I probably don't use credit cards like the average user. I pay them off every month so the financing rate and balance transfer benefits are meaningless to me. Reasons I'm considering the card are: - Right now, 1 year membership extension (assuming you meet the $100 in 60 days quota) - No membership fee - 1% cash back - Custom picture There are also fairly vague references to: - Travel on any airline without blackout dates - BMW Performance Center driving experiences - Exclusive travel excursions and sporting events - Name brand merchandise and gift cards I cant seem to find any concrete information on those last 4 points (either on BMWCCA or PartnersFirst sites), and from what I've been able to read on the forums there seems to be some unhappiness with the service of the card providers. Naturally, most people don't post to wax poetic about how great things are, so I get that some of the responses in the forum can be one-sided, but what I'm trying to figure out is, is this something worth getting at all? I don't really want or need another credit card, so the only motivation to get it is if I can receive some tangible value out of it, and I'd want to make sure it's customer service is top notch, otherwise I won't use it. I already get cash back on all credit purchases and never pay any fee whatsoever, so it comes down to the whatever these vague benefits are. So...can anyone tell me whether or not they've had positive experiences with this card? How are their online tools for account management? Any good customer service stories? How do they count and is it easy to redeem points? Thanks in advance for any insight, -Ken
Sorry mods...I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum. Can you please move to the Membership Rewards forum or wherever else this topic would be most appropriate? Thanks.
Rewards Card Ken, I carry the card myself and have never had a problem with it or customer service. Below I have tried to give you some more direct responses to your questions. To really dig into the "interesting" things you can do with points you need to visit the PartnersFirst website. Members who carry the card do more than just show their pride in the Club they benefit it in a tangible way. The affinity relationship that the Club has with PartnersFirst provides revenue to the Club that we could only otherwise find thru increased membership fees. Frank Travel on any airline without blackout dates · Redeem points for travel to your chosen destination-with no blackout dates. Redemption can be done easily online or with live rep who will get you where you need to go by selecting the carriers that get you there, at reasonable cost. Redemptions for US travel are typically at 25,000 points, and escalate in value depending on destination outside the US. Always best to plan ahead; flight are subject to availability as in any case. BMW Performance Center driving experiences · As a cardholder you can see short version of Performance Center driving experience descriptions online, and redeem points toward any of them whether the 1 or 2 day programs; Regular or M classes. (One can view the full range of Performance Center driving experiences on the Performance Center website for reference. Same ones offered through the Card program.) Exclusive travel excursions and sporting events · Balloon rides; adventure travel packages; World Series, Super Bowl; PGA events-all possible with points Name brand merchandise and gift cards · All manner of electronics, sports equipment; house wares-just about anything you can buy in a department store; Gift Cards from National Retailers & National Restaurant chains. Hundreds of choices Other points: · Online Acct Management is free easy and available 24/7. View acct activity; pay bills; get back statements-very robust and competitive with nay major card programs. · Customer Service: Statistically excellent. Very quick to answer & knowledgeable staff at professional call center. 24/7.
Thanks for the response, Frank. Can you let me know what constitutes a "point" and how quickly they accumulate and expire (if they expire)? I'm assuming the more you spend, the quicker the points accumulate, but have not been able to find anything that describes this formula. 1 point = $1 spent?, $100 spent, etc.,.. And is there a listing somewhere of how many points are required for the various benefits? I'm most interested in Performance Center, but if it's going to take me 10 years to accumulate the points I want to set that expectation
$1 = 1 point I think there are bonus points for using it "on vacation". Not sure how it defines that (hotels, airfare, etc..). My one issue with the card is I can't log into it through Quicken to automatically download my transaction history, so I have to manually keep it up to date.
Points on BMW CCA Affinity Card BMW CCA cardmembers earn 1 point for every dollar spent. Based on a 1% cash back redemption, it takes 5,000 points for $50; 10,000 points for $100, and so on. Points never expire as long as you use your card in a 24 month period. Redemptions values for merchandise (cameras, golf clubs, house wares, apparel) vary by item, with some enabling the cardmember to acquire the item at a discount to what the actual purchase price would be. For the Performance Center Driving Experiences, the points needed range from a low of 60,000 for the $650 1-day program to a high of 400,000 for the Advanced M school program. For the most part, these are at discounted values, but do require considerable spending to get there using points. Not so for the BMW CCA Grill Badge...Just 1,950 points and it's all yours.
