Originally Posted by
notquiteaff
The doubled travel (4X) and dining (6X) charges on rent day were probably massively unprofitable. Everything else at 2X was probably not very profitable either, considering that unlikely other card issuers they presumably split whatever is left of the merchant fees with WF in some form.
If they really lose 20-50% of their charge volume, would that be solely because of people who only used the card on rent day? If so, washing them out of the program seems to be the plan. But if they also lose everyday spend that people were making on top of the rent day charges, that wouldn’t seem good. But Bilt, of course, has the data that shows how people are using the card. If I had had the card, I probably would have only used it for dining (everyday, to gamble with potential rent day transfer bonuses) and rent day double earnings purchases.
In the end, profitability also very much depends on the details of the redemption deals and how cardholders use the points. Maybe those massive bonus deals on rent day transfers don’t cost them a lot if foreign carriers try to use them to break into the US market. And now few people will be able to reach high enough status to get those big bonuses in transfers, it seems.
Right - your last sentence is the key to me: now that next year I'll have no chance of getting Platinum status, I won't carry this card in my wallet anymore. I'll make my five charges per month, maybe put some things on it on Rent Day, and I'll be done. I had been putting dining on it pretty heavily, but I'll stop.
Sure, their data show where the charges went, but the psychology of a card losing its luster is going to be a little more complicated to calculate out.
I also think that all of the Bilt evangelists (me among them) who've been out there telling everyone, renter or not, to get this card will tone it down and recommend other cards instead. But they've also started advertising pretty heavily, so it's not all about word-of-mouth anymore.
Anyway, I also doubt this is the last of the negative changes unfortunately. I'm guessing we'll see something along the lines of rent only getting a point per $2 or something (which, granted, is still better than nothing).