parkums

Dudes, just noticed all the hoopla over here. Like it or not, the majority of Diners cardholders are corporate ones such as myself.

The latest changes do not reduce any benefits but enhance them for corporate cardholders: We get the same card service & benefitis (ie. primary auto insurance, etc.), in addition to the MC logo and acceptance. But I can't get over the reduction in ClubRewards redemption.

Am I completely wrong about this, but why isn't there more joy over this? They are reducing the redemption requirements by half!! Why would any numbnut redeem points from now until the changes are implemented!

So a $100 gift certificate that used to require 20,000 points, will now cost 10,000 points?

Sweet...

viniosity

I had applied for the corporate card based on similar expectations as yours. I ended up canceling the entire account a few days later. Why? As a small business owner I wanted to make sure I could collect the club reward points for company spending and use them myself. I later found out that I could do this only in a limited fashion, with points not redeemable for miles.

But, the nail that sealed the coffin for me was the 3% foreign bank fees + whatever MC decides to charge. Since the majority of our travel is outside the US this was too big of a deal for me to just let slip by. Citi is big enough that they can buy/sell currency at the bid/ask and make money that way.. why they, or anyone, mandates a foreign % fee (other than greed) is beyond me.

That being said, I really wanted to keep it b/c cust. service is so good and 60 days to pay is really nice.

JonFliesPDX

Unfortunately, point balances will be recomputed the same day that points required to redeem are recomputed.

Kixo

In your case, the $100 gift certificate will be reduced to a $50 gift certificate. Basically, the rewards program is staying the same, but they cutting the reward points in half, and the redemption requirement by 50%.

BearX220

You think they'd double the value of everyone's point balance overnight? Have they done ANYTHING positive-value like that in the last, say, ten years?

They're halving everyone's point balance and halving redemption levels to make it more like a random MasterCard affinity card... 1,000 points = 1,000 miles, plus, of course, the extra redemption fee that regular MasterCards don't charge.

I hate those people.

misty1tk

I just finished converting all DC points I had into gift certs and am positioning myself to cancel. I am going to wait until I see the whole picture laid out but I am afraid we are headed to a $95 MC though.

maulah

Despite the fact that 2 month billing cycle is history, why are you people so upset. I hope primary rental insurance does not go away. Why are you calling it an ordinary $95 MC? If you compare it to the past then yes it is bad but still it is a very powerful MC. Look at the purchasing power you will have now. Can you compare the points redemption choices with any oridnary MC. Even the so called prestigious Amex cards do not come close. And then the live customer service. For $95 where will you find all these benefits. Give me one example of an oridnary MC or visa or Amex?

LGA

?

I didn't see any news to this effect in what I read.

viniosity

I got 2 different stories from 2 different reps. The first told me that each card holder had to have their own Club Rewards account and the 2nd told me they could be combined but only for hotel certificates and merchandise. After 2 calls if I can't get a straight answer then it's more hassle than it's worth. The last thing I want is some confusion when I try to redeem the points and find they they're stuck or were never earned in the first place.

Just to be clear -- I don't think this has anything to do with a MC transition.

LGA

Oh! Use the points your employees charge... That'd sure piss me off!

pointsaddict

I couldn;t agree more. Its STILL A PREMIUM credit card. You cannot and will not find these benefits for less than $95 AF. Beyond that, the new cards say "Professional" on them, which is a new class of credit cards altogether. People have to ask themselves: Would I rather have 2 billing cylces and 8 million places to use my card...or...1 billing cycle and 24 million places to use my card? I'll take the latter personally.

BearX220

I disagree. People should be asking themselves if they want a free MasterCard accepted in 24 million places that permits ultra-extended payment terms, often at very competitive interest rates (below 5% with balance transfer deals), or a $95 MasterCard accepted in 24 million places that you have to pay off every month.

Oooh, a card that says "Professional" on it, so cardmembers can take it out of their wallets and see what class of person they are. THAT's a real value add.

pointsaddict

Again, name a card that you can get the same level of benefits and customer service at 95 annual fee? There isn't one. Besides Diners Club has always been a Charge Card...not a credit card.

Personally, I can't wait to have "professional" on my card. Now whenever I buy anything with my DC Card, people will think...BOY...that guy is a "professional"!. And I'll think "boy I'm really cool" (not to mention professional). Sweet.

martin33

if they maintain the customer service, and if they maintain the car rental coverage, then yes, you have a point... but there's no official word on the car coverage, and the cost pressure to fold customer service into the rest of the Citicard empire will surely be enormous...

Eastbay1K

I just don't get the "cost pressure" thing. These companies are making billions upon billions upon billions of dollars, and lately, are on a rampage to squeeze every last cent to make more billions and billions and billions. Customer Service at Diners is already "shared" with other Citibank products.

We're making so much money, lets raise foreign conversion fees. We're making even more, less buy Congress to change the BK laws. Oh, we aren't making enough even though we are drowning in cash - lets dilute our best product to nothing. But we'll send pretty propoganda folders to make it seem like you are better off.