If I change my credit card rewards program do I have to be assigned a new credit card and number?

Question

I currently spend at least 50,000/year on credit card (and pay it off) but the rewards I get are dollars towards a make of car that I will never be interested in purchasing, so year after year they accummulate and expire.

If I switch to a different reward, do I have to be assigned a new credit card number, which is something I am not willing to do and why I have hesitated from switching. Customer support is vague and I can't get a clear answer - it's yes you'll get a new card but they don't seem to know if that means the card number on it will change...

Answer 1

I didn't have to get a new card nor account number to switch reward programs.  I simply told them that they were advertising a new rewards program that interested me more than the one that I was currently participating in and if they didn't switch me to it, I would use another card offering something similar.  Viola, they transferred the point value I'd accumulated to the new program on my next statement and sent me a wonderful welcome letter along with an information packet describing the terms and conditions.