Todd C.
Travel Exec with 35 years in Tourism and Online Travel
I'm a travel executive with over 35 years experience in tour operations, guest excellence and OTA. I travel full time as a #1 selling Amazon author, Travel Operations Consultant to hotels, tour operators and DMCs. I checked this out and got my Founders Card to add to my arsenal of Delta Amex Reserve and Chase Sapphire Reserve. I also hold IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Exploris, Hertz Presidents Circle, Delta Platinum Medallion. I thought for $595 I'd make this up quick. Unfortunately the answer is no. Here's three reasons why and remember these are aligned with my situation and not yours: 1. The Benefits are totally USA centric. I don't live in the US and trying to find benefits just didn't fit. 2. The market is definitely US/American new rich. I travel 365 days a year and prefer modest yet deluxe approaches to my travel for lodging/transpo/flights/ect. If you want private planes, $1000 a night hotels, private chauffeurs and the such then this might be for you. 3. And this is probably the biggest issue for me. The savings are all so misrepresented. Coming from the OTA world I know how difficult this is. But the value of the card is super super inflated. Example: Eurostar bookings. Advertised 5% reduction I applied for and booked the ticket. Savings: 0%. It was the same price as the open market Example 2: Booking a hotel in Mexico City. Founders Card: advertises Rates at $275 and 50% savings. They say the average rate for Founders is 275 and the public rate is $406 A simple login to Hyatt showed the rack rate is $306 for the dates I requested. That's 100 bucks less than what they advertise. Same dates/ect... So I'd save 31 bucks. Ok I'll take it but not when they prep me for 50% savings. This card will definitely come out of my travel mix for 2027. A measly 500 or so bucks and I don't see value.
Response from FoundersCardJun 17, 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, Todd. We're sorry to hear your experience hasn't met expectations. We've tried reaching you by phone and email and would love the opportunity to connect directly. Many of the concerns you've raised are ones we can address and resolve one-on-one, including clarifying your membership rate and walking through the benefits in more detail. Please feel free to reply to our email, return our call, or reach out at [email protected] — we hope to speak to you soon.




