other airline and hotel partners will transfer on a 1-to-1 basis as well.
This also means that you can leverage them to get great partner redemptions, like ANA’s first and business class to Japan and Delta One to Europe and at reasonable prices.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points can be used to buy First and Business Class flights to Japan on the renowned airline ANA (All Nippon Airways).
Let's take a look at this award table:
As you can see, a round trip in Business Class only requires just 90,000 – 95,000 miles, while a round trip in First Class will need 110,000 – 120,000 miles.
That equates to as little as 55,000 miles one way to Japan in world-class First Class and as few as 45,000 miles one way in world-class Business Class. In addition, they are offering two new hard products: The Suite (First Class) and The Room (Business Class). This unique cabin is now available on select flights from New York to Tokyo, but it will be expanded in the future.
To make reservations with Virgin, you can contact and request that the ticket be held for a day while you transfer points from any US transferable credit card point program, including Capital One.
One-way redemptions are now possible too.
For 50,000 Virgin points, you can book any Delta Business Class ticket (Delta One) that Delta makes accessible to partners.
This no longer applies to flights to the United Kingdom, although it does for Delta flights from the United States to the European continent.
Therefore, a flight from DTW to AMS or JFK to AMS would only cost 50,000 Virgin points, a figure that you will never see on Delta's SkyMiles program, even at the lowest level.
Unfortunately, all other Delta flights booked via Virgin now make use of a distance-based award chart.
Capital One will also provide a 20% transfer bonuses to the following partners, which will expire on March 31, 2022:
This means that for every 1,000 miles transferred, you'll receive 1,200 points in your loyalty account.
Wyndham Rewards is one of the better ones. The typical 1:1 transfer ratio can be handy at times, especially when renting Vacasa properties, which only cost 15,000 points per bedroom. With this transfer bonus, you'd only need to transfer 12,500 Capital One miles per bedroom per night. However, you'd have to do so in 1,000-mile increments. If you have a personal or company Wyndham Rewards Earner card, you can additionally enjoy a 10% discount on award rates. This decreases 15,000 point payouts to 13,500 points, needing just 11,250 Capital One miles per bedroom/night.
Avianca's LifeMiles is the other great transfer bonus here since they have a couple of sweet spots that get even better when you just need to transfer 1,000 miles for every 1,200 LifeMiles.
While the 1:1 ratio is the norm for most transferable currency travel partners, Aeromexico is an exception to some extent. Brex and Citi also transfer to Aeromexico on a 1:1 basis. However, the normal transfer ratio from American Express Membership Rewards is 1:1.6.
Based on statistics from the miles and points community, here's how long Capital One miles normally take to transfer.
Capital One demands a minimum of 1,000 miles for the transfer. Keep in mind that transfer ratios differ from one loyalty program to the next. See the chart below:
UPDATE: Effective October 7, 2021, Capital One raised the transfer ratio for all airline partners, excluding EVA Airways, to 1:1.
