Reader John S. points me to a posting by the much-respected ‘mia‘ who writes that the US Diners Club Club Rewards program has brought back a 30% transfer bonus to British Airways through November 30.

When I first got my Diners Club card a decade ago there were regular summer transfer bonuses of 100% from the Club Rewards program to British Airways.

That bonus was cut in half to 50% around the time that the benefits of the Diners Club card were cut as well (e.g. elimination of two billing cycles to pay, increased foreign currency conversion fees, elimination even of the Diners Club dining program).

British Airways has long been the partner they run the most promotions with and now 30% seems to be the new level at which they run promotions even as British Airways points have devalued..

I cancelled my Diners Club card over the summer. I used to say I was the last man carrying a Diners Club, but can no longer make that claim (even if it was an exaggeration).

They haven’t accepted new applications for the card in years. I expected this would change when Citi sold the portfolio to Bank of Montreal. That hasn’t happened, though the Bank of Montreal cards became true chip and pin, not just chip and signature which is more common in the U.S. They’re very international-use ready, and yet the card carries full foreign currency transaction fees.

The reason I held onto the card so long was that it offers primary collision damage waiver on car rentals. But with improved car rental benefits offered by other cards I couldn’t justify the annual fee any longer (and I wasn’t able in recent times to get offered a retention bonus, probably because I was pretty much just putting car rentals on the card).

For those of you still carrying the card, you probably can’t do much better than a 30% transfer bonus to British Airways.

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