USAA Total Rewards Program Changes

Anonymous · ‎10-26-2009

Got an e-mail from USAA about changes to the rewards program effective April 2010. An initial glance at the new rules seems to indicate that points to cashback ratio is still the same. In fact, I didn't notice any changes at all in other areas, either. Anybody have more details?

An excerpt from the e-mail:

You are a valued customer, and we thank you for banking with USAA. We're writing to let you know that USAA Savings Bank is making modest changes and enhancements to our USAA Total Rewards Program for your account ending in 0000.

Changes to the program
The name of the program is changing to USAA Rewards. Additionally, to help balance the member benefits we provide with the cost of doing business, effective April 1, 2010, the number of points required for gift cards and travel will increase. For a complete list of the new redemption levels and rewards values, please see the tables in the terms and conditions.

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2009

I received something in the mail from USAA. I quickly looked at it and it didn't seem like too much had changed. Actually I couldn't identify anything that had changed but again it was just a quick look.

haulingthescoreup · ‎10-27-2009

As best as I can tell, the only thing that has changed is that after March something, it will take more points for airline miles and some other stuff.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007

Anonymous · ‎10-27-2009

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
As best as I can tell, the only thing that has changed is that after March something, it will take more points for airline miles and some other stuff.

That's pretty much what I get, too.

I just looked closely enough to see for sure that the $$ rewards and the Amazon gift certificate rewards didn't change. Heck, even if they eliminated the rewards I wouldn't dump the card -- as long as there is no AF.

For me, an AF is always a dealbreaker.

Message Edited by O6 on 10-27-2009 07:08 PM

Anonymous · ‎11-02-2009

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
As best as I can tell, the only thing that has changed is that after March something, it will take more points for airline miles and some other stuff.

Gift Certificate/Cards -- Number of Points Redeemed / Reward Value

Before
3,000 $25
6,000 $50
12,000 $100

After
3,500 $25
7,000 $50
10,500 $75
14,000 $100
28,000 $200
35,000 $250
70,000 $500

Airline Travel Rewards -- Number of Points Redeemed / Reward Value

Before
15,000 $150
20,000 $225
25,000 $300
35,000 $420
50,000 $600
75,000 $900
100,000 $1,200

After
15,000 $150
22,500 $225
25,000 $250
30,000 $300
42,000 $420
60,000 $600
90,000 $900
120,000 $1,200

Anonymous · ‎11-02-2009

This was posted on another site. The cash rewards are going to be changed, too.

Current USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  2,000                 0.35% of all Annual Net Purchases
$ 2,000 to $ 4,000 $    7 plus 0.75% of Annual Net Purchases over $2,000
$ 4,000 to $15,000 $  22 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $4,000
$15,000 or more      $132 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $15,000

New USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate beginning February 2010:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  5,000                     0.45% of all Annual Net Purchases
$  5,000 to $10,000 $  22.50 plus 0.85% of Annual Net Purchases over $5,000
$10,000 to $17,000 $  65 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $10,000
$17,000 or more      $135 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $17,000

Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-02-2009 10:26 PM

Anonymous · ‎11-03-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
This was posted on another site. The cash rewards are going to be changed, too.

Current USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  2,000                 0.35% of all Annual Net Purchases
$ 2,000 to $ 4,000 $    7 plus 0.75% of Annual Net Purchases over $2,000
$ 4,000 to $15,000 $  22 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $4,000
$15,000 or more      $132 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $15,000

New USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate beginning February 2010:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  5,000                     0.45% of all Annual Net Purchases
$  5,000 to $10,000 $  22.50 plus 0.85% of Annual Net Purchases over $5,000
$10,000 to $17,000 $  65 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $10,000
$17,000 or more      $135 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $17,000
Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-02-2009 10:26 PM

Where did you get this?

My USAA e-mail stated that there are no changes to the rewards structure for cash rebates. Other changes such as airline tickets and gift certificates are all changed effective February 2010.

haulingthescoreup · ‎11-03-2009

MojaveMoon wrote:

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
As best as I can tell, the only thing that has changed is that after March something, it will take more points for airline miles and some other stuff.

Gift Certificate/Cards -- Number of Points Redeemed / Reward Value

Before
3,000 $25
6,000 $50
12,000 $100

After
3,500 $25
7,000 $50
10,500 $75
14,000 $100
28,000 $200
35,000 $250
70,000 $500

Airline Travel Rewards -- Number of Points Redeemed / Reward Value

Before
15,000 $150
20,000 $225
25,000 $300
35,000 $420
50,000 $600
75,000 $900
100,000 $1,200

After
15,000 $150
22,500 $225
25,000 $250
30,000 $300
42,000 $420
60,000 $600
90,000 $900
120,000 $1,200

Thanks for the summary --I was too lazy to go look up the exact figures for myself.

Guess I'd better buy some tickets!

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007

Anonymous · ‎11-03-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This was posted on another site. The cash rewards are going to be changed, too.

Current USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  2,000                 0.35% of all Annual Net Purchases
$ 2,000 to $ 4,000 $    7 plus 0.75% of Annual Net Purchases over $2,000
$ 4,000 to $15,000 $  22 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $4,000
$15,000 or more      $132 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $15,000

New USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate beginning February 2010:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  5,000                     0.45% of all Annual Net Purchases
$  5,000 to $10,000 $  22.50 plus 0.85% of Annual Net Purchases over $5,000
$10,000 to $17,000 $  65 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $10,000
$17,000 or more      $135 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $17,000
Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-02-2009 10:26 PM

Where did you get this?

My USAA e-mail stated that there are no changes to the rewards structure for cash rebates. Other changes such as airline tickets and gift certificates are all changed effective February 2010.

I just got an email with those changes as well. However, they said it was only for one of my accounts (I have two) so perhaps they are only targeting certain people? Either way, the cash reward program will be changing (at least for some) as described above in Feb. 2010...

Anonymous · ‎11-03-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This was posted on another site. The cash rewards are going to be changed, too.

Current USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  2,000                 0.35% of all Annual Net Purchases
$ 2,000 to $ 4,000 $    7 plus 0.75% of Annual Net Purchases over $2,000
$ 4,000 to $15,000 $  22 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $4,000
$15,000 or more      $132 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $15,000

New USAA Cash Rewards Program Rebate beginning February 2010:

If the Annual Net Purchases are: Then your Cash Rewards Rebate will be:
$        0 to $  5,000                     0.45% of all Annual Net Purchases
$  5,000 to $10,000 $  22.50 plus 0.85% of Annual Net Purchases over $5,000
$10,000 to $17,000 $  65 plus 1% of Annual Net Purchases over $10,000
$17,000 or more      $135 plus 1.25% of Annual Net Purchases over $17,000
Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-02-2009 10:26 PM

Where did you get this?

My USAA e-mail stated that there are no changes to the rewards structure for cash rebates. Other changes such as airline tickets and gift certificates are all changed effective February 2010.

I just got an email with those changes as well. However, they said it was only for one of my accounts (I have two) so perhaps they are only targeting certain people? Either way, the cash reward program will be changing (at least for some) as described above in Feb. 2010...

To clarify, USAA offers two types of AmEx. One is the Total Rewards and the other is called Cash Rewards.

My original post was referring to the Total Rewards version of the USAA AmEx. For the Total Rewards version, the e-mail and subsequent calls to USAA were very clear that changes will not take place until 2010 and also that the number of points needed for cashback will not change.

Changes for the USAA Cash Rewards AmEx may be different.