Following a trend in which growing numbers of card companies are targeting the good-credit standing of affluent consumers with travel rewards cards, JPMorgan Chase & Co. on June 9 launched a luxury cobranded credit card with Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC, the first card of its kind for the hotel company.
The companies are billing the card as “Access to the Extraordinary” because it offers such benefits as Ritz hotel upgrades to Club Level for three stays per year, complimentary dining, spa and recreational activities worth up to $100 per year, and Gold Elite status in the Ritz-Carlton Rewards program.
Chase provides a concierge service, airport-lounge access and up to $200 in airline incidental credit, which covers such things as food and drinks or baggage fees, each year.
The card, which comes with a $395 annual fee, imposes no foreign-transaction fees.
For rewards, cardholders may earn five Ritz-Carlton Reward points per $1 spent at Ritz-Carlton hotels; two points per $1 spent on qualifying airfare, car rentals and dining; and one point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Issuers now commonly target affluent consumers because they are the best credit risks and also tend to spend more money on travel than do others, analysts say.
“It’s a direction issuers have certainly shown a lot more interest in in recent years,” Scott Strumello, an associate at Auriemma Consulting Group, tells PaymentsSource. “This is a product that fits the affluent market very well” because travel spend is desirable for that group.
In terms of competition for the smaller affluent segment, any market share an issuer can get is worth the effort, Strumello says. “Competition is pretty intense for the affluent market,” he says. “But the dollars they spend [in that smaller segment] are comparable with the mass market, so even if you capture a small slice of it the rewards can be very valuable for a card issuer.”
Other card companies also are flooding the market with travel-related program offers for the affluent credit card market. MasterCard recently relaunched its World Elite Card, which focuses on family travel, with a massive marketing and advertising campaign (
Chase did not respond to requests for comment and did not announce how it plans to market the card to the affluent segment.
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