Wells Fargo / Bilt relationship ending

[Luminosa]

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@USMCOne wrote:

Most of this is to be expected. Kenneth Chenault prior long term Amex CEO has a huge hand in this and stands to reason he would try to recreate the magic he did at Amex. Free card will be a joke, 95 dollar card will be a nice sweet spot most likely, and the 500 dollar annual one will be more and probably TSA/Clear and lounges. Expect the coupon book to in a round about way as it worked for Chenault and he is the one who gave it to us. 

I think alot of BILTs losses will be absolved by the annual fee with most wanting the middle one since the free one will probably be greatly nuetered. 

I think one thing that is passing over alot of analysts is the no balance that many hold on BILT. Rent/Mortage is among the highest payout monthly a American pays. You can only do this a few times on a credit card before its crippling for most. Utilization goes through the roof etc. Combine that with Wells Fargos lame CLIs and you have a card people are simply using to add points to, rent day bonus then that week paying it off. A coupon book hate it or like it would encourage spending outside of the first week.

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Very late to this thread but I hope this isn't the case. If the no AF card sucks, I'll just have to shift all the spend (mostly dining) I was doing on the card back to my Savor. I guess we'll see what they announce in fall. My hopes are not high.

[PhilL]

A couple of things I'm curious about.

1) Will Bilt’s transfer partners change in any way? 

2) What is Bilt's future? While its business model is innovative, it seems to be creating many problems with its bank sponsors and thus seems unsustainable.  

[USMCOne]

1. I read can't find it that they are transferring the entire program vice reinventing it on another platform. I would imagine most travel partners are staying. 

2. Annual fees will absolve alot of this money loss. Be suprised how many pay a annual fee but do not take advantage of all the freebies that a annual fee costs. One of my good friends has had a Amex Platium for years till 2 months ago he somehow never knew about the Disney Plus Hulu package nor Walmart Plus being free. He got it for the lounges lol. 

[PhilL]

Honestly, the lounges are one reason I initially got the Amex Platinum. If you travel frequently, the lounge/priority pass feature is a substantial money saver, given how costly airport food and drinks can be.

I did use some of the freebies, like the news subscription one and Walmart+. Likewise, I made good use of the TSA/Global Entry credit. 

However, given that everyone and their mother now has the card, I eventually switched to the United Club Card, as I live in a UA hub city. Also, I found the lounges less crowded (even though they aren't perfect). It also has many of the same benefits as the Platinum, and it is even better since it has fewer tricky-to-use credits to keep track of.