I think you have to define the market you're going after. The problem some people have with credit card award programs, versus cards that earn miles in an airline program, is precisely that they ARE dollar-based. Many travelers use their miles for international upgrades, last-minute flights with no Saturday stay, and international business/first class flights. The if-purchased value of these can approach 10 cents/mile. You can't compete with that if you don't own the seat inventory.

Another factor is that some programs, such as AA's, count credit card miles toward your lifetime program total for "million-miler" status. You can't compete with that either.

Therefore, you're probably targeting more the people who will use awards for discount coach tickets. These are vacationers, but they're also fairly big spenders or they'll never get enough points for an award. Figure out what that segment wants and how to reach them, and you have a winner.

I don't see any reason for points to expire, ever. You've got the cardholder's money and you're earning interest on it. It's to your advantage if they sit on their points instead of rushing to redeem them as they're about to expire. (If they really do expire, you win, but you also lose because you have an unhappy customer. That's why the airlines effectively stopped letting points expire.)

Fees - build this into the cost of the card. Don't charge a separate fee for this. You've got the cash balance of unclaimed awards working for you in this department too.

You also have to explain how your card differs from something like Discover, where I get real money back to spend on anything I want. I can buy airplane tickets at market value if I want, or I can buy an electric drill or a pizza. Granted, Discover isn't taken everywhere, but the principle is there.