Oct 17, 2007
I've just been offered a free travel gift by American Express Publishing. But it comes at a price
Every few weeks or so, it seems, I receive a mailing from American Express Publishing that's designed to sell subscriptions to Travel + Leisure magazine. Except it doesn't say exactly that.
The mailing features a gift that they're bestowing on me -- either participation in a million-dollar sweepstakes or a voucher for a free companion air ticket. Out of the goodness of their heart! If I want to receive the voucher for the companion air ticket, I need only pay the forgettable sum of $2.99. But when I pay that $2.99, I automatically get a short-term subscription to Travel + Leisure which is later automatically renewed unless I affirmatively notify them to cancel it.
Let me repeat the deal. Several months after the "free" subscription begins, a more serious charge will automatically be assessed to me for a real subscription, unless I first ask them to cancel it. Thereafter, there will be "continuous annual renewal" unless I take the time to shake off my lethargy to take the steps needed to cancel.
It is obvious that American Express Publishing is hoping that normal human inertia will block a large percentage of such subscribers from ever canceling their subscriptions to this elegant travel publication. The tactic must work, else why would they be bestowing these valuable "gifts" on us?
What's so striking about the tactic is that Travel + Leisure is the most upscale, hoity-toity travel magazine you can imagine, never hesitating to write about the world's single most expensive travel facilities. It undoubtedly advises advertisers that its subscribers are "la crème de la crème." And yet these transparent tactics are aimed at the kind of Americans who respond to this nonsense -- and they ain't a very upscale group. I wonder how many of the subscriptions to Travel + Leisure are achieved through "automatic renewal" following a free gift bestowed on people hungry for a gift?
It is depressing enough when small businesses in America use such tactics as I've described. It is sadder still when one of America's largest, oldest and most prestigious companies stoops to that level. Or am I thinking of the American Express that used to exist?
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The mailing features a gift that they're bestowing on me -- either participation in a million-dollar sweepstakes or a voucher for a free companion air ticket. Out of the goodness of their heart! If I want to receive the voucher for the companion air ticket, I need only pay the forgettable sum of $2.99. But when I pay that $2.99, I automatically get a short-term subscription to Travel + Leisure which is later automatically renewed unless I affirmatively notify them to cancel it.
Let me repeat the deal. Several months after the "free" subscription begins, a more serious charge will automatically be assessed to me for a real subscription, unless I first ask them to cancel it. Thereafter, there will be "continuous annual renewal" unless I take the time to shake off my lethargy to take the steps needed to cancel.
It is obvious that American Express Publishing is hoping that normal human inertia will block a large percentage of such subscribers from ever canceling their subscriptions to this elegant travel publication. The tactic must work, else why would they be bestowing these valuable "gifts" on us?
What's so striking about the tactic is that Travel + Leisure is the most upscale, hoity-toity travel magazine you can imagine, never hesitating to write about the world's single most expensive travel facilities. It undoubtedly advises advertisers that its subscribers are "la crème de la crème." And yet these transparent tactics are aimed at the kind of Americans who respond to this nonsense -- and they ain't a very upscale group. I wonder how many of the subscriptions to Travel + Leisure are achieved through "automatic renewal" following a free gift bestowed on people hungry for a gift?
It is depressing enough when small businesses in America use such tactics as I've described. It is sadder still when one of America's largest, oldest and most prestigious companies stoops to that level. Or am I thinking of the American Express that used to exist?
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
