Again, I will wait until I see the redemption schedule to judge how bad a deal it is.
To a certain extent, I agree, but my hopes rest more in the "bonus opportunities" than in the redemption schedule. Here's why:
Somewhere there was a blurb about being able to combine Reward Dollars with other offers. If Reward Dollars have separate redemption values, this would seem to make things very confusing.
I also saw something about needing to get the Reward Dollars transfered to a certificate or card before using. This sounds a lot like a gift certificate or gift card, which would makes sense, since these already exist and wouldn't require any new mechanism to distribute rewards. If one Reward Dollar does not equal a real dollar, then this would again be extremely confusing.
With so many Disney Stores and other locations accepting these reward dollars, I would think it needs to be as simple as possible. By just putting dollar values on gift cards, it becomes transparent to most locations.
My guess is the "bonus opportunities" are ways to get double or triple points on certain purchases. For instance, double reward dollars at Disney Stores, either all the time, or during certain time periods. Or double reward dollars on certain products.
Still though, I don't know this for sure, and certainly I could be wrong. Either way, your point about the true value not being know until we get the details is well taken.
I think that they will give this card to just about anyone. they will vary credit amount and interest rate. I could be wrong, but I think I remember hearing that somewhere.
Well..... There were three rates quoted over the phone, the highest being 15.15%. That's a variable rate, but 15.15 is what it would currently be. This is far below the rates charged for what the credit card industry deems "high risk" customers. Those rates can climb well into the 20%'s, and occasionally even low 30%'s. Even then, many people do not qualify.
Further, since this is a rewards card, you are "sacrificing" a lower rate in exchange for the opportunity to earn rewards. So the credit requirements will most likely be closer associated with cards that charge lower rates.
The way these rewards cards usually work, the credit card company uses their normal underwriting procedures. Bank One is most likely paying Disney for the right to issue this card, so they cannot afford to take any more credit risk than they normally would, particularly in today's climate.
In short, that means there really are going to be a lot of people who will not qualify for this card. I'd guess that those interested in the card have a higher average credit rating than the population at large, but still, many former Disney Club members will not qualify, though most AMEX customers will.
