Club Rewards Transfers Done by Third-Party?

Old Dec 29, 2020, 4:06 pm
  #1  
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Club Rewards Transfers Done by Third-Party?

I have a botched missing transfer to Choice Privileges that was initiated over a month ago that never showed up. This happened before, in early 2019. After waiting 2 months, I called up Club Rewards where they opened a support ticket and the points were then credited in my Choice Privileges the following day. Easy enough.

This time they are telling me to email a specific email address at TSYS with screenshots of my Choice Privileges account that shows I don't have the points. I have no problems proving this, but I am a little uneasy as I had never heard of TSYS before. Looking through Google, it does appear they signed a payment services agreement with BMO about 10 years ago. I just don't comprehend how a payment services company handles points transfers.

If anyone knows what role TSYS plays in Club Rewards transfers, it would be good to know.
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Old Dec 29, 2020, 4:13 pm
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mia
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Originally Posted by brc01
I.... don't comprehend how a payment services company handles points transfers.
They have a Loyalty (rewards) Fulfillment business:

https://www.tsys.com/solutions/produ...yalty/rewards/
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Old Dec 29, 2020, 4:40 pm
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Already looked at that. A generic webpage on loyalty fulfillment doesn't explain how they're involved with Club Rewards.

Is there any actual experience/knowledge of TSYS handling Club Rewards transfers besides just looking up their website?

Last edited by brc01; Dec 29, 2020 at 5:14 pm
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Old Dec 29, 2020, 5:03 pm
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mia
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TSYS is mentioned four times in the Club Rewards terms: https://clubrewardsus.com/products/B...ugust12018.pdf (and also attached to this reply).
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Old Dec 29, 2020, 5:24 pm
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Thanks mia, you're the best! I always thought points/mileage transfers were done in-house between the bank to the airline or hotel with only the travel portal being managed by a third-party.
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Old Jan 3, 2021, 1:18 pm
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Originally Posted by brc01
Thanks mia, you're the best! I always thought points/mileage transfers were done in-house between the bank to the airline or hotel with only the travel portal being managed by a third-party.
It depends. It may done that way when the bank or hotel program and airline program have a much bigger relationship. IE, since Chase is the bank that has all of United's cards in the USA, it could be that transfers from Chase UR might done to United directly. Same with Amex and Delta (Amex issues all of Delta's cards in the USA). Same perhaps with Marriott and United (Marriott and United have a cross-elite-status partnership).

But just because it might done that way in some case or at some banks or hotel programs doesn't mean it's done that way in all cases or at all banks or hotel programs.

And here's something you may not have factored in: There are only a handful of banks that transfer to airlines and (especially) hotel programs, but way more hotel programs that transfer to airline programs. And it's because of hotel programs adding to banks as sources of transfers that there's a wide number of entities that transfer to airline programs, and thus the need for third-party providers of such services.

And one other thing you need to understand is how timing of transfers works: While some transfers are done soon after you request them, many other (most?) transfers are "batched" once a week, twice a month, once a month, or even possibly more rarely. And if a third party is involved, it may be one "batch" before it goes to that third party, and a differently-timed "batch" from that third-party to the airline program.
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