Credit card points seem increasingly, well, pointless

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.Are you a factors nerd? In case you’ve been ready eagerly since April for British Airways and American Categorical to announce how frequent flyers can earn “tier factors” on bank card spending, then we are able to safely assume the reply is sure. Even those that don’t compete within the peculiar sport of gaming airline loyalty schemes could recall the furore when BA introduced sweeping adjustments to its frequent flyer membership. Because the guidelines modified in April, it has turn into tougher to attain gold, silver or bronze standing and entry perks like lounge entry, seat choice and precedence check-in. However this week, travellers holding the BA American Categorical premium-plus card lastly came upon easy methods to earn as much as 2,500 further “tier factors” to assist qualify — and turbulence has hit. To get the total whack, £25,000 value of spending should be pumped by bank cards within the subsequent seven months. At over £3,500 a month, that’s greater than the common UK gross wage. Adjustments to this and different airline loyalty schemes replicate a wider erosion of advantages for UK shoppers — inflicting some to query whether or not there’s a lot level left to the nerdy obsession with gathering factors. Bank card rewards have been getting steadily worse for the reason that UK capped prices for processing funds in 2015, limiting a key income stream for card issuers. Because the unwritten rule of factors geekery is clearing your stability in full each month to keep away from curiosity prices, margins are tight so advantages are narrowing. John Lewis has simply introduced it can slash the worth of factors that holders of its common Partnership Card can earn on spending in different shops, prompting middle-class umbrage. However that hasn’t deterred the UK’s most dedicated level collectors who’re doubling down of their quest to get one thing for nothing. “If you wish to get the advantages, it’s a must to do the work,” says Tom, one among 400 frequent flyers attending the journey web site Head for Factors summer season social gathering in London this week. Dubbed “Glastonbury for factors nerds”, the gang of Metropolis employees and retired {couples} feverishly swapped suggestions and hacks, moaned about airways and card suppliers altering the foundations and boasted concerning the lengths they go to within the hunt for further factors. One man satisfied his boyfriend that they need to do 5 layover flights on Christmas Day between London, Dublin, Brussels and (ultimately) the US in an effort to get sufficient tier factors to qualify for BA silver standing. “A enjoyable Christmas,” his accomplice grinned. Many partygoers recurrently fly lengthy haul for work, and use the rewards for pleasure. Lots had introduced their different halves (“he’s the factors man, I’m simply the beneficiary,” says one). As I learnt, referring your accomplice for a bank card can web you each a bonus, and every get their spending factors. “I’ve skilled my spouse to at all times pay by card,” one boasted. One other made his spouse return £200 of John Lewis buying and re-buy the identical gadgets by way of the portal of a bank card buying web site to earn airline factors.There have been simply as many conversations concerning the difficulties of spending the factors; those that unlock coveted 2-4-1 companion flight vouchers complain they’re having to e book a lot earlier in an effort to truly use them. Those that booked a BA vacation or spent massive sums on their BA Amex playing cards after April’s rule change are livid that time assortment won’t be backdated till then (BA has awarded everybody 500 further bonus factors as an alternative). This implies those that spend £25,000 simply to get bronze standing will most likely nonetheless be one flight away from being entitled to free seat choice and precedence boarding, that means their cabin bag won’t ever be put within the maintain on a full flight. Is that actually well worth the effort?The class of factors nerd often called “standing chasers” positively assume so. One man who has solely ever flown enterprise class applauded the BA rule change, believing it can make the first-class lounge much less crowded. Lengthy queues for airport lounges are a typical gripe, however there’s a hack for that — a “digital wait-list” for different lounges for chosen Amex cardholders. “The underside line is, anybody who pays their bank card payments in full each month and will get nothing again ought to do one thing to get some sort of reward,” says Rob Burgess, the ex-investment banker who based Head for Factors. On the very least, he advises that cashback playing cards supply higher worth than most retailer schemes (round £70 again a 12 months on £1,000 of month-to-month bank card spending). Even with excessive annual charges, the advantages are value extra, equivalent to journey insurance coverage and restaurant offers.Fixed rule adjustments and tweaks to Ts & Cs will definitely give the nerds lots to speak about, however sadly I worry the purpose of all of it is misplaced on me. Claer Barrett is the FT’s client editor and writer of the FT’s Kind Your Monetary Life Out e-newsletter collection; claer.barrett@ft.com; Instagram and TikTok @ClaerB