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Uniteds Relationship With Chase Bank Under Review?

Uniteds Relationship With Chase Bank Under Review?

Old Oct 21, 2017, 7:20 am
  #31  
RNE
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Originally Posted by StartinSanDiego
Chase would suffer in other ways if they lost UA. I think an intrinsic value of UR points is the ability to transfer to United.
Indubitably. But transferabilitythe lifeblood of URis a thorn in United's side, given Chase's CSR/CSP cards competingand winning!against United's. This begs the question, Would United suffer if it found another bank to issue its credit cards? Methinks not.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 8:36 am
  #32  
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Originally Posted by mia
I think not. Chase will have to pay more, or risk losing the United co-brand card contract.
How did the SPG:UA 2:1 exception come about (when most other airlines are SPG:airline 1:1)?

Could something like that (a "recalibration") happen with UR:UA in a renegotiation?

The "right" (from UA's perspective) transfer ratio "recalibration" would take care of any concern UA has about UR transfers without actually ending the ability to transfer.

Of course, such "recalibration" wouldn't be called that by FTers, they would use the word "devaluation" in that case.

IMHO all UA needs is to negotiate a way to make it harder to earn 1 UA miles with UR cards than with UA cards, and then their problem is solved. I don't see why it has to be all or nothing?

Last edited by sdsearch; Oct 21, 2017 at 8:45 am
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 8:58 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by 1120
I'd love to know if Marriott is seeing the same problem. I don't use my Marriott for much incidental spend, but I do use it for actual Marriott expenses.
I would also like to know.
Just curious...My Marriott card is in the drawer now, since CSR gives me more value even for Marriott stays (3x URs vs. 5x MRs). What is your rationale for using Marriott card, if you dont mind sharing? Cheers.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 9:40 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by RNE
Indubitably. But transferability—the lifeblood of UR—is a thorn in United's side, given Chase's CSR/CSP cards competing—and winning!—against United's. This begs the question, Would United suffer if it found another bank to issue its credit cards? Methinks not.
Yes, but would Chase suffer if it lost UA, one of it's most valuable transfer partners, for those undeniably successful UR earning cards? Methinks so. I think Chase has a huge incentive not to cut themselves off at the knees here. They developed a terrific and valuable program with resounding success. But they need those partners. If UA left, and left the UR program, than Southwest would be the next most valuable airline partner (IMO), and that would leave most of the Eastern, Midwest and Southern part of the country finding those "valuable" Ultimate Reward points not quite so valuable.

Last edited by StartinSanDiego; Oct 21, 2017 at 9:46 am
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 12:38 pm
  #35  
 
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As long as they keep KE and SQ i'm happy

I'm a UA 1K and its getting harder and harder to find saver space (albeit better than AA/DL). However, anytime I search dates I want on KE they have first/business saver space. With SQ, I may need to adjust a day or two, but its there.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:50 pm
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by jeepie
I would also like to know.
Just curious...My Marriott card is in the drawer now, since CSR gives me more value even for Marriott stays (3x URs vs. 5x MRs). What is your rationale for using Marriott card, if you dont mind sharing? Cheers.
Really good question and the answer (for me) is simple: I'm within striking distance of Lifetime Platinum with Marriott and I want to hit it before any potential change to eligibility requirements.

Otherwise, I'm generally with you on CSR vs. Marriott.

Another possible reason for Marriott are travel package redemptions, I guess.
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Old Oct 22, 2017, 7:57 pm
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by StartinSanDiego
Yes, but would Chase suffer if it lost UA, one of it's most valuable transfer partners, for those undeniably successful UR earning cards?
For FTers, transfer partners are key when evaluating a rewards credit card. But the vast majority of the credit card-using population has no idea what a transfer partner is, or how to use them, or why doing so it a good idea. Which is why Chase would probably cut UA in a heartbeat if UA insisted on charging too much more for its miles. Chase is already trying to cut costs with the CSR program. Saying sayonara to UA is one way to do that.
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 12:47 am
  #38  
 
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Originally Posted by snic
For FTers, transfer partners are key when evaluating a rewards credit card. But the vast majority of the credit card-using population has no idea what a transfer partner is, or how to use them, or why doing so it a good idea. Which is why Chase would probably cut UA in a heartbeat if UA insisted on charging too much more for its miles. Chase is already trying to cut costs with the CSR program. Saying sayonara to UA is one way to do that.
This is on Monday's (23OCT2017) Wall Street Journal. Headline:

J.P. Morgan, United Renegotiating Card Partnership
United said they are focusing on terms of the partnership as a way to try to increase profitability

Would AMEX be able to take United while keeps partnership with Delta?
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 3:23 am
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by sfo3388
This is on Monday's (23OCT2017) Wall Street Journal. Headline:

J.P. Morgan, United Renegotiating Card Partnership
United said they are focusing on terms of the partnership as a way to try to increase profitability

Would AMEX be able to take United while keeps partnership with Delta?
A very poorly written article with not much detail.
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 7:36 am
  #40  
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Originally Posted by sfo3388
This is on Monday's (23OCT2017) Wall Street Journal...
An article in Fortune, which is based on the WSJ piece, includes this observation:

United is one of the banks biggest co-brand card relationships, and will hope to use its leverage to extract better terms at the banks expense. Its not clear how much any renegotiation will benefit customers.
...in other words, there could be a change in the financial terms (e.g. Chase could pay UA more for each new card account opened, or more per mile), but we would see no difference in the Chase products.
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 8:31 am
  #41  
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From Airline Weekly (bolding mine), discussing why United's third quarter profit margins were slimmer than expected:

Why is United stumbling, despite
a backdrop of strong demand
and economic growth?
There’s blame to go around: its
overexposure to troubled Asian
markets, its underexposure to
lucrative domestic markets, bruising
battles with ultra-LCCs, costly
missteps in its basic economy
rollout, a suboptimal credit card
partnership
and damage from a
hurricane that hit its Houston hub.
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 9:05 am
  #42  
mia
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Originally Posted by StartinSanDiego
..., discussing why United's third quarter profit margins were slimmer than expected:... a suboptimal credit card partnership ....
It seems improbable that independent analysts have identified this as a material deficiency. More likely, this is part of a UA management campaign to put Chase on notice that they are serious about renegotiating.

Last edited by mia; Oct 23, 2017 at 10:07 am
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 9:33 am
  #43  
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
IMHO all UA needs is to negotiate a way to make it harder to earn 1 UA miles with UR cards than with UA cards, and then their problem is solved.
Not quite. There's still the problem of Chase denying UA cards to credit-worthy applicants based on a capricious, self-serving criterion, irrespective of UA's wants.

Originally Posted by jeepie
I would also like to know.
Just curious...My Marriott card is in the drawer now, since CSR gives me more value even for Marriott stays (3x URs vs. 5x MRs). What is your rationale for using Marriott card, if you don’t mind sharing? Cheers.
Like you, I can find none. Therefore, my Marriott and Explorer cards are entombed.
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 12:44 pm
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by mia
It seems improbable that independent analysts have identified this as a material deficiency. More likely, this is part of a UA management campaign to put Chase on notice that they are serious about renegotiating.
amex should (probably will) make a play for this contract. they obviously have experience with delta and wouldn't be competing against their own products. would probably be super aggressive too
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Old Oct 23, 2017, 1:33 pm
  #45  
 
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Originally Posted by cplush
amex should (probably will) make a play for this contract. they obviously have experience with delta and wouldn't be competing against their own products. would probably be super aggressive too
I hope they do. Having another airline, or just big co-brand would make AMEX less single threaded to Delta, which can help them there for any renegotiations. Also, with the uncertainty of the SPG card (AMEX's second largest co-brand), this may make sense. On the flip side, how much money does AMEX have for another big co-brand after the reported 2 Billion/yr Delta deal.

We'll see what AMEX does. It will be interesting with a new CEO coming in early next year.
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