When buying something online recently, I got a popup after the purchase offering a free 12 month trial subscription of FoundersCard which is at a publicly available link. Considering the benefits that a FounderCard member can get, that theoretically sounds like it could be superb value.
However, it’s likely the same version that JetBlue Mosaic members can pick as a perk. If so, it means you’d be getting an extra-extra-extra-extra-extra-lite version of FoundersCard which is only marginally more valuable than its $0 price tag.
The Deal
- Get a free 12 month FoundersCard trial membership.
- Direct link to offer.
Key Terms
- Offer valid for new FoundersCard Members only and cannot be applied to existing or former accounts.
- Some benefits are not available on the trial plan and require an upgrade to a paid plan to access.
- Applications are subject to review and approval by FoundersCard.
- You may cancel your Membership at any time during the complimentary trial period.
- Your complimentary period will be followed by a preferred annual Membership rate of $395.
Quick Thoughts
In case you’re not familiar with FoundersCard, it’s not a credit card. Instead it’s a membership service that provides elite status (or challenges) for a number of hotel and airline loyalty programs, discounts for numerous retailers, supposed savings on hotel stays, etc.
That’s for a full membership though. This free version likely has a very limited set of benefits and might well be the same version that’s an optional Perk for those who earn high enough JetBlue Mosaic status. Greg wrote about that version a few years ago. Even if you don’t read his post, the title—JetBlue’s Mosaic FoundersCard benefit. Is this a joke?—gives an adequate sense of what to expect.
If applying for the free trial membership, I therefore wouldn’t go into it expecting any of the good benefits like United Silver status, Hilton Gold status, Virgin Atlantic Silver status, a Marriott Platinum status challenge, Southwest A-List status, etc. However, perhaps there are some kind of retailer savings you can get from the free version.
The terms state that you can cancel your free trial at any time. I’m not sure if that’s an easy process where there’s a little box that you can uncheck ‘Auto-renew’, or if you have to call them up and get the hard sell to upgrade to the paid version.
For what it’s worth, you can view the list of FoundersCard benefits for a full membership here. Don’t be too seduced by the purported value you can get, as some listed values are…optimistic. For example, having Hilton Gold status can get you “up to $4,000 value.”
Why not make that $10,000?! You can also get 12% off Flexible Rates which is where the $1,000 of savings probably supposedly comes from, but I imagine other types of publicly available rates could also save you a somewhat similar amount. Like I said, optimistic!
However, for someone who can get good value from things like United Silver status, Southwest A-List, etc., a full membership could definitely be a worthwhile investment, especially if you can get some proper savings from their other retailer/service discounts.
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I signed up for the free 1-year trial about a year ago and just cancelled it through the website without any hassle, despite a few discounted upgrade offers I had to click through. I found it to be of zero value, When I searched their discounted concert tickets, they were the same price as StubHub after all the taxes and fees were included. It almost felt like a scam.
Years ago, before I had really ramped up in the hobby, I had been a member of Founders Card. To be fair, some business owners might find certain discounts to be valuable. That combined with certain perks, it might be worth it. With its tier status matches, it could give someone a jump start.
However, any active hobbyist . . . anyone reading this website . . . will likely be playing at a level beyond what the card offers.
I get that on my monthly $10 Office Depot online purchases so I can get my inkjet credit. Cannot be worth that much.
Just signed up and still trying to find anything of value. The AA and United status upgrades all require the $295 membership upgrade fee.
Just signed up. Process was easy enough, used a Capital One Virtual card that I’ve now locked just in case they try anything funny. They ask you for “Company Name” and “Professional Title”, so naturally I put “J.P. Morgan & Chase”, and “CEO”.
After trying to sell me 3 “upgraded opportunities” I was finally able to view benefits. Entirely discount codes for companies, some maybe useful ones. Every car rental company, and 5-10% off many airlines (Alaska 10%, Qantas 15%, Singapore 10%, Etihad 5%, etc). No idea how they actually work, but that’s what they claim. If you scroll down the benefits page enough they just list “Member Rates” at individual hotel properties. No way they’d be better than Rove, Shopping Portal, etc. I’d assume. Some random companies with discounts too (AT&T, FedEx, UPS, Dell, etc). All useful stuff like airline status requires upgrading to a paid version of the card.
All in all probably not worth the thought and time of signing up, YMMV I suppose. If anyone has an incredible experience saving 15% on “Bang & Olufsen” I’d love for my pessimism to be proven wrong.
Half the ‘benefits’ of this card are disabled;
Most of the rest are crippled;
‘Free’ is too expensive.
This coupon-book-in-drag is a waste of time and money. It’s for idiots.