FoundersCard: Is it value paying $595 a yr for elite standing and reductions?

Surprisingly, I pay an annual payment for one card that isn’t a bank card: FoundersCard.

It’s a membership group providing reductions and advantages in many various life-style classes. This card has many advantages, reductions and facilities that make journey simpler and improve my life-style.

You may get these advantages with out having to use for a bank card, however is the cardboard definitely worth the membership payment? Let’s dig in.

The data for the FoundersCard bank card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.

Regardless of the identify, you do not have to be a “founder” or entrepreneur to have this card; anybody is welcome to apply. The applying course of is brief, and a choice is often given inside two days.

How a lot does a FoundersCard membership value?

There are two membership tiers:

• Commonplace: $595 a yr
• All Entry Elite: $995 a yr

You should pay a further $95 initiation payment.

Often, discounted membership affords can be found. I’ve seen the usual membership go for as little as $295 a yr for all times. In actual fact, I used to be capable of safe that price. Provided that the cardboard offers me with outsize worth, I’ll proceed to resume my membership annually.

Listed below are the variations between the 2 membership tiers:

The usual membership is greater than ample for my wants. All the advantages, credit and reductions I obtain greater than cowl the annual membership payment.

It is value noting that lots of the FoundersCard advantages overlap with advantages I obtain from my Enterprise Platinum Card® from American Categorical, similar to Hilton Honors Gold standing and Hertz 5 Star standing*, however there are distinct advantages I exploit which can be solely accessible with FoundersCard.

FoundersCard has over 500 advantages which can be damaged into classes similar to journey, buying subscriptions and enterprise companies. Membership offers you elite standing and advantages much like these supplied by premium journey rewards bank cards with out including one other bank card to your pockets. A few of these advantages embody:

• Advantages for companies: Save as much as 35% on enterprise companies like Amazon Internet Companies, co-working areas, Shopify, Sq. and UPS.
• Automotive reductions: Obtain reductions for Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Jeep.
• Cellphone reductions: Save as much as 15% in your AT&T invoice.
• Resort standing and companion partnerships: Get pleasure from Hilton Honors Gold standing and a standing problem for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite standing. Moreover, FoundersCard has resort partnerships by way of which members obtain particular charges and different elitelike advantages. These luxurious inns are in cities like Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Tokyo and embody Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt and The Ritz-Carlton.
• Rental automotive standing and reductions: Obtain Hertz 5 Star standing and reductions and standing with Sixt and Avis.
• Procuring reductions: Save as much as 30% at shops like Adidas, Mr. Porter and Reebok. The low cost may be stacked and used with buying portals, so you possibly can earn factors and miles and lower your expenses. I exploit the 30% low cost at Adidas often to purchase fitness center attire.

Pairing FoundersCard with bank cards is the place you possibly can actually get excellent worth.

Airline reductions

FoundersCard has a number of airfare reductions with many airways world wide, together with:

• Alaska Airways: 5% off base fares
• British Airways: As much as 10% off most round-trip fares originating from the U.S. and Canada
• Delta Air Strains: 10% off
• Etihad Airways: As much as 10% off choose fares
• Qantas: As much as 15% off Qantas fares between the U.S. and Australia or New Zealand (should buy within the U.S.)
• Qatar Airways: As much as 10% off flights originating from the U.S.
• Singapore Airways: As much as 15% off choose flights originating from the U.S.
• United Airways: As much as 16% off

You’ll be able to e book any cabin for these airways and obtain a reduction.

United is my most well-liked airline to fly, and I maintain United MileagePlus Premier Gold standing with the service. Each time I’ve used this low cost, it has given me precisely 16% off.

It is vital to notice that with these reductions, you’ll nonetheless earn miles and spending qualifiers towards elite standing with the airline. If you happen to often fly one in all these airways and e book costly fares, you possibly can simply save the price of the FoundersCard membership with only one flight buy.

You’ll be able to additional maximize the worth of this low cost through the use of a cobranded airline bank card to earn miles.

Associated: Greatest United Airways bank cards

Caesars Diamond standing

Be aware that this profit might have disappeared as of February 2024, as per Miles to Reminiscences. If so, this enormously reduces the worth of a FoundersCard membership.

Caesars Diamond is a really invaluable standing to have for those who often journey to Las Vegas or Atlantic Metropolis, New Jersey.

You used to have the ability to standing match into Wyndham Rewards after which to Ceasars. Now, you possibly can solely standing match from Wyndham Rewards to Caesars for those who earned Wyndham standing by way of stays or by having a Wyndham bank card.

Some highlights of Caesars Diamond standing embody:

• Free or discounted resort stays (this relies on how a lot you gamble, as Caesars will ship you affords to entice you again to a property)
• Early check-in and late checkout
• No resort charges, saving you as much as $45 plus tax per day
• Complimentary valet and self-service parking, saving you as much as $50 plus tax per day
• Complimentary keep at Atlantis, Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas
• $100 celebration dinner, which is an annual eating credit score that can be utilized at eating places in Caesars properties

The most important promoting level of Caesars Diamond standing is the complimentary keep at Atlantis, Paradise Island. The worth of this alone covers the price of the FoundersCard membership. You get 4 nights free and should purchase further nights at $100 per evening. Nonetheless, you possibly can’t use the free nights throughout March, April or July. This is not a difficulty for me, as I can use the perk throughout colder months to flee the chilly Pacific Northwest winters.

Final yr, I used the $100 celebration dinner credit score at Mr. Chow’s in Caesars Palace; it was a really simple course of, because the restaurant simply took $100 off my complete invoice.

Associated: 15 greatest inns in Las Vegas for a Sin Metropolis getaway

Different helpful advantages

• Dell enterprise low cost value as much as 40%: I stack this low cost with the Amex Enterprise Platinum card’s as much as $400 annual Dell credit score. Saving 40% allowed me to get an additional monitor final yr with my annual credit.
• Late checkout at IHG properties: That is helpful to me, as I do not often keep at IHG properties or maintain an IHG bank card to have IHG One Rewards standing, however once I do go to an IHG resort, having a 2 p.m. late checkout time is an added perk.
• Sonesta Journey Move Gold standing: I’ve stayed at just a few Sonesta inns, however I do not keep often, so having some further perks for these one-off stays is an additional benefit for me.
• Most well-liked pricing on Equinox: I was a member of Equinox, and this most well-liked pricing saved me round $100 off my month-to-month membership. When you have The Platinum Card® from American Categorical, you possibly can pair this low cost with as much as $300 annual Equinox credit score (topic to auto-renewal).
• Complimentary TripIt Professional membership: A really helpful app for planning a visit and holding your itinerary multi functional place, this flight-tracking function is useful for frequent flyers like me.

Downsides of FoundersCard

Regardless of FoundersCard having many nice perks and advantages, there are some downsides, together with:

• Full record of advantages is not viewable earlier than membership: You have got to join membership and pay earlier than you will get the total record of advantages and options, so it may be robust to find out how a lot worth you’ll get from every profit.
• Steep annual payment: The cardboard has an annual payment much like that of premium bank cards.
• Provides many advantages that bank cards supply: When you have premium journey playing cards just like the Amex Platinum, you would possibly discover that a few of the advantages overlap. FoundersCard additionally isn’t a bank card, so you possibly can’t make purchases or earn any miles and nonetheless should pay an annual payment.

FoundersCard is greatest paired with a journey rewards card to maximise the reductions and earn factors and miles.

Backside line

Many advantages with FoundersCard may be accessed with premium bank cards just like the Amex Platinum or the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Nonetheless, many life-style and journey advantages present me with outsize worth definitely worth the $295 I pay yearly.