CU Rewards is a popular rewards program that a lot of credit unions use (we’ve covered the InFirst Federal Credit Union & America’s Christian Credit Union cards before for example). Recently some changes have been made to redeeming points for flights.
Fixed Fares
These offer a fixed point amount for travel to specific destinations.
- US 48 25,000 points (previously 35,000 points)
- Europe 79,000 points (previously 105,500)
- Caribbean 50,000 points (previously 65,000 points)
- Mexico 50,000 points (previously 65,000 points)
Unrestricted travel
Unrestricted travel basically allows you to use your points towards any flight up to a certain limit.
- Previously 35,000 points for a $325 credit, now only 25,000 points (1.3¢ per point)
- Previously 54,000 for a $525 credit, now only 40,000 points (1.3125¢ per point)
- Previously 75,000 for a $750 credit, now only 57,000 points (1.3158¢ per point)
Previously the best deal was 1¢ per point and now we see up to ~1.32¢.
Our Verdict
In this day and age where it’s devaluation after devaluation it’s nice to see a positive improvement for once. I guess this might make the hunt for useful CU Rewards cards more important. If anybody finds any ones of particular interest let me know in the comments below.
Hat tip to reader Gabe
View Comments (7)
The CURewards devaluation arrived in 2022. No more booking your own airfare online, now you can only buy gift cards and redeem them offsite. The value of your points once converted to gift cards is pathetic. My guess is that CURewards decided to bail on being a “middle entity” once C-19 trashed the travel industry for over two years.
Do purchases made out of country qualify for rewards program? I cannot find a reference to this in terms and conditions of CU Rewards program. I have been out of country and made lots of purchases but non are showing in my total points earned. Sad.
Consumers Credit Union Visa Signature Rewards card earns CURewards points. Might actually be useful now.
any credit union credit cards earns 2.5x - 3.0x on ebay purchases? thx
If you can find eBay GCs at a grocery store in your area, Andrews FCU Titanium Visa pays 3x on groceries. https://pages.ebay.com/giftcard/retail.html
Not that I know of
That's cool about they didn't devalue, I have 30k expiring this year that I was going to use for a PDX-ATL as most of the direct flights are $400+ or I could cash 5,000 for $50.
For some reason I was sitting on them thinking that it could be great for a last minute flight booking (higher fares and all) Parents live East coast. Also I thought that RT for lower 48 was only 25k but haven't checked in awhile. Onpoint CU is the largest CU in OR and uses CUrewards I wonder if the CU all get the same program or if they have tiers.