Best credit card to pay DVC dues

[Steelers0854]

Buckle up folks. While this will likely get tied up in the courts I could easily see units like DVC still take credit cards but insist on non rewards card for these high dollar transactions. No chance they do this on the resort side, but I could def see this on the DVC side.

https://viewfromthewing.com/visa-an...ards-card-how-this-could-upend-airline-miles/

 

[airjay75]

Buckle up folks. While this will likely get tied up in the courts I could easily see units like DVC still take credit cards but insist on non rewards card for these high dollar transactions. No chance they do this on the resort side, but I could def see this on the DVC side.

https://viewfromthewing.com/visa-an...ards-card-how-this-could-upend-airline-miles/

Yeah, I've seen the articles about this too. Will be interesting to see how it plays out. The golden age of credit card rewards could be coming to an end.

There is also the Credit Card Competition Act that was proposed a few years ago. Not sure what the current status is, but I know there's been speculation that it could make credit card rewards look a lot similar to what you see in Europe (i.e., not many rewards at all).

https://www.nerdwallet.com/credit-c...ect-if-the-credit-card-competition-act-passes

 

[eticketplease]

Buckle up folks. While this will likely get tied up in the courts I could easily see units like DVC still take credit cards but insist on non rewards card for these high dollar transactions. No chance they do this on the resort side, but I could def see this on the DVC side.

https://viewfromthewing.com/visa-an...ards-card-how-this-could-upend-airline-miles/

Well, they have a relationship with Chase in which they have two different reward cards so not sure about that

 

[airjay75]

Well, they have a relationship with Chase in which they have two different reward cards so not sure about that

It could also force credit card issuers to change their rewards structures to continue being accepted everywhere. So, maybe Disney wouldn't put the pressure on Chase, but other companies might.

 

[eticketplease]

It could also force credit card issuers to change their rewards structures to continue being accepted everywhere. So, maybe Disney wouldn't put the pressure on Chase, but other companies might.

Correct, but I was just replying to the situation of DVC not accepting rewards cards and pointing out Disney has their own rewards cards so most likely they will accept them. I don’t know the full workings of them, but it seems to be based on the network and the type/tier of card.

If they are considered premium cards on the Visa network, they would have to then accept other premium cards on the Visa network however, if you had a premium Mastercard per se that I guess they could not accept that since it would be on a different network. Again, I haven’t read all into it, but that is my guess at least.

 

[airjay75]

Correct, but I was just replying to the situation of DVC not accepting rewards cards and pointing out Disney has their own rewards cards so most likely they will accept them. I don’t know the full workings of them, but it seems to be based on the network and the type/tier of card.

If they are considered premium cards on the Visa network, they would have to then accept other premium cards on the Visa network however, if you had a premium Mastercard per se that I guess they could not accept that since it would be on a different network. Again, I haven’t read all into it, but that is my guess at least.

Yeah, a lot to be determined on how this would all play out. Interesting quote from the below article:

"The settlement would require banks to add clear visual markers to cards to help consumers and merchants determine what category a card falls into, but that could take years to update, analysts said."
https://www.wsj.com/personal-financ...t-more-complicated-80e65dcb?mod=hp_lead_pos10

Article also speculates that there will be pressure on bank not to change their rewards structure, but to find other ways to ensure cards continue to be accepted everywhere. Will be interesting to see how it plays out over the long run.

 

[WinterSolider]

Guys individual merchants are not going to track a master list of all credit cards and charge you different fees (or outright reject your payment) based on which one you use.

 

[eticketplease]

Guys individual merchants are not going to track a master list of all credit cards and charge you different fees (or outright reject your payment) based on which one you use.

They won’t have to they just simply tell their credit card processor. They will not accept the premium tier cards, and the credit card processor will reject them for the merchant. It will end up being on us to remember, which card is on which tier.

Of course, this is only affecting Visa Mastercard. I don’t know if American Express or discover issue any cards that don’t give rewards as all of mine do so I will just use one of those cards if they’re gonna pay these Visa Mastercard rejection games. If the merchant doesn’t accept American Express or discover at that point, I just walk.

 

[airjay75]

Yeah, I don't see getting to the register with a list of cards that are and are not accepted. I think more likely that banks start to label cards something like premium, mid-tier, basic, etc., and then some merchants say, we don't accept the premium ones. Just like some merchants don't accept AmEx because of the higher interchange fees they have traditionally charged.

But, we are long ways from here to there, so this is just all pure speculation at this point.

 

[Brian Noble]

The golden age of credit card rewards could be coming to an end. [...] it could make credit card rewards look a lot similar to what you see in Europe (i.e., not many rewards at all).

I think this is a great idea.

Don't get me wrong: it is a terrible idea for me personally. I pay off all my cards in full every month, and make use of the rewards reasonably effectively. But, I also know that even for me these rewards are not "free", I am paying for them in relatively high swipe fees.

The reason this is a great idea is that everyone else pays those swipe fees too. It amounts to a 2-3% tax on everything everyone buys using any credit card (which is north of 1/3 of all transactions). There is no earthly reason why it should cost even 2% of most transactions to process them in the year of our Lord 2025. In plenty of other jurisdictions, credit card issuers do just fine with lower swipe fees.

I doubt there will ever be regulations limiting these fees. But, if merchants band together in the way they are doing here, there may be a market-force limit.

 

[Brian Noble]

Relatedly: My "new" CSR fee hit this month, so I dropped down to the Freedom Unlimited. It was a surprisingly easy change to make--very little pushback from the representative. That might be indicative of how many people are (not) making the same change.

 

[eticketplease]

I think this is a great idea.

Don't get me wrong: it is a terrible idea for me personally. I pay off all my cards in full every month, and make use of the rewards reasonably effectively. But, I also know that even for me these rewards are not "free", I am paying for them in relatively high swipe fees.

The reason this is a great idea is that everyone else pays those swipe fees too. It amounts to a 2-3% tax on everything everyone buys using any credit card (which is north of 1/3 of all transactions). There is no earthly reason why it should cost even 2% of most transactions to process them in the year of our Lord 2025. In plenty of other jurisdictions, credit card issuers do just fine with lower swipe fees.

I doubt there will ever be regulations limiting these fees. But, if merchants band together in the way they are doing here, there may be a market-force limit.

While true, I don’t think the merchants are going to be passing on those savings but instead adding them to their profits

 

[eticketplease]

Relatedly: My "new" CSR fee hit this month, so I dropped down to the Freedom Unlimited. It was a surprisingly easy change to make--very little pushback from the representative. That might be indicative of how many people are (not) making the same change.

Did you ask for a retention offer before downgrading? Mine is coming up so wondering if there’s any options

 

[Brian Noble]

I don’t think the merchants are going to be passing on those savings but instead adding them to their profits

If you are an Invisible Hand sort of person (and you believe there is sufficient competition at the consumer merchant level) this should take care of itself.

I may be an Invisible Hand person, but I am not sure there is still sufficient competition. YMMV.

Did you ask for a retention offer before downgrading?

No. I'd been thinking about dropping this card for years, because I don't need this plus the Amex Plat. But the latter is much more valuable to me given my personal travel habits.

 

[airjay75]

I think this is a great idea.

Don't get me wrong: it is a terrible idea for me personally. I pay off all my cards in full every month, and make use of the rewards reasonably effectively. But, I also know that even for me these rewards are not "free", I am paying for them in relatively high swipe fees.

The reason this is a great idea is that everyone else pays those swipe fees too. It amounts to a 2-3% tax on everything everyone buys using any credit card (which is north of 1/3 of all transactions). There is no earthly reason why it should cost even 2% of most transactions to process them in the year of our Lord 2025. In plenty of other jurisdictions, credit card issuers do just fine with lower swipe fees.

I doubt there will ever be regulations limiting these fees. But, if merchants band together in the way they are doing here, there may be a market-force limit.

I agree with you. From an overall policy perspective, I think this would be good. And, interestingly, I think whether you're more of a "free market/market efficiency" person or more of a "current system favors the wealthy at the expense of the poor," you can find reasons to support this. From a personal perspective, clearly won't benefit any of us who use premium credit cards rewards.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Guys individual merchants are not going to track a master list of all credit cards and charge you different fees (or outright reject your payment) based on which one you use.

I think it will be an all or nothing scenario. I dont think it will ever come to we take Chase Freedom Unlimited but not Chase Sapphire Preferred cards. So either credit card companies will do away with rewards systems completely or they wont.

 

[WinterSolider]

I think it will be an all or nothing scenario. I dont think it will ever come to we take Chase Freedom Unlimited but not Chase Sapphire Preferred cards. So either credit card companies will do away with rewards systems completely or they wont.

Or we see major fragmentation from the mega-retailers who have the clout to negotiate sweetheart deals for themselves, e.g. Costco only taking Visa or Walmart not taking mobile wallet.

 

[eticketplease]

Or we see major fragmentation from the mega-retailers who have the clout to negotiate sweetheart deals for themselves, e.g. Costco only taking Visa or Walmart not taking mobile wallet.

The Costco example, even though it’s only Visa, they would still have to pay the elevated fee fees for the premium cards on the Visa network obviously, they would avoid paying fees on Mastercard so I’m not really sure how that would apply here.

You would think that the major brands would have already negotiated some sort of thing with their credit card processor in their merchant agreements.

Walmart does take mobile wallet however it’s only their in-house mobile wallet. They must receive some sort of discount running the credit card through that way as opposed to the traditional swipe tap chip fee, although generally internet transactions cost more as you are typing the number and could potentially not have the card with you. I only mentioned this as I suspect you have to manually enter your card into the Walmart pay system, although I have no first hand experience with it.