I’m in the drive-thru line at Dripping Springs Starbucks. I place my order to a disembodied voice. I pull forward. I’m greeted by a credit card reader that is…
What?
Not held in a human hand. Instead, it’s on some kind of extension thing, like a mechanical arm.
Clever, these baristas. After that, my vanilla latte and breakfast roll are delivered in a shiny chrome-plated basket. The human hand is safely tucked away at the back end of the basket.
Talk about safe distancing.
Options in the Land of Safe Distancing
Yes, it’s another day in America, Land of Covid-19.
My other big option for being out and about is the drive-thru at the McDonald’s across the street. Either place allows me to leave the house without leaving the car.
I do this as often as is reasonable. If I don’t, it’s almost certain that I will have another day in which I see more deer than people. City Boy is becoming an involuntary Mountain Man. If I go out often enough, I’ll need to put gas in the car. Then I’ll need to get out of the car.
Who would have imagined that one day we’d see putting gas in our car as a moment of bracing freedom?
Losing our consumer loyalties
Sadly, all this distancing and non-retailing is starting to wear away my consumer loyalties. It started with a local coffee shop. The shop sent me a text informing me that my free coffee was about to disappear unless I came in, very soon, and drank it. That was kind of annoying: Hurry up, get in here or we’ll forget your free drink.
Shortly after that I received an email telling me that a $5 reward was about to disappear at an office supply store.
It was followed by a clothing store notifying me that a perk was about to fade.
That was when I realized that I was awash in loyalty programs.
What’s your loyalty program count?
You probably are, too. According to a recent survey, American consumers collectively have some 3.8 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs. The average household has membership in 18 programs but is active in only half as many.
Even so, nine loyalty programs are a lot of favorites to manage. And nearly all of them require a name and password.
It all makes you think. Perhaps loyalty is overrated.
Don’t get me wrong. I am devoted to some companies. Until recently, for instance, I was a rabid collector of Southwest Airlines points by way of its Visa credit cards. With two cards, my wife and I have piled on the points.
But now?
As loyal as we are to Southwest, we just don’t know when we’ll be able to fly again. Or if we’ll ever be able to find nonstop flights to some of our favorite destinations now that such flights are becoming an endangered species.
Other credit card loyalty programs aren’t an alternative. Some years ago, we tried the Hyatt card, filled with dreams of stays in great luxury hotels. But there was a problem. It’s dirt simple to use your points to stay at Hyatt brands like Hyatt Place and Hyatt House, but almost impossible to use them for a stay at one of their truly grand resorts.
Ditto Marriott’s Bonvoy card. Points were great for a recent stay at a Residence Inn in, err, Decatur, Ill. But they couldn’t be used to stay at a place we love, the Westin Resort and Spa in Puerto Vallarta. The message there was, “Sorry, we can’t guarantee you a room with a water view if you use points.”
Seriously? Loyalty is supposed to be rewarded, not punished with a viewless room.
Cash sure has its uses
Cash may be trash, but it sure has its uses.
The bottom line? We’ll still fly Southwest because it’s the best way to fly, with or without points. If we can fly.
But our world has changed. So our use of credit cards will have to change, too.
Long ago, in the good old days of unlimited mobility, American Express was known for its advertising campaign.
“Don’t leave home without it.”
But in crowded, Covid-ripe Texas, “shop ‘til you drop” has become, well, kind of literal.
But we’re flexible. We adjust.
How? With a no-annual-fee, cash-back Amazon prime card. Today we use it all the time.
I think of it as our “Don’t Leave Home” card.
Related columns:
Scott Burns, “An ominously expensive dream,” 2/8/2020 https://scottburns.com/an-ominously-expensive-dream/
Scott Burns, “Letter from Mexico: Where are all the people’s yachts?”, 2/9/2019 https://scottburns.com/where-are-all-the-peoples-yachts/
Scott Burns, “At long last, the Crandall,”9/17/2000 https://scottburns.com/at-long-last-the-crandall/
Sources and References:
Customer Loyalty Programs in the US: Stats and Facts http://www.macorr.com/blog/?p=347
Southwest credit crds at Chase Visa: https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/southwest/NAEP40kPlusF20?cell=6RRW&jp_cmp=cc/SWA_Brand_Exact_SWA_SEM_US_NA_Standard_NA/sea/p25772051396/Southwest+Card&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqNPyBRCjARIsAKA-WFyqOsd_6sXc60ATuaT6qeksxg-EoTR6xOJQkPeyrENuku4NR6pGSYMaAjh6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
(c) Scott Burns, 2020