I was pretty amazed by this post and the meetings it describes also. I'm glad for the info, of course. He seems to be the only blogger of those listed that bothered to post about the conferences.

That post talks about how credit card companies don't like those of us who apply for cards for the signup bonus and then don't use them once the bonus is attained. Fully reasonable.

But Rick also tells us at Citi: "They asked me specifically what it takes to move the needle and I told them slightly higher sign-up bonuses a la the US Airways 40K card. My personal opinion is the size of the sign-up bonus appears of more interest to you the readers than the extra benefits offered within each card offered."

So - what is it? If Citi wants more apps for cards that won't be used, great, offer bigger sign-up bonuses. But if Citi wants long-term customers, then emulate the SPG Amex, right? Ricks say: "You all know that American Express has my personal favorite, the SPG card, and they can count on me to continue to promote and recommend that card to all of you in the travel space." It's not for the sign-up bonus that we all like this card. I'd even say that some of us would use the SPG Amex without any sign-up bonus. It's just a great card.

So, credit card companies, if you're listening, we do want great long-term benefits. We really do. And we, like Rick, demonstrate that via usage of SPG and Sapphire Preferred.