Orbitz Credit Card Shutting Down, Existing Users Moving to New Card

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The Orbitz Rewards® Visa® Card will soon splash down for good.

The Comenity-issued card, which had been closed to new applications since April 2021, is being discontinued entirely. As of Oct. 4, 2021, existing cardholders will no longer be able to use it to make purchases. The issuer says that between now and then, current customers will be transitioned to the Comenity Mastercard.

Unlike the Orbitz Rewards® Visa® Card — which earned Orbitz-centric travel rewards known as "Orbucks" and featured multiple bonus reward categories — the Comenity Mastercard will earn a flat 1.5% cash back on all purchases in the form of a statement credit. As with the Orbitz card, there'll be no annual fee.

Comenity says any balance on an Orbitz Rewards® Visa® Card will be transferred to the new Comenity Mastercard, and any remaining Orbucks that had been earned with the Orbitz card will be moved into a customer's Orbitz Rewards Program account.

Membership in the separate Orbitz Rewards Program was required in order to apply for the Orbitz Rewards® Visa® Card, and Orbucks earned with the card came on top of Orbucks earned as an Orbitz Rewards Program member. The card also earned different rates depending on whether you booked through Orbitz's website or its mobile app — making it potentially lucrative, but also one of the most confusing credit cards on the market.

The Orbitz Rewards® Visa® Card offered:

  • 9% back (in Orbucks) on eligible prepaid hotel stays and activities booked on the Orbitz mobile app.

  • 8% back on eligible prepaid hotel stays and activities booked on Orbitz.com.

  • 7% back on eligible flights and travel packages booked on the Orbitz app.

  • 6% back on eligible flights and travel packages booked on Orbitz.com.

  • 5% back on all other qualifying Orbitz purchases.

  • 2% back on all other purchases.

🤓Nerdy Tip

Orbucks are redeemable only for booking hotel stays on Orbitz. One Orbuck equals $1 when redeeming this way.

That was a lot to keep track of. So while Orbitz cardholders are losing the potential to earn those bonus travel rewards, they're gaining a much simpler card that pays out rewards in the most flexible currency of all: cash back.

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