We let our memberships expire at the end of 2012. I agree that for the past few years most employees preferred BPs to cards - so much easier than hauling out the card - with one exception for us: the HNL club.
When we tried to enter it early one morning in 2010
the employee made a big fuss in demanding my card, and
told us the other clubs I cited weren't doing it right.
On a subsequent visit to HNL some months later I hauled out my card without asking and another employee thanked me for "doing it the right way." We all prefer praise for being well-behaved, don't we?
Just another example of magnificently consistent inconsistency I guess.