A fellow points enthusiast made the comment today that we need a new bank to step into the market and disrupt the points game with an irresistible offer. He remarked, “We need someone like a US Bank but with a better attitude.” I replied that we need another recession.
Hotel rooms are full, flights are sold out leaving the poor points traveler stranded. Everywhere we look there’s another devaluation. Delta is the best example of an airline indifferent to its passengers regardless of loyalty but others are also culpable. Remember when you could stay at Hiltons for next to nothing? Club Carlson? United? Southwest? Those days are over and there’s no relief in sight. There is the occasional 100k offer from Amex, the arbitrage opportunity of 2 AA Exec cards for 100k (now gone), or the new player in the game, ThankYou Points. But the noose is tightening everyday forcing opportunists to become much more creative with how to accrue and spend points.
The only thing we can hope for is that the banks who are once again too big to fail, fail. This would send the economy into a free fall, the Dow to all time lows, and ruin the credit of many Americans. In turn, banks would have to entice credit worthy applicants with huge offers, airlines would have to make awards available, and hotels would have to go back to the days of huge promos.
Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Let’s all hope for a collapse.
Note: This is a sarcastic post.
A modest proposal.