My first credit card that I applied for myself (circa 1991) was a "points" earning card for ski trips, ski gear, etc.

When I signed up for it, they were offering free multi-day lift tickets, free skis, boots, bindings, poles, ski related clothing as redemption rewards.
Some of the "prices" were really very good, not like the "prices" you see today. The earning rate was 3 points per dollar spent.

I had it for about 4-5 months when I got the idea that I would ask my folks if I could pay my tuition (1 semester) with it and if they could then reimburse me (they paid for room and board and 3.0s and above, I paid for anything under that). They agreed to do it.

Tuition was around $8k, I paid it with my card.
I waited until the next monthly statement came and saw that I had a whole bunch of points.

Since it had been a few months I wanted to make sure I had the most up to date reward catalog so I called and asked if they would send me a new one. It arrived a few days later.

Upon opening the catalog I started noticing that their reward program had changed. Now instead of totally free items for X points, you could redeem X points and get 5-20% off if you spent X amount of $.

So if you bought a pair of skis for $200 you could get 10% off.
If you bought a pair for $300 you could get 15% off.


I called and talked to a rep to ask about the change and they said that they had to change their program since people were getting so much free stuff.

I guess I should have gotten into the game sooner.