The Marriott card only gets a lot of chatter on FT for churners hoping to get the 50K and annual cert on cancel and re-application, even though they're not supposed to (I seem to be the only one posting that I've hung onto it for 3 years and that I love it). It's not a popular card in the 'real world' that people hang onto, because it's not super valuable/useful for the average person. How many of your friends/family have that card? Even to this day, when I use it at restaurants, the cashiers look at it and go, "oh, that's an interesting looking card".

I think it's the churners that will eventually kill this card. It looks like Chase is trying to crack down on that, but doesn't have a system in place to keep the churners from getting the 50K sign up every 7-8 months, and even the bonus cat 1-4 cert. So eventually, rather than spending hundreds of thousands trying to automate it for anti-churning like Amex has, Chase will just kill the card, because they're not making any money with longer-term cardholders...

Hmm, just a thought:

Get IHG/Hilton/Marriott/hotel cobranded cards in mainstreet banks, and people will have them. Scotiabank is pushing their Amex and cashbacks to as many as they can. RBC their BA/Avion, TD&CIBC their Aeroplans, etc.

People have their Wallmarts, Canadian Tire, PC, Sears, Costco, etc. cards simply because they are visible in their daily lives.

Unless the card is out in highstreet banks or stores, it does not get the marketing exposure. Travel signup bonus cards without marketing in the high street don't get more flies then us churners and travel bloggers, and the occasional extremely loyal traveler.

So, IHG/Hilton, read this, go get the big banks to cobrand your higher end status symbol.

For those who had IHG card - do you get 60,000 points on the first purchase or was there minimum spend? I just received the card a couple of weeks ago. How long until 60,000 bonus points gets posted from the first purchase (if no minimum spend)?

I also just got the card a few weeks ago, it is first purchase. I just called to check and was told points would be transferred on or just after the upcoming first statement on Sept. 14

Yep, after 1st purchase and on statement
and also see this thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...l#post25402114

National Bank World Elite MasterCard now with 30,000 points bonus:

https://www.nbc.ca/en/personal/credi...ews.html#world

Fine print:
20,000 points will be awarded on activation of the card and the remaining 10,000 points will be awarded one year after the card is issued on the account anniversary date. The account must be in good standing when the points are to be awarded.


And here's an excerpt from an email I receive from National Bank this summer, asking:

What is 20 000 reward points worth?

In average, 11 000 points equal a 100 $ value. For example, you may exchange 11 000 points against a deposit of a $100 to a RRSP or a TFSA. You may also book a flight or a trip with your MasterCard and apply a payment for a value of $100 also with 11 000 points. If you have more than 11 000 points (55 000 for example), you can choose to exchange 55 000 points for a $500 RRSP or TFSA contribution (5 X 11 000).

As a data point, I applied for this card July 30 and it arrived about 2 weeks later. First purchase was on August 17, statement date was August 26 and the 60,000 bonus points hit my IHG account on August 28.

Any CapOne Delta card holders get a refund of the Annual Fee? I sent them an online message and they replied

"Unfortunately, the annual membership fee won't be refunded. We regret
any inconvenience this may cause."

That's pretty ridiculous. They withdraw a card you signed up for in good faith. I'm assuming they gave you a different card as replacement, not necessarily one you want.

Don't know if it's Wiki worthy...but I noticed that the TD Visa Infinite Privilege is now offering a 50k sign-up bonus. Not sure when that changed, but it was 25k last time I looked. I'm tempted, only because I have a problem.

I fully agree with this. This is why none of my friends or family have the hotel cards that I do/did (Choice Hotels, BW, IHG, & Marriott) - MBNA, Cap One and Chase are not the 'highstreet' banks, as you put it). You need to be on these forums or be a big traveler to be aware. Thankfully Amex has SPG - but unfortunately that hotel program is worthless to me, so I always transfer points.

At least we still have Cap One's Aspire Travel MC to get money back for hotel stays, but even that card's longevity is in question. At least they didn't take away my annual bonus - otherwise, I would've turfed that one...

Considering how bad the US exchange rate is right now, those hotel credit card bonuses are more valuable than ever. I have a 3 night stay at a Best Western in NYC coming up in December...would've cost me $300US a night - which is $400CAD a night x 3 = $1200. My two churns over 2 years came in handy! Couple that with my IHG redemption for 5 nights in August @$300CAD per night, and my Marriott redemption for 2 nights in July @$300+CAD per night, I'd say I've done really well in the hotel redemption department this year!!!

It loks that Capitalone pulled the IHG card..I was sitting on the fence to apply or not but now problem solved.

It's not really a 30k welcome bonus though. The last 10k posts on the anniversary date (at the same time the annual fee kicks in) so it's really a 20k welcome bonus + FYF, and then a 10k retention bonus for paying the year 2 fee, kinda like the old CapOne World Travel (but only for one year).

I wish someone told me sooner.