FoundersCard is marketed as a nifty way for business owners and professionals to enjoy discounts and elite-level perks for a reasonable annual fee. You also receive a fancy metal card in a nice presentation box, which is a nice touch. But how do you get a FoundersCard? What are the actual benefits? And how much is all of this going to cost you? Said fee, for the standard card, is about on par with American Express Platinum and other elite credit cards. But you may be paying more than that. The standard FoundersCard is, in my opinion, utterly useless. It seemingly exists to show you what you could have if you decide to opt for the premium “all access elite” membership.
There are a few discounts available with the standard membership, but all of the statuses, truly useful discounts, and perks that come with said membership are locked behind the extra paywall. I initially tried this out because my CLEAR membership entitled me to a year’s trial of the standard FoundersCard — which currently costs $595 per year. That also came with a chance to go “All Access Elite” for an extra $295 (usually $400) and a waived $95 “initiation fee.” You may receive a similar offer, as it looks like FoundersCard is actively targeting frequent fliers and other business travelers.
If you don’t have any kind of FoundersCard membership and don’t want to hand over your details, it may be hard to discern what membership actually gets you. The perks aren’t actually listed on the website. So I’ve decided to bite the bullet and pay up so I can tell you what you’ll actually get for your money. As far as the question “Is FoundersCard Worth It?” goes, the answer is no. Not at full price anyway. Instead, the following FoundersCard review focuses on the “All Access Elite” membership and the full package of benefits users get access to.
How many of the benefits will you actually use?
Many of the benefits are discount-based, so how much benefit you’ll see depends on your lifestyle. At the time I signed up, I had an international flight to book and a trip to New York City to plan. This made the (up to) 16% discount on United Airlines flights and the discounted rates at several New York hotels very appealing. British Airways, Eithiad, and Singapore Airlines also have discounts on offer for FoundersCard members. Some hotels also have an automatic upgrade where available for FoundersCard members, though it’s hard to game the system here. The “FoundersCard Price” is usually noticeably better than the hotel’s base price or even the rate it offers its own members. This doesn’t usually apply to certain rooms like the ones in the tier below a suite. So you’ll be paying more than the hotel’s base price for those if you want to take a gamble on the free upgrade.
If you’re a rabid concertgoer or a huge sports fan, then a FoundersCard is likely to make your life easier. Members get a special rate for tickets and said tickets come with a flat $5 processing and postage fee. So if you’re sick of seeing the cost of tickets triple at the checkout, then you should probably do it through FoundersCard. For those of you who have stayed up until an odd hour waiting for tickets to become available, there’s another handy perk you can take advantage of. You get five hours of concierge services per year. So you can make a phone call and tell your personal concierge to wait for the tickets to go live and nab yours for you. This also applies to things like restaurant reservations, hotel bookings, and gift shopping.
There are discounts and store credit offers in several outlets. These are mostly high-end, one of them offers private jet hire. Business owners may also get a lot out of FoundersCard. It offers discounts on tools like Quickbooks and Square, as well as deep discounts on hardware from brands like Lenovo. If you’re in the market for a car, there are savings on models from both Audi and BMW. There’s also a waived activation fee and discount on Porsche Drive if you want to get involved in that.
For folks who stay active, discounted rates at Equinox and Crunch Fitness are available. You can also find offers on golf, yoga, skiing, and spa days. There’s an entire food and wine section too, for those of us that enjoy a tipple and some chocolates. The discounts in stores aren’t necessarily a perk you have to use yourself. It can make gift shopping a lot easier, especially if you know folks with expensive tastes. Preferred pricing with companies like Apple, Bang & Olufsen, and Adidas broaden the appeal while keeping that premium touch. Not everyone wants to drop $600 on an order at Mr. Porter, so the store credit there may go unused. But Apple’s market dominance means the preferred pricing on offer may justify a FoundersCard on its own.
The statuses are arguably the biggest perk
Those of you who have, or have had, elite status with a hotel chain or airline know how much of a difference it makes. Little perks like free upgrades, meal credits, and late checkouts can make your trip that little bit better. Status matching isn’t really anything new, and certain branded credit cards will come with elite status attached. But FoundersCard comes with a whole bunch of very useful statuses.
Caesars Entertainment Diamond Status is arguably the best status FoundersCard will give you, and the biggest perk of FoundersCard membership. It comes with a “free” four-day stay at Atlantis, Paradise Island in The Bahamas. Up to two additional nights may also be added for $125 each depending on the time of year. Taxes associated with the room are also covered, though you will be on the hook for a resort fee. Still, this is a solid perk that arguably covers the cost of the card on its own. Other perks include a monthly betting credit on Caesars SportsBook, a $100 dining credit when you stay at a Caesars property, and waived resort fees in Vegas.
Other hotel statuses on offer include Hilton Honors Gold Status, IHG One Rewards Gold Elite Status, Sonesta Travel Pass Gold Member Status, and Omni Select Guest Champion Status. Members can also earn Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status by staying nights within three months of accepting the challenge. So a FoundersCard will get you a solid status at several major hotel chains.
In terms of airlines, you’ll get an automatic bump to silver status on Virgin Atlantic with just one round-trip flight, with a fast track to gold status thrown in. Elite status with a few car rental companies: Hertz, Avis, and SIXT to be exact. That covers land and air, but there are also savings at sea. Fans of cruises can snag up to 55% off on Virgin Voyages. You don’t need to be a frequent traveler for all of this to make sense. If you go on two family vacations a year, the savings could be enough to justify your membership.
The extra card is a little pointless
With All Access Elite, you have the option of adding a second card which you can then give to your significant other. Unfortunately, this is a standard FoundersCard which, as mentioned, is a bit useless. It’s even more pointless when you consider you can just share the benefits from your card with your spouse anyway. If they’re looking for a new laptop, you can click them through to the relevant page on Lenovo’s site. Similarly, the likes of Marriott will treat anyone you book a room for as someone with the same status as you. The same goes for most of the card’s other benefits. So don’t start rubbing your hands at the prospect of doubling your Bahamas vacation or giving your significant other a heap of statuses to draw on.
Even if you want to tell a little white lie and give the card to a close acquaintance or associate instead, it’s still going to deny them the full FoundersCard experience. I’d argue the standard FoundersCard is more like “FoundersCard Lite” and serves as more of an ad or demo than it does an actual benefit. This contrasts with an extra AmEx Platinum, which does cost a few hundred dollars more but doubles enough of the benefits to justify it.
There are some very high-end perks
While FoundersCard has benefits that many travelers can make good use of, there are a few that could be described as ultra-high-end. Aero’s semi-private jet service is a good example of this. It allows you to buy an individual seat on a private flight and may be the most accessible way to fly privately. There are pre-set routes and times, so you don’t get all of the flexibility that comes with chartering or owning your own plane, but the costs are drastically lower. FoundersCard members get an extra discount, with an average of $500 worth of savings.
Then there are the concierge benefits. In addition to FoundersCard’s own concierge service, members can use Fortnum & Mason’s own concierge service when shopping at the store. This is a great way to guarantee exemplary customer service, and have even obscure requests entertained. So if you’re looking for a perfect gift with a personal touch from one of London’s most iconic department stores, this may be the solution you’ve been searching for.
Other concierge services on offer include United’s Signature Service, which is designed to take some of the burden away from checking in and getting to your gate at the airport.
If you‘re trying it out, canceling may be awkward
If you want to try FoundersCard out for a year, but don’t want to risk four figures leaving your bank account 12 months later, you should probably drop a note in your calendar. Like a shifty gym or suspect app, the company automatically renews your membership and makes it pretty difficult to cancel. They also reward you with some bonus points if you attach an extra payment method to your account. So they’ll have an additional option when it comes to automatically billing you.
So how do you cancel? You have to email the company with a formal cancellation request. I’m not at that stage, so I don’t know how smoothly the process goes exactly. But the fact that there isn’t a simple cancelation button on the site, or an option to opt out of auto-renewal, suggests something is off. The perks-based service is either hoping some customers just forget and get smacked with an automatic renewal fee or wants a chance to rope people back in once they try to leave.
There is value here, and if you have a certain lifestyle a FoundersCard can pay for itself pretty quickly. However, I’d wait until an offer lands on your doorstep and do a little math before actually shelling out for one. The perks aren’t that unique, and you may be better off grabbing a premium credit card instead. Especially as the likes of Chase Sapphire and AmEx Platinum come with direct lounge access, rebates on various purchases, and other perks at roughly the same price as the basic FoundersCard, which offers very little.
