Originally Posted by
Kremmen
IHG points are one of the worst value rewards, but the IHG MC has one of the best exchange rates.
Wait, what? You sure IHG MC uses better rates than Citi Prestige or Barclay A+?
I just did a quick check on my IHG MC vs A+ and found they offered me similar rates.
I did find that CSP uses marginally better rates than United Club, both Visa and both issued by Chase.
The moderators have received several private complaints and suggestions regarding this thread. For now, the thread will remain open and we will not split off the discussion of network fees.
As a participant of the discussion, I think that all my data received by several years of experience using A+ in various countries, convinced me that it doesn't pass along the hypothetical 1%. And constantly it provides me with the best real-world rates in countries using fully-market-controlled currencies.
I personally think that being clear on this "99.9% true" fact is very important, or it will become misleading like some posts here are, until we have real-world data supporting A+ uses worse rates than other MCs with rewards features issued by major players like Citi or Chase.
What if some new guys here saw that A+ passes along 1% (which has been proven not true by my data of last several months in more than 5 countries) and decide to use other cards and end up missing that 2% cash back?