Posted on by edub

FoundersCard – Is it really worth it?

I decided to get the FoundersCard, as Award Wallet sent me a discount offer to get the membership. I had looked at them before and was interested in getting a membership, but not at the price they were asking originally. So how and what is FoundersCard? Well it is not a credit card, and they describe them self as a membership community. They also provide a brief statement on who and what they are as well as why you might want to join.

About FoundersCard

What?

We are a first-of-a-kind membership community that provides entrepreneurs with access to exclusive networking opportunities and unprecedented benefits.

Who?

Our members range from first-time entrepreneurs to the world’s best-known innovators. We have members in virtually every major city across the globe.

Why?

As the risk-takers and true value-creators, entrepreneurs are the key drivers of today’s global economy and deserve to be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.

They send you a metal card for signing up.

The signup was fairly simple, and I used a discount from another company I use. The normal annual fee is $495 per year, but with the discount code I got it for $295 per year. They provide some decent perks from first look, but they are not always easy to use and change often. Some are really worthless in my opinion, as they are limited to specific hotels and require you to go their their site to book a room. Wanted to use the American Air status benefit, but it seems that they currently are not running that one, but do still list it as an option.

As for the status with airlines, hotel brands, and rental card companies; the benefits are not that great, and I can get many of them with a decent travel credit card.

Hotels:

  • Hilton Honors™:
    • Complimentary Gold Status (Able to get with a credit card)
  • Marriott Bonvoy™:
    • Platinum Elite Status Challenge (Fairly useless as a benefit)
  • Caesars Rewards:
    • Diamond Caesars Rewards® Status (Useless to me)
  • Omni Select Guest:
    • FC ELITE Members receive complimentary Select Guest Platinum

Rental Cars:

  • Hertz: (Would be decent if I did not already have Presidents Circle. Would not pay the fee to get ELITE to get this benefit as I could just get the Amex Platinum card to get this)
    • Up to 20% off Hertz Daily, Weekend, Weekly, and Monthly Rates
    • Complimentary Hertz Gold Plus Rewards or Five Star® membership
    • Complimentary President’s Circle® Elite Status for FC ELITE Member
  • Avis Rent A Car: (Applied for this benefit, and will see how they compare to Hertz and National)
    • Up to 25% off rentals
    • Complimentary Avis Preferred® Plus Membership
    • Complimentary Avis President’s Club for FC ELITE Members
  • Sixt Rent a Car: (Not sure I will ever use this one)
    • Up to 15% off rental bookings
    • Complimentary Platinum Sixt Card Membership
  • Zipcar: (Might be good if I am someplace were they are available)
    • Up to 20% off standard rates
  • GroundLink Car Service (Might be good if I am someplace were they are available)
    • $30 credit for their first ride
    • 15% off all rides thereafter booked via the GroundLink Mobile App

Airlines:

  • American Airlines Status Challenge AAdvantage®: (Would have used, but no longer available for this year)
    • American Airlines AAdvantage® Platinum Status Offer
      • Enroll in Business Extra
      • Select Status Tier (Platinum/Gold) and Challenge start date on aa.com after enrollment
      • Earn 12,500 EQMs or 16 EQSs AND $2,000 EQDs*
    • American Airlines AAdvantage® Gold Status Offer
      • Enroll in Business Extra
      • Select Status Tier (Platinum/Gold) and Challenge start date on aa.com after enrollment
      • Earn 7,000 EQMs or 8 EQSs AND $1,000 EQDs*
  • United Airlines: (Might be useful when I use them for a flight)
    • Up to 6% off flights (2% to 6% off selected flights)
  • Etihad Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
    • Up to 10% off fares
  • Cathay Pacific Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
    • Up to 15% off fares & Silver Status ($815 Average Savings)
  • British Airways: (Not a carrier I have ever used)
    • 10% off most round trip fares

Business Benefits:

  • Entrepreneur Magazine (I purchase one or two of their magazines per year so worth about $12 value to me)
    • A complimentary one-year (10 issue) subscription
    • Receive 50% off virtual events on entrepreneur.com
  • ShopRunner (I get this free already with American Express)
    • Members enjoy complimentary ShopRunner Membership ($79 annual value)
  • Harry & David (Have purchased gifts at their stores in the past so might use?)
    • Members receive 20% off most orders from Harry & David
  • UPS (This could be useful, do not ship too often but do from time to time)
    • Members receive up to 47% off UPS air, international and ground shipping
  • Tripit Pro (I currently use Tripit Pro, with a rate of $49 per year, so will get $10 per year savings) (Require that I do not have a current Pro paid version so will have to let my current one lapse)
    • Complimentary year of TripIt Pro
    • Preferred rate of $39 annually for three years (20% off standard rate)
  • 1Password (I Use 1Password, but have no need for the Teams version)
    • Members receive 40% off 1Password Teams on an ongoing basis
  • Dell (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members enjoy savings of up to 40% off the everyday price on their purchase of Dell branded products.
  • Lenovo (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive up to 40% off select Think and Lenovo products
  • At&t (Not worth anything to me, as a business account was more expensive per line and I already get a 25% Military Discount for all of my lines)
    • Members receive 15% off standard rates on all voice plans and data plans greater than $30 in value, excluding unlimited voice and iPad data plans

Clothing:

  • addias (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing discount of 30% on adidas.com
  • Reebok (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing discount of 30% off online purchases
  • PUMA (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing discount of 20% on puma.com
  • Tommy John (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive an ongoing 20% off all orders
  • Faherty Brand (I might use this one if and when I need something)
    • Members receive 25% off online purchases

So, is the FoundersCard worth the $295 I paid for the membership? I know some people will say no, but if I can get at least the amount i paid in value from the membership then I think it will be worth it. I will have to give it the full year to see if I actually get the value from the membership. I know I will use several of the benefits, but without traveling at the current time I might not use some of them at the current time. I can definitely say I would never consider the membership worth it for the listed price of $595 (this may change if they add some better benefits). Also I would never consider getting the ELITE membership for an additional $295 for first year and then $895 annual membership fee.

Will post updates on how I think this Membership card is as the year goes on, I am hoping to get the full benefits from the membership.