Whereas airways already function their loyalty packages like a corporately managed foreign money, different corporations missed the memo on how these packages should be tightly regulated. Artful GM car house owners found a loophole within the GM Rewards program final month to pile up 1000’s of {dollars} in factors without spending a dime. Stunningly, the proprietor of a 2024 Cadillac Escalade V used a 5,937,000 level haul to repay their $59,370 mortgage. Earlier than anybody will get too excited, GM eliminated the exploit.
It is essential to notice that the financial worth of a single GM Reward level is simply a penny, so it could take a sizeable quantity of spending to redeem something worthwhile. Nevertheless, there is a technique to get factors without spending a dime, and that is what the loophole was. Members might earn as much as 16,000 factors by finishing surveys and watching GM movies on the platform. In response to Resell Calendar, the free course of wasn’t repeatable on the identical account, however might get extra promotional factors on a newly created account. Then, the factors might be transferred again to their foremost account instantly through electronic mail with out penalty. The loop solely took 5 minutes, so it did not take lengthy to rack up hundreds of thousands of factors.
Loyalty packages are supposed to become profitable, not give every little thing away
The troubling half for Common Motors was that members might use the factors on the identical merchandise it anticipated loyal clients to be spending cash on, together with GM Finance loans. The automaker’s loyalty program operates equally to frequent flier packages, the place members accrue factors by continued spending. A degree for each $5 spent on new car purchases. Consumer bought a extra favorable price of three factors per greenback spent on different buys with GM, like equipment and repair middle visits. In fact, this system would not be full with out an related bank card, a Barclays Mastercard on this case. Cardmembers earn an extra 7 factors per $1 spent on GM purchases, plus factors on non-GM purchases.
The free factors exploit sidestepped the gamified carrot system meant to generate income. GM shut down the loophole by eradicating promotional level gives, however did not revoke the factors that have been earned utilizing the strategy. The corporate goes to keep away from upsetting members as a result of loyalty packages are a large potential income stream. Delta Skymiles acquired $2 billion in remuneration from American Specific for bank card purchases throughout the third quarter of 2025. The airline’s total working revenue was $1.7 billion. In a sure mild, Delta is not an airline with a rewards program, however a rewards program that flies planes. It is unlikely that GM’s monetary experiences would ever mirror a contemporary airline, however the automaker is not going to depart cash on the desk.
