mia

Amazon card which does include some travel redemption options:

https://creditcards.chase.com//credi...spx?OCELL=682Q

Disney cards which earn giftcards:

https://creditcards.chase.com//credi...spx?OCELL=682Q

https://creditcards.chase.com//credi...spx?OCELL=682Q

There are also BP and GM rewards cards, which I do not recall seeing discussed on Flyertalk, although they may have been mentioned in passing.

Mary2e

Allow me to clarify.

I believe the signup bonuses and churning is a passing fad. Right now UR is the darling of churners. While I don't disagree that it is a good program with excellent benefits, I suspect once the bonuses go away and the churning stops, it will be just another credit card with a good to decent program. A dedicated forum will die just like Diner's is dying - or has already died. I got rid of my Diner's card when the transfers to CO stopped, and haven't been to that forum since.

If anything, IMHO, the discussion should also be "should we merge Diner's into the credit card forum"?

nsx

Thanks, Mary. I have thought that the signup bonus game was almost over for about 10 years running. The rise of seminars focused largely on credit card churning makes the case stronger that this is the last phase of the credit card miles bubble, but who knows?

As to merging Diners, I would not want to destroy value by burying all the old DC threads in a much larger forum. It's nice to have them neatly separated and there's no cost to keeping them that way. We might as well wait for DC to formally terminate its program then move the existing forum to the dead programs graveyard.

mia

I do agree that a very large proportion of the Chase message volume is driven by churning, but I think the analogy to Diners is flawed. Diners discussion has slowed because it has not been possible to apply for a new account in Canada or the USA for several years, and there have been ownership changes. I don't foresee that the same would happen with Chase.

The worst case scenario for an Ultimate Rewards forum would be if UA withdrew from the program -or- dramatically devalued their program, relative to AA and DL. Without a major USA-based carrier I don't think the program would sustain the same level of interest.

From a moderation perspective I wish those who advocate a Chase Ultimate Rewards forum would be more specific about the incremental benefits this would provide to the members. This is our opportunity to learn.

tcook052

How much confusion are we likely to encounter with a new Chase UR forum between the loyalty programs and all other things Chase? There seems to be some within this thread which prompted my question.

Mary2e

NSX and MIA, I see what you're saying. My thinking is that Chase is eventually going to realize that they've had enough of people getting cards for the bonuses and then getting rid of them. Like with everything else, too much interest will get the ability to churn shut down. I read some of the threads occasionally, and it's just a mater of time before they link up applications in real time to prevent people from getting too many cards at one time. But that's just MHO. Perhaps they're actually making some money on it

As for sign up bonuses - they have been around forever. The seminars are a fairly recent occurrence (5 or so years), and again, I think it's almost the end of the line. I can't say exactly why besides it's my gut feeling. It's just too much of a good thing. As MIA said, UR may start devaluing the program, like TYP did a few years ago. If UA and Hyatt are removed from the program, my Sapphire card will hit the cancel pile. I'm sure many others would do the same. Right now I only use it for the doubled categories anyway.

What I do like is that all the credit card program information is in one forum. I can go to the credit card forum and see information about all of them. If UR is segregated out, it's just one more forum I have to click on to see what's going on.

I do agree that keeping Diner's segregating isn't a real big issue - or an issue at all

DukeBBFan

I vote yes. Go for it!

Msmcmotown

Precisely! Chase is going after AMEX for supremacy of the card biz, and Ultimate Rewards is an integral part of that business strategy. Its not going away.

AMEX has been the largest issuer of cards in the US forever. Chase has been #2 for nearly a decade. In the middle of the last decade Chase faced a significant challenge from B of A and Citi in the MC/Visa space. (Citi also had Diners Club.) If BofA's acquisition of MBNA had been completed in 2006 as planned, then BofA would have replaced Chase as #2. MBNA was the undisputed king of the fast growing affiliate card space, but by time the B of A deal was consumated in 2009, delinquencies were high and B of A was in no shape to shore up the portfolio. In fact, they shrank it and abandoned all efforts at growth. Citi's ability to compete was similarly reduced. (They abandoned Diners Club and eventually sold it to BMO. On Visa/MC all they could offer was enormous sign up bonuses on the AA cards, which they had bought for pennies on the dollars from a crippled AA.)

By the end of 09 Chase was completely secure as #2, with no fear of being challenged from below (yes, Cap One also benefited from the troubles at B of A and Citi, but they don't have the balance sheet to compete with Chase). It decided to go after the small biz and high-end consumer card biz, which AMEX dominates. Several biz articles were written, for example:

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB...202634852.html

Ultimate Rewards is not going away because Chase views it as tool that neutralizes what had been a significant AMEX advantage--MR. Similarly, with its Ink cards Chase significantly upgraded its customer service in order to neutralize the historical advantage AMEX had in that area.

If anything, both UR and the Chase CC signup offers will only get better. Chase is better able financially than is AMEX to deploy resources, and there is little doubt that they will continue to do so as long as they continue to have success attracting the customers they've targeted.

I vote YES.

travelkid

Great idea. The crowd wants it^

The naysayers win too many votes on new fora.

Develop. Give chances. Think strategic.

Msmcmotown

I clearly have too much time on my hands this Friday afternoon, as I've just read through this and other threads while sneaking peaks at Bball.

In Nov I jumped back into this game after a 10 year hiatus, discovering flyertalk in the process. Given my ignorance of the policy stated by lin821, I'll rescind my meaningless "YES" vote from my earlier post and instead urge the TBers to consider Chase's business strategy behind the UR program.

Chase is going after AMEX's best customers and UR is one of the tools that they are using to do that. Pure and simple. They implement that strategy through a number of tactics, one of which is the granting of very lucrative referral fees to high volume bloggers--a topic that produces substantial vitriol in these parts!

Google "chase credit card market share" and you'll find data showing that Chase has completely solidified is position as #2 card issuer in the US, and that it has narrowed the gap with #1 AMEX since 2008. I know of no data re: impact of UR on that success. However, the way that Chase keeps expanding the UR program, particularly with shopping mall partners, indicates that they think its valuable. Also, look at how AMEX has responded with several lucrative MR sign up bonuses over the last year, particularly those targeted to existing or former customers, and lucrative referral fees for various Platinum cards.

UR is the first major challenge to MR since Diners Club went down the tubes, and it's a tool wielded by the largest and most financially capable bank in the US. AMEX is a formidable target, with enormous customer loyalty and an MR program that was instrumental to its success in the 2000s. I think we're in the middle innings of this battle--but nobody knows who will blink and when. For us FF'ers, the competition has produced enormous opportunity, which should only increase as the economy improves. The competition will undoubtedly drive many changes in both programs in the coming months/years. Both programs merit a board on FT so that we can share information and discuss strategy for exploiting those opportunities.

ChurnBabyChurn

Yes, needed

84fiero

Definitely create the UR forum. I don't know why it's even a question and am surprised it hasn't been created already. UR has been here long enough and Chase clearly has a lot invested in it. It would be beneficial to have a dedicated forum so that areas of interest can be parsed out better.

If by some chance it dies one day, well move it to the dead programs area like all the others. However the odds of that seem slim at the moment. For all we know MR could be dead in a year, there aren't any guarantees in this world.

I don't understand why the fact that it's a popular card and big in the churning (or rather app-o-rama) game is an issue. So are MR earning cards and MR has its own forum.

philemer

The last phase of the credit card miles bubble...? I think you are wrong on this supposition. The bonuses continue to be strong.

Maybe I missed the answer upthread but can you tell us your motivation for proposing this change? Thanks, nsx.

United747

I think that it would be a great idea!

Delta747

aptravel

+1

how could one of the biggest programs not have its own forum here--plain and simple!!!!???