Good morning everyone, I hope you got a good laugh out of my post from yesterday: Reviewing my Embarrassingly Wrong 2020 Travel Predictions. Long story short, my 2020 predictions were terrible (I had 3 correct and 12 wrong predictions). I am hoping to redeem myself today with my super-solid, 100% guaranteed-to-happen predictions for 2021. My crystal ball just got back from the crystal ball repair store and here are my airline, hotel, and credit card predictions for 2021.
My 2021 Airline Predictions
- Alaska Airlines or Southwest Airlines will make their “convert travel funds to airline miles” feature a permanent feature on their site.
- American Airlines will finally become a Citi ThankYou Points airline transfer partner.
- Delta Airlines or United Airlines will introduce a “Cash and Miles” payment option for award tickets (pay 10,000 miles or pay 8,000 miles + $40).
My 2021 Hotel Predictions
- Marriott will waive resort fees for Platinum and Titanium Elite Members.
- Marriott Free Night Certificates will bump up to 40K and 60K tiers (and hotel categories will rise too).
- IHG or Hyatt will allow cash copayments when using Free Night Certificates at hotels that are in higher categories (IHG hotel that costs 50K will require a free night certificate + $75; Hyatt hotel that costs 20K will require a free night certificate + $100).
- Radisson Rewards will finally allow their Free Night Certificates for spending $10K, $20K, and $30K to be valid at international properties.
My 2021 Credit Card Predictions
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card will add a 4x and 5x category (or raise travel and dining to those levels) to compete with the American Express Gold Card.
- American Express will introduce a “Pay Yourself Back” feature to compete with Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature.
- The Citi Premier Credit Card will keep travel redemptions at 1.25 CPP (instead of changing to 1 CPP as scheduled in April 2021).
- Bank of America will lose the Alaska Airlines Credit Card when Alaska Airlines becomes part of the One World airline alliance.
- American Express will raise the 4 credit card limit to 6 credit cards.
- A new high end credit card that offers top tier hotel elite status will appear (maybe Chase Hyatt Globalist Credit Card or an American Express Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Credit Card).
My predictions are guaranteed to be correct, according to my recently repaired crystal ball. If you think any of my predictions are wrong, let me know in the comments section. We will check back in a year to see how right I was. Until then, have a great day everyone!
Fun stuff, Grant! Enjoy a safe and happy holiday season…and start your podcast!
Thank you NonRevGuy, I’m glad you liked my 2021 predictions. I don’t think a podcast is in my future, I’m not professional enough (but I will gladly be a guest on someone else’s podcast). Have a happy New Year :)
I don’t think B of A will lose Alaska in 2021. I think they have a long term deal.
Hi Mark, you might be right about that, but we will see if anything happens in 2021. Have a great New Years :)
Hey Grant – awesome to see these yet again! I hope you are correct about the Hyatt/IHG certificate copays, as well as expanded use of the Radisson certificates. I would be much more likely to spend on my Radisson card if I could use the certs internationally, at least until there’s more Blus in the U.S.
I think you’re right about the Sapphire Reserve given the recent additions to the Freedom Unlimited and the revamp of the Freedom. 5X on dining and travel would be amazing, but for $550, I feel there needs to be even more.
Why do you think BOA will lose the Alaska card due to OneWorld?
Hi Robert, I’m glad you like my 2021 predictions. I hope the hotel predictions come true.
The BofA Alaska Airlines CC was a long shot, but I threw it out there just in case it happens.
Grant, I hope you’re right about AA becoming a transfer partner for ThankYou points. I always wondered why it didn’t happen but it seems like it’s more of AA not wanting it rather than Citi.
It never made sense to me either. They are both CC partners, wouldn’t they want to make both of their programs more valuable to customers? Maybe 2021 it will happen, fingers crossed!
Pingback: How Right (or Wrong) were my 2021 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions?