USBank FlexPerks double nerf

Anonymous · ‎07-11-2017

Effective January 1 2018, FlexPerk redemption value tops out at 1.5¢ per point instead of 2¢ per point, so a 25% devaluation.

Also, for the USBank Travel Rewards FlexPerks card, charitable contributions will only earn 2x points instead of 3x points.

Between the two nerfs, that cuts my rewards on charitable contributions in half, from a reward level of 6% to a reward level of 3%. I run about $10k of contributions yearly through this card, so between the two nerfs, that means a value loss about $300 per year for me. I will probably just do a large travel-based redemption, cash out the rest and close the card (actually cards, since DW and I each have one). It will probably also mean moving back to making charitable contributions direct from checking. When I was getting 6% back, it made sense to put charges on this CC, because what I was earning was far more than the swipe fees that the charity was incurring. But at 2-3%, it's barely break-even.

It's disappointing, but hey, that's the thing about the rewards game, ever-changing.

Chris.

NRB525 · ‎07-11-2017

It is unfortunate the 3 points on charitable goes away, but this actually makes the US Bank cards plural a bit more interesting.

They are removing the annoying tiers of redemption, going to the flat 1.5c per point rate. The next step would be to allow combination with points on the Altitude Reserve.

Then you could have a combo of Altitude for 3 points on travel and the mysterious "mobile wallet", and use the Flex Perks AMEX for 3 points dining, 2 points Gas. True there's some AF in there, but US Bank can be a good credit supplier.

I had a FlexPerks VISA for a time in 2014 but did not like the large redemption requirements. While it is theoretically possible to get 2c per FlexPoint today, you have to be spot-on a $399 airline ticket to actually get 2c per point. This new method is much more appealing, and less variable.

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Anonymous · ‎07-12-2017

@NRB525 wrote:
It is unfortunate the 3 points on charitable goes away, but this actually makes the US Bank cards plural a bit more interesting.

They are removing the annoying tiers of redemption, going to the flat 1.5c per point rate. The next step would be to allow combination with points on the Altitude Reserve.

Then you could have a combo of Altitude for 3 points on travel and the mysterious "mobile wallet", and use the Flex Perks AMEX for 3 points dining, 2 points Gas. True there's some AF in there, but US Bank can be a good credit supplier.

I had a FlexPerks VISA for a time in 2014 but did not like the large redemption requirements. While it is theoretically possible to get 2c per FlexPoint today, you have to be spot-on a $399 airline ticket to actually get 2c per point. This new method is much more appealing, and less variable.

True, the current tiered redemption is a bit goofy, but that's its charm! You can do quite well with it.

We've passed by using our FlexPerks points on several trips because the redemption wasn't optimal, so we made those trips using airline miles programs or with other points programs.

We did use FlexPerks points for two trips on which we did quite well:
- Redeemed 40k points for airfare worth $799.98
- Redeemed 80k points for airfare worth $1526.80

In both cases we came out much better than 1.5x redemption. With the $25 per ticket luggage reimbursement, on the one redemption we were actually over 2x redemption

value.

Chris.