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Several shortcuts exist in the world of points and miles to earn status easily. One of those ways is becoming a member of FoundersCard. This membership program offers travel and lifestyle benefits in exchange for an annual fee. Benefits are tailored for the entrepreneur and range from fee-free payment processing via Stripe to complimentary hotel elite status. The program is constantly evolving and adjusts its partnerships regularly.
For those who can take advantage of its benefits, FoundersCard can offer strong benefits for the fee it charges. However, you'll need to make sure you're maximizing your benefits. Otherwise, the annual costs just aren't worth it. Is FoundersCard right for you? Let's take a look.
Page Contents
What Is FoundersCard?
Firstly, FoundersCard is NOT a credit card. While it delivers many benefits normally associated with a credit card, FoundersCard is a membership service designed to benefit entrepreneurs and business owners. However, many of its benefits are travel benefits, including:
- Airline elite status
- Hotel elite status
- Travel discounts
- Rental car company partnerships
There are several other useful benefits beyond travel. When you sign up for a FoundersCard membership, you're buying access to these benefits. You just need to decide whether the benefits justify the price.
Want to test out FoundersCard for free for three months? Here's the link to sign up for a three-month free trial of FoundersCard.
Is FoundersCard Worth the Price?
While some of us at AwardWallet are FoundersCard members, it's up to you to decide if it's worth the price. To help with that decision, let's take a look at the benefits. When reviewing all the benefits, ask yourself:
- Do the benefits interest me? And can I use them?
- If you could put a value on every benefit, would the overall value be greater than the annual fee?
- Does FoundersCard provide enough savings for your endeavors to compensate for the price?
FoundersCard Membership Benefits
FoundersCard categorizes its full suite of benefits into four categories:
- Business: Services and vendors aimed at the entrepreneur and business owner.
- Lifestyle: Experiences, premium retail, wellness, and food/wine.
- Hotels: Discounts, upgrades, credits, and more resulting from FoundersCard's numerous hotel partnerships.
- Travel: Airline, rental car, trip services, and other loyalty program benefits.
Each of these categories contains offerings that are quite numerous. We've rounded up some of the most interesting below and listed each category at the end of this section. To view all of them, simply request a membership benefit preview, or you can review the full slate of benefits here. There's no cost associated with requesting a preview.
Virgin Atlantic elite status benefit
One of the most valuable FoundersCard benefits is that members can easily score Virgin Atlantic Flying Club elite status. This benefit comes in two phases. First, you'll earn complimentary Flying Club Silver Elite status after completing just one round-trip Virgin Atlantic flight. Then, you can fast-track to Flying Club's top-tier Gold Elite status after earning just 500 tier points within six months.
This is pretty exciting for anyone who flies Virgin Atlantic regularly (on award bookings or otherwise) or on Virgin Atlantic's SkyTeam partners. That's because Flying Club elite status offers a host of perks while traveling
Benefits of Flying Club Silver status
- 30% more Virgin Points on flights
- 1 extra piece of checked baggage
- Premium Check-in
- Advanced seat assignment in economy cabins
- Earn and spend your points with Virgin Red
Benefits of Flying Club Gold status
- 60% more Virgin Points on flights
- Upper Class check-in
- Access to Clubhouses and London Heathrow Revivals
- Extra luggage allowance, no matter which cabin you fly
- Gold Reward Seats – turn any seat into a Reward Seat for double the usual points price
- Earn and spend your points with Virgin Red
- Earn a Companion Voucher when you renew Gold status by earning 1,000 Tier Points in a year
- Earn an Upgrade Voucher when you earn 2,000 Tier Points in a year
Flying Club Silver Elite status typically requires members to accrue 400 Tier Points in a year. Virgin Atlantic's cheapest flights only earn 25 Tier Points, so the ability to earn Silver Elite status in just one flight is incredible. Gold Elite status (Virgin's top-tier status) usually requires 1,000 Tier Points in a 12-month period. The FoundersCard fast track lets you earn this elite status in half the number of Tier Points — although you must do so in half the amount of time.
Making the deal even sweeter is that Flying Club members earn Tier Points on award flights! Translation: FoundersCard members can extend their Flying Club status without booking a single cash fare.
Just note that you might be better served by the general Virgin Atlantic status match if you already have elite status with another airline.
FoundersCard travel benefits
FounderCard's other travel benefits can be broken into four separate groups:
- Airline discounts
- Hotel elite status
- Rental car perks
- Other travel perks like discounts on lounges and car services
Airline discounts
FoundersCard members can take advantage of discounts with partnered airlines, including:
- AERO: Up to 15% off all flights
- Air New Zealand: Save up to 11% on fares
- Alaska Airlines: Save 5% on fares
- JSX: $250 flight credit
- La Compagnie: Save 10% on fares
- Qatar Airways: Save up to 10% on fares
- Qantas: Save up to 15% on fares
- Singapore Airlines: Save up to 15% on fares
- Surf Air: Save up to 15% off On Demand flights
- United Airlines: Save up to 20% on fares
- United Airlines Signature Service: 10% off Signature Service
All of these discounts come with route restrictions, so review those terms before getting too excited.
Hotel elite statuses
- Hilton Honors: Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status
- IHG One Rewards: Complimentary IHG Rewards Gold Elite status
- Marriott Bonvoy: Enroll in Marriott Platinum Elite status challenge
- Omni Select Guest: Complimentary Omni Select Guest Champion status
- Sonesta Travel Pass: Upgrade to Gold and Platinum status
- Wynn Rewards: Complimentary Wynn Rewards Platinum
Related: All Hotel Elite Status Match & Fast Track Opportunities
Ground transportation and rental cars
- Avis Rent A Car: Complimentary upgrade + up to 25% off
- Budget Rent A Car: Up to 35% off
- Carey: Save up to 15%
- EmpireCLS: Save 15%
- Go Rentals: $500 credit and preferred pricing
- Hertz: Complimentary upgrade + up to 20% off
- SIXT: Complimentary upgrade + 15% off
- THE OUT (Jaguar Land Rover Rental) UK: 20% off
- Zipcar for Business: Save up to 20%
- Zipcar for Business UK: £100 credit and up to 30% off
Related: How To Get Rental Car Elite Status for Free
Other travel perks
- FXAIR: Preferred pricing
- Global Rescue Travel protection: 15% off insurance plans
- Inspirato: Complimentary trial memberships to Luxury Vacation Club
- Lacure Villas: Up to $2000 in-stay credit + 10% off
- Medjet: Save up to 45%
- No1 Airport Lounges: 15% off lounge bookings
- Oberoi Hotels & Resorts: 20% off rates
- Plaza Premium Airport Lounges: 20% off airport lounge bookings
- RushMyPassport: Save 15%
- Seabourn Cruises: Save up to 30% on Seabourn sailings
- The Club Airport Lounges: 20% off lounge bookings
- Trident Hotels: 20% off rates
- TripIt Pro: Receive a complimentary TripIt Pro membership
- Virgin Atlantic: Enjoy Flying Club Silver status after completing one round-trip flight + fast track to Gold
- Virgin Voyages: Up to 55% off
- Wynn Las Vegas: Up to 30% off
FoundersCard hotel benefits
Members who book partnered hotels with FoundersCard can take advantage of directly negotiated rates, flexible cancellation policies, and specialty benefits. Tons of hotels participate in the program, so you'll want to comb through the directory to see if any pique your interest.
In this regard, it's somewhat similar to the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® program. However, discounts tied to FoundersCard hotel bookings can be even more significant.
For example, the rate you'll pay for the Waldorf Astoria Cancun in an Ocean Front Room ranges from $600 to $790 (or more), depending on demand. But with FoundersCard's negotiated discount, you'll pay closer to $450 per night for the same room, with only a few blackout dates. These rates book directly on Hilton.com, allowing you to earn all your normal perks with elite status in the Hilton Honors program.
There are over 300 properties listed with different perks exclusive to FoundersClub members, so check out their page to see if your favorite property is listed.
FoundersCard Business Benefits
FoundersCard lists 53 benefits under its business category. As we mentioned above, FoundersCard's benefits are always changing. Here is a list (as of the time of writing) of all the business card benefits:
- 99designs: Receive complimentary Power Pack upgrade for graphic design
- Agorapulse: 1 month free and 20% off social media management tools
- Airtable: Receive $2,000 credit towards spreadsheet automation tools
- APOLLO IO: 50% off
- Apple: Preferred pricing on select products
- AT&T Wireless: Save up to 15%
- BizFilings: Save 25%
- Bond Collective: 25% off and a day pass
- Canopy (San Francisco): Up to 25% off
- Chargebee: Save $4,300 on Chargebee's performance plan
- Constant Contact: Save 30% on email marketing plans
- Delighted: Save 25% on all customer survey plans
- Dell: Preferred pricing
- Design Within Reach: Save 20%
- DocSend by Dropbox: Save up to 90%
- Dropbox: 40% off
- eOffice (London): Access to day passes, meeting rooms
- Fancy Hands: Save 25% on monthly virtual assistant plans
- Farewill (UK): Save up to 30%
- FedEx: Save up to 50% on shipping
- Fiverr Pro: 20% off
- Google Cloud: $350 credit
- Google Workspace: Save 20%
- HelloSign (now called Dropbox Sign): Save 30%
- Help Scout: Receive six months free
- Hive: Save 30% on project management tool
- HubSpot: Save 30% off Hubspot
- Indeed: Receive $200 credit for next hire
- Intuit Quickbooks: Save up to 50%
- Lenovo: Save up to 65%
- Lenovo (Canada): Receive up to 60% off
- MOO Inc.: Save 20% on business cards and stationery products
- Mindspace (USA): Up to 20% off
- Namecheap: Save up to 80% off most domain services
- NeueHouse Hollywood: Preferred pricing
- NeueHouse Madison Sq NYC: Preferred pricing
- NeueHouse Venice Beach: Preferred pricing
- Notarize: Save 12% on notarizations
- Office Depot: Save up to 55% on office products
- Phone.com: Receive one complimentary year of phone service
- RingCentral: Save 15% on cloud-based communications
- ShipTime: Up to 67% off shipping to/from Canada
- Shutterstock: Save 20% on image and footage subscription plans
- Skillshare: Save 30% on online creative learning courses
- Slack: Save 30%
- SparkSpaces LA: Up to 20% off plus a complimentary day pass
- Spring Place (New York + Beverly Hills): Complimentary trial and exclusive discounts
- Square: Receive $10k in fee-free payments
- Steelcase: Save 15% on office furniture
- Stripe: Receive up to $50K in fee-free payments
- Teamflow: Save up to 40% on video conferencing plans
- The Malin (NYC, Austin & Houston): Exclusive pricing
- TriNet: Save up to 50% HR solutions
- Trust & Will: Save 20%
- Typeform: Save 30% on survey and form automation tools
- UPS: Save up to 47% on shipping
- Workhaus Canada: 20% off + complimentary day pass
- Zendesk Support CRM: Receive 6 months complimentary access to CRM tool
FoundersCard Lifestyle Benefits
FoundersCard lists 75+ benefits under its “lifestyle” category, with some overlapping across the other three categories. There are some surprising names on this list, like auto manufacturers BMW and Audi. Here's a list of applicable discounts for members:
- 1-800-Flowers.com: Save 20%
- 35 Thousand: 35% off
- Adidas: Save 30%
- Apple: Preferred pricing on select products
- Aromatherapy Associates: Save 20%
- Armadillo: Save 15%
- Audi: Receive exclusive member pricing
- Bang & Olufsen: Save up to 15%
- Barry's: Preferred pricing
- BMW Group Corporate Sales Program: Receive up to $5,000 off
- Boisset Collection Wines: 25% off + free shipping
- Bomber Ski: Receive complimentary items with purchase
- Bond Collective: 25% off and a day pass
- Bose: Save 15% at bose.com
- Clif Family Winery: Up to 50% off
- Concert Tickets: Receive preferred pricing on live events
- CorePower Yoga: Save 20% on memberships
- COS: $100 off $300+ orders
- Crunch Fitness: Receive preferred member pricing
- Daily Harvest: Save up to 20%
- Design Within Reach: Save 20%
- DESIRON: Save 30%
- Eero: Save 20%
- Entrepreneur Magazine: Receive a complimentary one-year subscription
- Fancy Hands: Save 25% on monthly virtual assistant plans
- Farewill (UK): Save up to 30%
- FEED: Receive 20% off
- Fortnum & Mason: Save 15%
- FoundersCard Companion Membership: Share the benefits of membership with your partner
- FoundersCard Dedicated Concierge: Luxury travel, lifestyle, and personal assistance
- FoundersCard Gift Memberships: Gift VIP Access and privileges
- FoundersCard Team Memberships: Share the benefits of membership with your colleagues
- Friedrich's Optik: Receive 20% off
- Havenly: Save 15%
- Harry & David: Save 20%
- Herman Miller: Save up to 25%
- Illy Caffè: Save 20%
- Indochino: Receive preferred pricing on premium suits
- Jeep: Exclusive pricing and order process
- Jo Malone: Receive 20% off
- John Varvatos: Save 20%
- Jonathan Adler: Save 20%
- Kendra Scott: Save 25%
- Kiehl's: Save 15% on Kiehl's.com
- Last Crumb: 15% off + preferred corporate pricing
- Lifeforce: 50% off Lifeforce diagnostic bundle
- Links2Golf: Preferred pricing + up to 50% off tee times
- Love Cocoa Chocolate: Save 20%
- Medjet: Save up to 45%
- Mercedes-Benz USA: Up to $9,500 off the purchase or lease
- Members-Only Signature Event: NYC at Central Park Tower: Invite to 2025's Signature Event
- Molton Brown: Save 25%
- MR PORTER: Receive $200 account credit
- MyUS (International Shipping): Save up to 25% on shipments
- NBA Tickets: Receive preferred pricing on NBA tickets
- OSIRIS: Preferred membership pricing
- Paul Smith: Save 20% online
- Peet's Coffee: 20% off
- Perfect Cellar: 20% off + complimentary cellar membership
- Pure Yoga: Receive waived initiation and 10% off annual plans
- RHONE: 20% off online
- Ron Dorff: Save 25%
- RushMyPassport: Save 15%
- Ship Skis: Save 15%
- Sollis Health: Save 20% off membership
- Sonos: Save 15%
- SoulCycle: Receive 1 class free when you purchase 10
- Spafinder Wellness 365: Save 15%
- Sports Tickets: Receive preferred pricing on sports tickets
- Steelcase: Save 15% on office furniture
- SWAROVSKI: Save up to 20%
- The Fold: Save 15% off online
- The Ranch Hudson Valley: Up to 15% off rates and privileges
- The Ranch Malibu: Up to 15% off rates and privileges
- Theatre Tickets: Receive preferred pricing on theatre tickets
- Tickets by FoundersCard: Receive preferred pricing on live events
- Tiqets: Save 15% on attraction tickets
- Todd Snyder: Save 15%
- Tommy John: Save 20% on apparel
- Trust & Will: Save 20%
- Victoria Beckham: Save 15% off online
- Vilebrequin: $150 off orders of $700+
- Vosges Haut-Chocolat: Save 20%
- Wine Library: Up to 25% off
- WORLDvantage: Save $500
- YourWineStore by Jackson Family Wines: Save 20%
FoundersCard Elite Benefits
Beyond the standard FoundersCard membership, there's another, higher tier that offers even more benefits. This is called FoundersCard Elite, and it gives you access to all of the premium member benefits. However, it's unclear what separates a premium benefit from a non-premium one.
FoundersCard advertises its Elite membership as coming with the following:
- Complimentary loyalty status upgrades
- High-value credits
- VIP Founders Concierge Service ($500 annual value).
- Complimentary standard membership for a companion upon the renewal of your Elite Membership ($495 annual value).
- Elite-only invitations to special events
The value of the “upgraded” benefits is entirely subjective, although the added companion FoundersCard membership adds a lot of value by itself. In the end, weighing the perks to the (not insignificant) cost may make the decision easier.
Speaking of the costs…
FoundersCard Costs
As you'd expect, this massive list of benefits commands a high price. Here's the standard FoundersCard membership pricing:
- Standard membership (no referral): $595 per year plus a one-time $95 activation fee
- Standard membership (via referral): $495 per year and a waived activation fee
- Elite membership: $995 per year; no activation fee when using the referral code FCELITE2021
Those prices probably deliver a bit of sticker shock. A standard membership costs almost $700 all-in without a referral. Thankfully, there's no reason for anyone to pay that. If you feel FoundersCard suits your business or lifestyle after reading this post, we would appreciate it if you use our referral link. In addition to helping you lock in a lower membership rate, this also helps support the AwardWallet site.
FoundersCard three-month free trial
FoundersCard is also offering a three-month free trial for AwardWallet readers! This is a rare opportunity to test out the FoundersCard benefits and lock in a lower ongoing membership fee.
With this offer, you'll get three months to try FoundersCard, then pay just $395 per year with a waived activation fee. Use code FCAWARD3MO to apply today. Note that the free trial offer is available to new members only, and applications are subject to approval.
Is FoundersCard Worth It?
In the end, FoundersCard is only worth it for a select few. To figure out if you're one of them, look at the benefits before applying.
You don't have to use all of them to get your money's worth. You may only need to use one or two to justify the annual fee. For example, if you fly Virgin Atlantic a few times a year, Flying Club elite status may justify the fee by itself. So, if a few of the aforementioned benefits suit your needs, that could be all it takes.
And if you're the type of person who can make use of several of these benefits, you could save tons of money throughout the year. While Virgin Atlantic elite status can be nice, so too can be saving money on travel you were already going to book.
So it's easy to make a case for FoundersCard if you're someone who can take advantage of its offerings. If not, then there's no sense in paying upwards of $500 per year for a membership card.
Who Is FoundersCard Right For?
If you're just getting started with loyalty programs, you might not have any of the elite statuses mentioned here. And if that's the case, FoundersCard can add enormous value to your travels. It sets the perfect foundation of statuses (airline, hotel, and rental car) to get you started in program loyalty.
With these things in mind, it's not hard to see how FoundersCard works so well for so many. It's perfect for anyone who's new to loyalty programs, travels regularly, and would utilize FoundersCard's business partnerships.
Final Thoughts
FoundersCard is a membership program designed for traveling entrepreneurs and business executives. Through its numerous partnerships, members can get a slew of travel perks. There are seemingly new benefits announced every month.
While FoundersCard certainly isn't right for everyone, it could be perfect for you or your business. If any of the benefits strike your interest, take the time to preview a membership via our referral. That'll allow you to view all the benefits on offer while saving you almost $200 off the publicly available membership price if it makes sense for you to join after careful thought.
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