I just received in the mail an invitation to get a Regal Entertainment Mastercard.
They are trying to coax me into more debt by offering free stuff at the movies for just using the card.
I don't want to get into why credit cards are evil or good, but I do want to compare this "excellent" deal that is being offered by the movie theatre to another card's rewards system that I already have: Citibank AAdvantage.
Here's the bonus program offered by Regal's new card: Earn 4 points for every dollar you spend at a Regal cinema; Earn 1 point for every dollar spent anywhere else. What are the points worth? the only thing I can find says "Automatically get a $10 REG Gift Certificate for every 1,200 points you earn.
Now, here's the competing deal that I get from my AAdvantage card through Citibank: 1 American Airlines mile for every dollar I spend, 2 miles if I'm buying an American Airlines ticket. The rewards are redeemable at 25,000 miles.
So, let's do some math: for $25,000 I can have a free airline ticket to anywhere in the continental USA. These tickets would cost me anywhere up to $1000 if they weren't free. So, let's divide into paul units: this card rewards $1000 for $25000 spent, or 1/25.
in paul units, the regal card rewards $10 for every $1200 spent, or 1/120. Now I know math is hard, but fractionally speaking, the AAdvantage card is almost 5 times better than the Regal card.
Looking at it another way, if I spent $25,000 on my AAdvantage card, I can get a round trip ticket to Miami. If I spend $25000 on a Regal card, I can get $200 worth of free popcorn and movies. Let's analyze a bit more: $9 to get into the film, $12 for a soda and a popcorn means that the movie outing for one person is around $20. 10 free movies (5 if you pay for your date) = 1 round trip from Portland, OR, to Miami, FL.
I don't think so. Seems like a rip off to me.
I don't know why I expected anything equitable from a cinema chain, they charge $5 for what you can buy at 7-11 for 80 cents. Hmmmm, I see a pattern.
