Chase Flexible Rewards… WTF
I just redeemed 5,000 rewards points on one of my credit cards for a $50 statement credit. Not a bad deal.
Trying to score some more free money, I decided to check my Chase card and see if I qualified for anything. Nope. A $25 statement credit from Chase is 3500 points. And that's pretty lame.
Just for the hell of it, I checked the rewards program rules and found this gem:
Redemption Rules
1. A service fee of up to $25 may be charged for the use of Reward Headquarters services for point redemption. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion to determine the amount of the service fee, to waive the service fee, or to change the service fee without notice.
That's right. Once I get up to the 3,500 point limit and redeem those points for $25, Chase has given themselves the right to then charge me a $25 service fee for redeeming those points. Granted, they'd probably exercise their right to waive that fee… but… douchebags. That's all that I can think of.
I think the "flexible" part of "flexible rewards" just means they expect you to bend over when you attempt to use the program.