NEW YORK—Credit card “side perks” are disappearing.
Rewards like points, cash back and miles typically get applicants through the door for major credit card issuers. But side perks, such as price protection and purchase protection, have long been standard features on some of the best rewards credit cards.
That's beginning to change, NerdWallet reported.
Discover recently eliminated extended product warranty, purchase protection, return guarantee, auto rental coverage and flight accident insurance from its credit cards, citing "prolonged low usage" of these features. Citi plans to change its Price Rewind program on July 29, 2018, so that cardholders will enjoy price protection of only $200 per item (currently $500) and a maximum benefit of $1,000 per calendar year (currently $2,500). And Chase has noted that as of June 1, the United MileagePlus Explorer Card will lose both price and return protection, and that its trip cancellation coverage will be lowered to up to $1,500 per trip (currently up to $10,000 per trip), NerdWallet said.
“This mass-catalog approach — where issuers offer cards with every feature you can think of — just isn’t working as well anymore,” Mike Berinato, vice president of research and consulting for Market Strategies International, told NerdWallet.