Originally Posted by
winebug
Hmm, just a thought:
Get IHG/Hilton/Marriott/hotel cobranded cards in mainstreet banks, and people will have them. Scotiabank is pushing their Amex and cashbacks to as many as they can. RBC their BA/Avion, TD&CIBC their Aeroplans, etc.
People have their Wallmarts, Canadian Tire, PC, Sears, Costco, etc. cards simply because they are visible in their daily lives.
Unless the card is out in highstreet banks or stores, it does not get the marketing exposure. Travel signup bonus cards without marketing in the high street don't get more flies then us churners and travel bloggers, and the occasional extremely loyal traveler.
So, IHG/Hilton, read this, go get the big banks to cobrand your higher end status symbol.
I fully agree with this. This is why none of my friends or family have the hotel cards that I do/did (Choice Hotels, BW, IHG, & Marriott) - MBNA, Cap One and Chase are not the 'highstreet' banks, as you put it). You need to be on these forums or be a big traveler to be aware. Thankfully Amex has SPG - but unfortunately that hotel program is worthless to me, so I always transfer points.
At least we still have Cap One's Aspire Travel MC to get money back for hotel stays, but even that card's longevity is in question. At least they didn't take away my annual bonus - otherwise, I would've turfed that one...
Considering how bad the US exchange rate is right now, those hotel credit card bonuses are more valuable than ever. I have a 3 night stay at a Best Western in NYC coming up in December...would've cost me $300US a night - which is $400CAD a night x 3 = $1200. My two churns over 2 years came in handy! Couple that with my IHG redemption for 5 nights in August @$300CAD per night, and my Marriott redemption for 2 nights in July @$300+CAD per night, I'd say I've done really well in the hotel redemption department this year!!!
