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Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card
There are rumors swirling that the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card will add transfer partners in early 2024. Wouldn’t that be thrilling?
As it stands, the card earns 3 points per dollar at restaurants, travel, gas stations, transit, popular streaming services and phone plans. Plus, earn 1 point per dollar on other purchases. If those points became transferable to partners, the credit card world could potentially be shaken to its core. But there are several factors at play:
- Who will the transfer partners be?
- What will be the transfer ratio?
- Will the card retain its current bonus categories?
- Will the card keep the $0 annual fee?
- How will the points interact with other Wells Fargo cards (or will they at all)?
We already know Wells Fargo has access to transfer partners like American Airlines, British Airways, Hyatt and United Airlines through the Bilt World Elite Mastercard®. If a refreshed Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card could have any of these loyalty programs as transfer partners, that would send shockwaves throughout the points community.
But having transfer partners is only the first step. We’d need to know if any earned points would transfer at a direct 1:1 ratio or at a lower rate. A diluted transfer ratio would diminish this golden opportunity.
Pending that, would the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card need a higher annual fee to deliver this new benefit? And what about other Wells Fargo cards? Could you combine all your points in one place like other bank programs allow?
Suffice it to say that we have big hopes and low expectations. There are many factors—and nothing’s confirmed yet—but there’s potential for this to be the most exciting card (or biggest missed opportunity) of 2024.
Bilt World Elite Mastercard®
Speaking of the Bilt World Elite Mastercard®, there’s been speculation about changes there, too.
According to Bilt’s support pages, earning points for mortgage payments and commercial rent “isn’t an available feature at this time,” but is being considered for the future. Could the future be 2024?
There’s currently not a credit card that expressly earns points for mortgage payments or commercial rent. Adding this capability would vastly expand the Bilt Rewards ecosystem and points potential to an entirely new niche—namely, homeowners and commercial renters.
There are lots of challenges to overcome, but Bilt managed to reduce the friction for people wanting to pay rent with a credit card. The opportunity is wide open for Bilt to continue building their offerings in the mortgage and commercial space.
Wells Fargo Signify Business Cards
It’s looking like there’s a good chance that 2024 could be the year of Wells Fargo. While some of the other card changes we’ve already discussed are more speculative, there’s concrete evidence of a new lineup of Wells Fargo business cards, all sharing the “Signify” name:
- Signify Business Cash Mastercard®
- Signify Business Essential Mastercard®
- Signify Business Elite Mastercard®
These names are found on a Priority Pass registration page offering lounge access to these cardholders (and confirming the card names).
Not only that, but there’s an announcement on Wells Fargo’s website announcing new business credit cards are “coming soon.”
Depending on the exact offerings, this could add more valuable options to the best business credit cards available. Purely based on the card names, it sounds like there will be one cash-back card, one mid-tier card and an ultra-premium elite card.
The business card space is crowded, so we’re hoping these cards signal positive changes.
Citi Strata Cards
In 2011, Citi introduced the ultra-premium Citi Prestige® Card*, packed with valuable benefits and bonus points-earning categories. The card saw a number of iterations after launch and is currently unavailable to new applicants, which means Citi is without a luxury credit card that earns Citi ThankYou Points.
Citi filed trademark applications for “Strata Premier” and “Strata Elite” in late 2022, leading to speculation of a new slate of Citi Strata credit cards, potentially to replace the Prestige. However, nothing has been announced, and the cards may have been scrapped due to leadership reorganization at Citi.
Still, it appears Citi is interested in launching another card (or set of cards). Whether that will materialize as the Strata card, a relaunch of the Prestige or something else entirely remains to be seen. However this shakes out, we’re curious to see what Citi has planned, especially because their card launches have previously been showstoppers.
Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express*
The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* was a sitting duck as part of the American Express card lineup. That’s because with a $450 annual fee (now increased to $550), it had the lowest ongoing card membership cost of any Amex ultra-premium card—and is still among the lowest.
American Express has been keen recently to raise annual fees and “enhance” benefits. In 2021, Amex raised the annual fee on the The Platinum Card® from American Express from $550 to $695 (Terms apply, see rates & fees). Earlier in 2023, the fee for authorized users increased on that card too.
The Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* hasn’t had meaningful changes since it was launched, and it was prime for an update. It finally happened and now the card offers:
- Up to $400 in Hilton resort credits annually
- Up to $200 in annual airline flight credits
- Reimbursed annual CLEAR membership
- Opportunity to earn a free night award for spending $30,000 in a calendar year
Will this make the Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express* among the best credit cards in 2024, or should some cardholders request an early checkout? It’s likely to be worth it for the Hilton loyalists among us, but we’ll have to see how other changes play out before we can properly rank this card within its space.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards
In keeping with our votes for “Most Likely to Change in 2024,” Chase Ultimate Rewards® cards are due for an overhaul, particularly if the other predictions in this list come to materialize.
Sure, Chase added a few credits and partnerships to its cards recently, but it hasn’t updated the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® since 2021. The Chase Freedom Flex℠* and Chase Freedom Unlimited® also have the potential for something exciting, even if it’s just limited-time offers or temporary bonus categories to encourage new signups. In particular, none of the Chase Ultimate Rewards consumer cards have permanent bonus categories for gas or groceries, which is glaring because other banks offer these bonus categories with comparable cards.
Chase has historically been responsive to overall industry trends, so we’re including this partially as both a prediction and a wish. If changes are afoot with other credit card issuers in 2024—and it seems likely—we look forward to seeing how Chase responds with their strong lineup of credit cards.
Chase Southwest Cards
Southwest Airlines recently announced several positive changes to its Rapid Rewards program, with a few going into effect on January 1, 2024, including easier-to-earn elite status and the ability to earn tier qualifying points with Southwest credit cards.
These upcoming changes are already confirmed. So if you’re a Southwest flyer, that puts cards like the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card in a better position to boost your status with the airline. Also note that points earned from spending with the Southwest cards count toward the Southwest Companion Pass.
It seems like these changes stem from Southwest, so we’re curious if Chase will respond in kind with any changes to the Southwest cards. More earning opportunities and extra Southwest perks would be most welcome.
Expedia One Key Card
Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo partnered earlier this year to create the One Key loyalty program. It has everything you’d expect from a rewards program: rewards (called OneKeyCash™), elite status tiers and corresponding benefits for each tier.
Expedia and Hotels.com used to offer their own credit cards, neither of which are available for new applications. That creates an expectation that new One Key credit cards might be available in the future—maybe in 2024? At the very least, those cards will need a refresh to align with the updated program.
This creates an opportunity for Vrbo to offer credit card rewards for vacation rentals—especially since its main competitor, Airbnb, doesn’t have any type of loyalty program or rewards offerings. We think next year could be a prime opportunity to launch this offering. If there’s anything innovative about the card offering, it could pave the way to more chances to redeem rewards for homeshare stays.
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