Originally Posted by
jediwho
Amex really set the tone this year with Amex Aspire. The question is, which new cards do people here expect will be launched this year. From all the surveys I have taken and even credit card product managers I have met at events, this is my speculative list:
* Chase IHG premium card with higher fees and better benefits than the current Chase card
* Amex SPG premium card that competes with Amex Aspire
* Alaska Airlines premium card that would allow AS lounge access and ability to ear EQM/MQM
SPG as a program is going away after this year, so forget that one. But in the replacement program, yes, it's a already been announced:
We already have had announcement about two from Amex and two from Chase (though it's not absolutely clear whether they'll be launched in 2018 or very early 2019, and it's also not clear if one of them will be all that different from the current Chase Marriott Premier card):
AmEx Scores a Starwood Win as Marriott Opts for Dual Issuers AmEx and JPMorgan
Meanwhile, quit believing that what's in surveys means what's coming. Chase has been sending out surveys about changes to the IHG card lineup for a decade or more, and nothing has changed in a decade or more (other than the shift from Visa to MC). Why should it suddenly change because of an survey that they did
this year?
Meanwhile, what better benefits could an IHG premium card actually have? The IHG program itself hardly gives any defined benefits no matter what your elite status, so giving Spire rather than just Platinum would not be that much of a benefit IMHO.