The Wins & Losses for 2018 – Midway Point Edition
At the end of 2017 I did a Top 5 Biggest Wins and Biggest Losses list. I thought I would do a list of both so far for 2018 since, unless my math skills failed me, we are at the midway point. I am sure you are aware of this already but the bad has a commanding lead so far in 2018.
2018 has been a little skimpy in the good news department. Let me know if I missed anything in the comments section and I will add it in.
Losses
Let’s start with the negative stuff. This is just a list of losses/negative changes worth mentioning so far this year. It is not in order or anything. I will trim it to a top 5 list at the end of the year.
- Gamestop gift cards cycling ends
- MPX 5X earning with American Express Platinum ends (a good double dip)
- Gift Card Mart stops earning 5X for the Chase Ink Products (it was one of the few left)
- Earning 3X at PayPal Digital Gifts with AT&T Citi card ends
- Amazon and JetBlue end their 3X portal partnership
- Amazon stopped selling their gift cards online making it harder to get bonus points for purchases (although one way is still left)
- SPG card changes announced making the card worthless for everyday spend
- Marriott travel packages neutered
- Best Buy gift card cycling ends
- The Plastic Merchant went belly up
- Citi AT&T Access More card no longer earns 3X on Plastiq mortgage/rent payments.
That is a pretty substantial list and we still have half the year left. I am sure I missed some things so let me know what should be added below. The Plastic Merchant is probably in the number one slot right now, costing people thousands of dollars.
Wins
The wins list is much shorter and not quite as meaty either. There have not been many cheers so far in 2018.
- American Express introduced the Aspire card, which is the most valuable card on the market in terms of perks.
- To a lessor extent they also introduced a Hilton Business card and revamped the Surpass into a better Ascend card.
- Movie plans break out in a big way. Moviepass gets the most headlines but Sinemia and even AMC have very worthwhile programs. Although Moviepass may end up in the losses before the end of the year.
- Chase offered the CFU with 3X earning for a brief moment. That may be the best deal of the last few years if you could get in on it.
- Ink Unlimited was introduced…and the Ink Cash survived the release.
- New World of Hyatt card is introduced. It is the best hotel card on the market now with the upcoming SPG changes.
- Amex Offers has seemed to come back in a pretty big way this year. The 10% off Staples and Lowe’s are at the top of the list though.
A couple of decent wins, although the largest one, CFU 3X, wasn’t available to most. Let me know what I missed in the comments section. The Iberia deal will most likely be added once everything starts paying out.
Conclusion
2018 looks a whole lot like 2017 so far. Although nothing will hurt me as much as 5X on PPDG ending for Ink products. RIP eBay!
What has been your biggest win and biggest loss so far this year?
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Mark, this always good offer (for new Marriott Rewards members) starts today: “Make two paid stays at any participating Marriott Rewards hotel between 7/9/2018 and 11/28/2018. Then you’ll get a free night certificate, valid at any participating Category 1–5 hotel worldwide.”
Thank Pam – that is an excellent deal!
“Marriott travel packages neutered”
Can you expand on that? Thanks
It hasn’t happened yet but has been announced. More info can be found here
http://freequentflyerbook.com/blog/2018/6/28/are-marriott-travel-packages-going-up-or-down-in-price
On the bright side, a new acronym opens up. Who is gonna be the next TPM?
Snapping up CFU 4.5x non-bonus spend to replace 2.7 SPG AMEX come Aug 1 (til next April) is my personal lemonade from lemons moment.
By putting almost all personal hoosehold spend on the CFU, we are amassing quite a UR arsenal with 10 months still to go (til it reverts to 1.5x).
The loss of Insight 5% stings. Had 7 accounts between the wife and I. The three opened locally are still standing, for how long is anyone’s guess.
As has been said, TPM loss hurts as well for those of us using it to meet minimum spend. Overall though gift card deals have been subpar all year, perhaps a separate loss on its own.
The GC deals have been sub-par for sure and getting break even deals for min spend are non existent for many who relied on TPM now.
For me, TPM by far and loss of 5X for Ink then 3X ATT on PPDG are the biggest ones. I played pretty frequently in the GC game. Not sure that I will keep that up. I would put loss of 3X ATT for Plastiq mortgage payments on the list as well.
I’d be curious in seeing an Aspire Hilton vs New World of Hyatt comparison. I keep contemplating the Aspire, but already have 2 premium cards so I’m hesitant. I’ve been debating PC’ing my current Hyatt card as well.
Thanks I will add the Plastiq Mortgage payments.
I think the Aspire pays you to carry it if you max out the perks, not even taking the PP membership into account. Hyatt offers better spend opportunity. Would be a little tough to compare the two since they are for different reasons. May need to compare all the premium cards though and see which one reigns supreme.