The Wall Street Journal started the year off with an interesting article that seems to say that the credit card flipping game is about to end. It suggested that Chase – which controls many of the most valuable sign-up bonuses - can no longer offer the same bonuses for new cards when the card attrition rate is growing and when interchange fees are under pressure. Interestingly, the article cites ThePointsGuy as Chase’s main source of new accounts while alluding to the fact (although not specifically stating) that ThePointsGuy is completely designed to help young and not particularly well-heeled cardholders maximize travel rewards.

Even were the credit card flipping game to end, the opportunity for individuals and couples to adopt a strategy to maximize rewards from their credit cards will continue to exist. In fact, it will get still better in the short term, as many card issuers, including Amex and Citibank, have added new features and reward--earning opportunities to their premium products over the last several years.

Most interesting are the reader comments in the WSJ article, as they indicate that most people still do not take the time to analyze or estimate their credit card spend, nor to get the cards that give them the most valuable rewards. BestCashCow’s credit card maximizer enables users to enter different spend categories and easily identify those travel rewards credit cards and those cash-back credit cards that provide the greatest value.

I’d also note that the WSJ article is not the first to suggest that the huge sign-up bonuses handed out by credit card companies aren’t sustainable. Much the same has been written time and time again since the early part of the decade. What makes this time different, however, is that Amex, Barclays and Citibank have all somehow managed to become less and less competitive with Chase on sign-up bonuses. If Chase cuts back its sign-up bonuses, others will certainly follow and bonuses will become less and less attractive.

But, while competition in this sector continues, , you might want to take a look at all of the valuable travel sign-up bonuses that Chase, Amex, Citi, Barclays and others are still offering to try to attract your business. We’ve boiled them down to one easy-to-use chart here.

American Airlines acquired US Air in 2015 and Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016, making each the largest US Airline and largest US hotel chain respectively.

It took years for them to fully integrate the loyalty program of their acquiree. In the case of American Airlines, the loyalty program wasn’t the main reason for the acquisition (it was scale), but Marriott clearly acquired a better program than they had previously (and than they have now).

Both American Airlines and Marriott have now wound up with terms allowing the credit card partner of their acquiree to continue as a credit card partner, effectively creating two separate credit card partners competing for their loyalty customers.

American is now allowing both Citibank, its longtime incumbent credit card partner, and Barclays, which had serviced US Air, to issue personal and business American Airlines branded credit cards. Barclays had been barred from issuing new cards for a while, but now gets exclusive access to market inside the airplanes and the airports (excluding Admirals Club which goes to Citi, along with the website, direct market channels, etc.).

In practice under the new American Airlines system, Barclays and Citibank are now competing against each other to provide the most valuable consumer card, the most valuable business card and the best signup bonuses. American is winning - they are being rewarded for all of these new accounts at both Citibank and Barclays, and selling miles to both. Customers also seem to be winning. I was on a flight where a flight attendant told a passenger next to me to open both, and that means customers can get two products with separate features (for example, the Barclays Aviator cards give 3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars for every $25,000 in spend). They are also getting access to better products with Citibank now offering a high end product in The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® and a low end no-fee product in American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp? Card.

Marriott has also maintained both Chase, its incumbent credit card partner, and American Express, which had serviced Starwood, as credit card partners. Their press releases indicate that Chase will be offering the standard Marriott card with Amex offering higher end consumer cards and business cards. Again, Marriott is probably something of a winner here – like American they are being rewarded for new accounts with both Amex and Chase and will be selling miles to both.

However, unlike the case with American Airlines, consumers seem to be losers here, especially those who had been part of Amex’s exceptional successful and popular Starwood loyalty card products. Those cards which had been the most valuable travel rewards credit cards since the early 2000s until recently were debased at the beginning of this month. Instead of continuing to provide one Starwood point per dollar, it will now only offer 2 Marriott points. Since Marriott itself is applying a 1 to 3 conversion ratio, it means that the Starwood product will now produce 33% fewer points. Likewise, the new Chase Marriott card is also giving only 2 Marriott points on non-Marriott spend which is more than it previously delivered, but still 33% less value that loyalty to Starwood had delivered through Amex. In short, Marriott has not delivered an enhancement for credit card loyalty that it appeared that they might when they instituted a 1 Starwood to 3 Marriott conversion ratio. They recognized that Starwood was a better program, but then set out to destroy it, and are now making their own program less valuable through devaluations and removal of their 7 Night Hotel And Air Packages.

Find the best travel rewards credit card for your spend profile here.

BestCashCow has been a big fan of the Hyatt program for many, many years. We’ve always viewed Hyatt points as among the most valuable points that you can accumulate for your credit card spend. Historically, only your spend on the Starwood card or the Fairmont card can produce more valuable hotel points (and those cards are now both being removed or adjusted downward in value). See here how we value hotel points today.

The Hyatt card, however, has not really provided more value than several other Chase cards over the last few years, even to loyal Hyatt customers. Until recently, it gave you only 40,000 Hyatt points for signing up and no more for your spend in any category than you would receive by using the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. As Chase points earned through the Sapphire Reserve card as well as the Sapphire Preferred card and many other Chase cards are freely transferrable to Hyatt, there has been little reason to keep a Hyatt card in it your wallet.

Yesterday, Hyatt and Chase announced a revamped card that provides 60,000 Hyatt points for signing up (40,000 after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months and an additional 20,000 after spending a total of $6,000 in the first 6 months). The categories have been changed so that the new card gives 4x the points at Hyatt (more than the 3x that the Reserve provides) as well as 2x for gym membership and ride sharing services (the Reserve only provides 1x here). The new card, therefore, is one that you might want to keep next the Reserve in your wallet even after meeting the promotional spend.

If you have the old Hyatt card, your point earnings have not changed, although you may get an offer to upgrade to this card. You could also cancel in and apply for the new card, although Chase only allows one sign-up bonus for all Hyatt cards every 24 months. The new Hyatt card is not subject to Chase’s 5-24 rule.

Apply for the new Hyatt card here.

Use the BestCashCow credit card tool to find the most valuable travel rewards credit card for your spend profile here.