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The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
News
Our 2024 credit card predictions and trends: What did we get right and wrong?
Featured image by WIPHOP SATHAWIRAWONG/GETTY IMAGES
Matt Moffitt is a contributing editor and expert in getting the most out of credit cards and points (he carries at least 25 cards in his wallet at any given time). Originally from Sydney, Australia, he won the Green Card Lottery and lived in Austin, Texas for 10 years before relocating to Spain in 2025.
December 17, 2024 • 14 min read
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Quick summary
The article reviews 10 predictions made for 2024 regarding credit card trends, finding most were accurate or partially accurate.
Key developments included increased statement credits, higher fees, and expanded airport lounge competition among premium cards.
Lounge access restrictions tightened, with new capacity management tools and reduced partner access for some cardholders.
Transferable points programs saw new partners added, especially among smaller issuers, while targeted offers and enhanced security became more common.
What to consider
Some offers discussed are no longer available, so current details may differ.
Lounge access changes may affect which cards provide entry or benefits at certain airport lounges, with further restrictions possible in 2025.
Point valuations for loyalty programs remained mostly stable, though one program's valuation was updated to 1.6 cents each as of 2024 per TPG's valuations.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed breakdown of which 2024 credit card predictions were fully accurate, partially correct or missed, plus nuanced impacts on lounge access, elite status, and transferable points.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
So, as we do each year, let's critically examine our predictions to see which ones we got right, partially right and wrong.
Credit card or coupon card?: Correct
We're looking at you, American Express. The issuer is the king when it comes to adding new and sometimes hard-to-maximize statement credits as part of "card refreshes."
We predicted that issuers would add new statement credits with specific partners, coming in the form of monthly, quarterly, biannual or annual chunks — and we were right.
Delta's Amex cards underwent a major refresh in February. DELTA AIR LINES
We didn't really see other issuers add new statement credits this year — apart from Chase rejigging its DoorDash credits — but that doesn't mean they won't next year.
Usually, existing cardmembers can come out on top with increased annual fees — but only if they maximize all the existing and new statement credits.
Increased fees: Partially correct
Let's be real: It's uncommon to see an issuer decrease its annual fees and authorized user fees. Inflation affects credit cards, too.
I think all of us could predict that Amex's card refreshes would come with higher annual fees. Indeed, the cards mentioned above all hiked their annual fees as part of their refreshes this year.
Surprisingly, the refresh of the Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees) in May was comparatively minor. Among the changes Citi announced was a new card name, an additional bonus category (for electronic vehicle charging stations) and reintroduced travel protections — all for the same $95 annual fee. I would've expected an increase to $150, which I expect to become the new standard for mid-tier cards over the next couple of years.
Does that mean that when Citi potentially relaunches and rebrands the Citi Prestige® Card, it won't hike its current $450 annual fee? Let's hope — but I think it's unlikely.
We're (im)patiently waiting for the (re)launch of the Citi Prestige card. THE POINTS GUY
The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
I also predicted that the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card would increase its annual fee to edge closer to its two main competitors, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) and The Platinum Card® from American Express. That (thankfully) didn't happen.
In fact, the lower annual fee played a role in Venture X winning Best Premium Travel Card at the 2024 TPG Awards, as it has remained at $395 since the card launched in November 2021. This comes even as Capital One continues to expand its lounge network and opened its first Capital One Landing this fall. As a Venture X cardholder myself, I think the relatively modest $395 fee makes it worth holding onto the card year after year.
More premium card competition: Partially correct
With American Express, Chase and Capital One dominating the premium travel rewards card space, we expected Wells Fargo and Citi to join the party — and we were misguided on that.
In late 2023, Wells Fargo announced plans to launch a new card, which we expected to be a premium card. But in March, the mid-tier Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card (see rates and fees) hit the market with a $95 annual fee, positioning it as a competitor to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) and the Citi Strata Premier. The good news is that it was accompanied by the launch of Wells Fargo's first-ever transfer partners.
Wells Fargo is upping its game in the travel rewards space. WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY
As previously mentioned, we expected Citi to relaunch its top-tier rewards card as the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (see rates and fees), a trademark it's been sitting on for two years now. So 2025 might be the year they actually move on this. But, then again, Citi also registered a "Strata Lounge" trademark in October, so the issuer may wait until its first airport lounge is ready to open its doors. Given the long runway to get these spaces built, this probably won't happen until 2026 at the earliest, pushing back the potential relaunch date.
Having said that, we've seen a substantial heating up of competition in the airport lounge wars.
The travel world was abuzz with talk of overcrowded lounges in 2022 and 2023; that seems to have been replaced by talk of overcrowded destinations this year. Nevertheless, it can still be hard to find a seat in many lounges — if you aren't stuck waiting in line to get into the lounge in the first place.
We predicted more announcements about tightening lounge access, whether reducing annual visits or completely eliminating it for select cardholders.
The information for the Spark Miles for Business has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Delta Sky Clubs should be less crowded next year. DELTA AIR LINES
Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders like myself were disappointed when it was announced that they would lose Priority Pass restaurant access from July. Some Capital One Venture X Business cardholders also lost access that month.
Hopefully, these changes will have an impact on crowds and remove the need for further restrictions in 2025 — though only time will tell if that's the case.
Lower interest rates: Correct
I'm sure I'm not the only one who started 2024 exasperated by stubbornly high interest rates — and I don't think I'm the only one still holding out for further relief in 2025.
At the start of the year, many economists were predicting cuts from March onward. In fact, Morningstar predicted six rate cuts this year.
Predicted interest rate reductions did not eventuate in the first half of the year. RAWPIXEL/UNSPLASH
In reality, we had to wait until September for relief, when rates were cut for the first time since 2020. That month, we saw a 0.5 percentage point reduction, followed by a smaller 0.25 percentage point cut at the next meeting in November.
Traders are predicting a more-than-likely 0.25 percentage point cut at December's meeting, bringing the potential total to three rate cuts in 2025, half of what Morningstar predicted at the start of the year.
It remains to be seen how aggressively the Federal Reserve will cut rates in 2025, especially with changes in the political landscape.
United is joining American and Delta in further incentivizing elite members to spend on its cobranded cards. ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
With the ranks of elite members swelling over the past few years, United Airlines status is getting harder to earn next year, with qualifying thresholds increasing by about 25% across the board. At the same time, it's improving the rate at which its top-tier cardholders can earn Premier qualifying points and increasing the maximum number of PQPs earned from certain cards.
Thankfully, American Airlines — whose status qualification period runs through the end of February — just announced that it won't be changing qualification thresholds next year.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue is the only airline program to partner with all six transferable bank points currencies. KYLE OLSEN/THE POINTS GUY
As previously mentioned, Wells Fargo launched its first-ever transfer partners, with six at the outset — one hotel and five airline programs (albeit with three of them all earning the same currency of Avios) — and added the twin programs of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Virgin Red later.
Meanwhile, Citi added one retail partner with Shop Your Way and two new hotel programs with The Leading Hotels of the World-affiliated Leaders Club program and Preferred Hotels & Resorts' I Prefer Hotel Rewards program, of which only the latter offers (occasional) good value.
We also correctly predicted more targeted welcome offers, such as those through the CardMatch tool, plus increased AI integration in customer service for cardholders and enhanced credit card security (amid an increase in the number of data breaches but a decrease in the amount of time to identify and contain them).
Reviewing our 10 credit card predictions for this year, we got eight of them correct and two of them partially correct, which is a positive showing.
Overall, we've seen credit card issuers seek to squeeze more spending out of their customers, especially through cobranded partnerships with airlines and hotels — and that's only set to continue. The issuers have been particularly keen to incentivize loyal frequent flyers to spend on airline cobranded cards to reach elite status levels they've become accustomed to.
Moreover, we've seen competition in the airport lounge offerings that premium cardholders can access. This is good news for those who, like me, are agnostic to airline loyalty; rather, they want lounge access, regardless of which carrier they're flying with.
For rates and fees of the Autograph Journey card, click here.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
