I went back and read the
forum creation guidelines and concluded that for Ultimate Rewards it comes down to one question:
7. For proposals to split a forum, is the split expected to improve the signal to noise ratio? Why?
I have spent a few hours reading the
Credit Card Programs forum. That is one very active forum!
Three of its 4 sticky threads relate to Chase Ultimate Rewards. This indicates a high level of repetitive questions and concerns about UR. Approximately 10% of recent threads relate to Chase UR and its cards (Sapphire, Ink, and Freedom). Unloading that content would leave a still very active Credit Card Programs forum while improving its usability for discussion of other cards and general churning techniques.
On the flip side, why doesn't discussion of Chase Ultimate Rewards and its cards have value to members holding other cards? Why would I consider it "noise" to holders of other cards? What's unique about Ultimate Rewards? As I have posted before:
1. UR points are highly flexible. They are arguably more useful than Amex Membership Rewards points. UR members and prospective members need to know about options like UR to BA to IB, but that information isn't particularly useful to non-UR members in the Credit Card Programs forum.
2. UR points can be transferred to top off award balances for a spouse and in some cases for others. Some members have apparently sold their UR points and had their UR accounts closed for multiple transfers to people with different names. This is a relatively new problem. The rules and their application are not yet completely clear. Thus the stickies.
3. Different UR cards have different specialized bonuses. Again, this information has no utility for non-UR members. But it has great utility for holders of one UR card who are considering obtaining other types of UR cards for their category bonuses.
Based on my observations, I favor creation of a new forum for Chase Ultimate Rewards and UR-earning cards, analogous to the
Amex Membership Rewards forum.