$800 for a Credit Card? Why Your Premium Cards Will Cost More.

Business|If You’ll Pay $800 for a Credit Card, You’re in Demand

It’s getting harder to be a travel hacker.

For years, savvy consumers found ways to squeeze every last drop of value out of travel credit cards and loyalty programs run by banks and airlines.

But the companies have become increasingly sophisticated about closing loopholes and limiting certain perks. The latest changes to some travel cards include much higher annual fees and more coupon-like benefits that points-and-miles experts say will make it harder to easily score big deals or unlock access to business class seats and other premium services.

“We are at some kind of inflection point,” said Clint Henderson, a managing partner at the Points Guy, a website devoted to helping people make the most of cards and loyalty programs. “It’s getting harder and harder for consumers to win. That’s true of the credit cards, that’s true of elite status, that’s true of loyalty.”

For years, loyalty programs were principally marketing tools for the airlines, but they have become much more than that in recent decades as more businesses have started using them and figuring out how to make money from them.

Last year, Delta Air Lines brought in $7.4 billion from selling loyalty points to American Express. American Airlines and United Airlines also earned billions of dollars from similar deals with Citibank and Chase The credit card companies, in turn, award miles to customers for making purchases with their cards.

“It’s like drinking from a fire hose,” said Evert de Boer, managing director at On Point Loyalty, a consulting firm. “There is so much money coming in.”