AmEx has a wicked Tax Day surprise for taxpayers, Bild has a late April Fool’s joke, and…it’s time to say goodbye to one of our favorite travel rewards cards, right? This Saturday Selection is a weekly roundup of interesting information from around the interwebs (Links to each article are embedded in the title).
Bilt mistakenly sends shutdown email to thousands of customers
There are a lot of weird, big feelings about the Bilt Rewards program. Many love the ability to earn points on rentals and redeem them for outrageous transfer bonuses to an enviable list of travel partners.other Really I don’t like Bild because I think it’s the overblown elephant in the room, overhyped by points-and-miles bloggers, and no doubt has an evil conspiracy behind the scenes. Apparently Bild decided to do something to win over everyone last week by telling its members a whimsical April Fool’s joke. The only problem was that it wasn’t April Fool’s Day. The company sent thousands of emails to unsuspecting Bilt Rewards members, telling them that their accounts were being closed for abuse, that their points were being confiscated, and that Bilt’s legal team was copying the entire incident. Ta. Many of these accounts were owned by people who didn’t even have a Bilt Mastercard to exploit and were only earning a few hundred points a month through the company’s Rent Day quiz show promotion. The interwebs exploded for a short time until Bild sent out her second “oops” email letting everyone know that the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding and that there was nothing worth seeing here. did. Unfortunately, during that time, many panicked members scrambled to redeem all their points in order to keep them away from the repo handler (Bild subsequently sent out an erroneous email to (I promised to cancel the remittances made by the member for any reason). I can’t wait to see what the folks at Bild make for his April next year.
Alaska elites will no longer receive upgrades on long-haul AA flights
Alaskans and Americans weren’t sure what they thought of each other. For years, before Alaska Airlines became a oneworld member, AA and Alaska Airlines were partners offering codeshares, some reciprocal elite benefits, and the ability to earn miles on each other’s flights. later, Americans decided that Alaska was a real competitor and wanted to fight Alaska for market share on the West Coast. Just change course in less than a year. This respect has led to an impressive array of reciprocal elite benefits, such as giving Alaska’s top-level elites a guaranteed one-way upgrade on certain U.S. long-haul flights…which for some AA Elite members… It was a little frustrating. Unfortunately, these upgrade certificates will soon be a thing of the past, as the state of Alaska has announced that it will “retire” the benefit in 2025. I’ve never been able to find a reservable space that actually could use an upgrade. It’s a certificate, but I’ve heard that it can be helpful for some people. Either way, they will soon be history. Gary Leff explains exactly why.
American Express sends 1099s after many people file taxes
Most people don’t like tax time (unless you’re interested in points or miles and it means you can sail through with a minimum of one or two new welcome offers). Not only can you know the size of your tab to the public treasury, but there can be an incredible amount of paperwork. Anyone who takes advantage of bank account bonuses or credit card referrals will eventually have to organize a small library of 1099s…I just filled out his 30+ library myself this past weekend . It hurts. However, if you don’t procrastinate, by the time early April rolls around you’ll probably be happy with your life…your taxes will be done, your payments will be sent, and your credit card points will be coming your way. Unless you took advantage of American Express’ Business Checking bonus last year. Amex clearly had some internal wiring and did not send her 1099-INT to the people who participated in the promotion. Amex then realized it had made a mistake and sent an email to those affected.Less than 1 week until tax deadline. Understandably, many of those people are perplexed. Mark Osterman of Travel on Pointsthe usually amiable early taxpayer gets so angry that he (alarmingly) throws out bullpacky-like language.
Saying goodbye to Chase Sapphire Sanctuary
I can’t remember Card launches over the past 10 years This received as much buzz and anticipation as the 2016 Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR). The first ultra-premium product from major Blue Bank hit the market like wildfire due to its high annual fee and (at the time) even larger welcome offer. , great redemption options and plenty of card benefits. He used to be a strong supporter of CSR, even after I increased the annual fee. the naysayers argued It wasn’t worth squeezing out the extra juice when you could get almost the same amount for 1/5th the price with Sapphire Preferred (CSP). But nothing more. I am officially a CSP Truther. Chase’s pay-yourself-back program turned into a walk-dead, combined with the Ritz-Carlton card’s ability to get the same travel coverage in a cheaper (and more valuable) package. In the end, I decided against Sapphire Reserve and ended up canceling it. That was after seven happy years…and that was before CSR-related Priority Pass’s recent transformation from a butterfly that included restaurants to a caterpillar like AmEx. Your Mileage May Vary is also considering discontinuing its activities for similar reasons, all of which are summarized in the post linked above.
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