Question
Any thoughts from FT'ers on this letter I drafted to Bank One corporate?
10/15/03
Carter Franke, Chief Marketing Officer
Bank One
Three ChristinaCenter
201 N. Walnut Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Dear Carter,
I am writing in response to a promotion that just began in connection with the Marriott Visa card issued by Bank One (see enclosed flyer). The current promotion is similar to one from this past summer, where double Marriott points were earned at restaurants and gas stations for a 60 day period, except this one encourages catalog purchases and shipping charges from October 1st to November 30th. And while these are both good promotions, they really do not make me want to use my Bank One Marriott Visa card for the bulk of my charge purchases. The reason? The payoff is too low. Awarding only two Marriott points per dollar spent on these particular purchases is lower than the three Hilton points per dollar spent that I earn from my American Express Hilton card on ALL purchases. And awarding only one Marriott point per dollar at all other merchants is simply not competitive. Hilton and Marriott are comparable hotel chains, so free hotel nights are not an issue. Earn Marriott points or earn Hilton points - same thing. I also feel that the non-hotel awards for the two chains are comparable. So why would I use my Bank One card and earn one (or selectively two) Marriott points per dollar when I can use my American Express card and earn three Hilton points per dollar for most purchases and five Hilton points per dollar at Hilton properties?
While I know that the American Express card is not accepted at as many places as the Visa card, I'm really talking about the significant and large purchases made by families every day - groceries, gasoline, travel, and the like. Every major grocery store in San Diego accepts American Express, as do the gas stations. Regarding travel, every airline, hotel, and rental car agency accepts American Express, as do most restaurants. So the fact that my local, mom-and-pop dry cleaner only accepts Visa or MasterCard is insignificant to this discussion. I don't care about that $10 or $12. I do care about my family's $100 per week grocery bill, or the $300 per month that we spend on gasoline. While I would like to use my Bank One Marriott card for those, I would feel like a foolish consumer if I did so, since three Hilton points are better than one Marriott point for the same one dollar charged, in my opinion.
The fact that the Bank One Marriott card has an annual fee of $30 while the American Express card is free is important as well, but is not the primary reason I am writing. I would encourage you to explore MATCHING the American Express three points/five points award schedule for the Bank One Marriott card on a permanent basis. You would find the XXXXX family switching $2000-$3000 per month in charges from American Express to the Bank One Marriott card very quickly.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXX XXXXX
Answer
Your ambition is admirable.
Answer
Unless you spend a decent amount of $$$ at Marriotts, dump the card and the program. $35K non-Marriott spending for a free top-end night is terrible vs. Hilton or Starwood.