I agree there used to be better and more offers. There still are good ones out there for people just getting started but not the quanity that we saw 2-3 years ago.

Sure, I'll chime in... credit card mileage offers have taken over, to the exclusion of all other offers, by airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies, they let someone else do the heavy lifting and are happy to fund it. And frequent flyer bloggers have grabbed on to those credit card offers as a secondary source of income, and supplement the exclusionary tactics, and daily remind us of what great mileage offers by doing the credit card swap we're missin'.

So if you don't wanta play the credit card game, no matter how lucrative the miles are to you in your pocket, you will find yourself in the backseat, lonely, going to the dance alone, and you might as well look for a drive in movie for nostalgia sake...

Sniff. I do miss the "old" days when one could score without having to use plastic.

"It's the economy, stupid"

There was no need for devaluation because economy was tanking/in recession so plenty of excess inventory. CC companies needed people who could reliably pay their bills after the credit crisis so offers were more attractive. With the economy improving, excess inventory is down and plus during the whole recession there were very few devaluations so most programs did some "catching up".