The Chase Marriott Premier card I recently reviewed now has an elevated sign-up bonus of 100k points! The higher bonus comes with a steeper spending requirement; $5k in the first 3 months. The $85 annual fee is not waived the first year.
Click here for the Flyertalk wiki containing links to the 100k offer.
Click here to read my review of this card.
Coincidentally, in tomorrow’s update I will report that I cancelled my Marriott card yesterday. The annual fee had just posted and I didn’t think it would be worth it to keep it another year. Chase will remove the annual fee since I cancelled within 30 days of the fee posting to my account. According to many reports, my annual free night will still be credited to my Marriott Rewards account even though I cancelled the card.
What is 100k Marriott Rewards worth?
When I got the Marriott card the bonus was 80,000 points. I didn’t do much additional spending so I had around 93,000 points when I went to book a room. If you book 4 award nights with Marriott, the 5th night is free. To maximize my bonus points I wanted to find a hotel where I had enough points for 4 nights.
Marriott has price breaks at the 5k point marks. That meant I was limited to 20k/night hotels. If I would have earned 100k bonus points instead of the 80k, I could have expanded my search to include 25k/night hotels. I would have had a lot more options. Play around with some searches on Award Mapper and Hotel Hustle to see where 100k points could get you!
Is 100k here to stay?
There’s speculation (that I largely agree with) on Flyertalk that 100k might be the new standard bonus for this card. With Marriott and Starwood now merged, 100k Marriott points equals 33.3k SPG points. Historically SPG cards have periodically gone up to 35k, so the 100k Marriott bonus would help to keep that card relevant in the post-merger era.
There is also a chance that the elevated bonus will precede a devaluation of Marriott Rewards points, and by extension Starwood Preferred Guest points. I wouldn’t quite bet on this happening yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me either.
Is now the right time to get this card?
Now would be a great time to get the Chase Marriott Premier card if you are planning to ever get it. Even if the 100k bonus turns out to be either permanent or regularly recurring, I typically advise people to get Chase cards sooner rather than later.
Any credit card strategy needs to consider the Chase 5/24 rule. Getting approved for Chase cards becomes virtually impossible once you exceed the rule, so getting your Chase cards approved before other banks’ cards is a sound tactic.
Also notice that there’s a 7.5k point bonus for adding an authorized user. If your authorized user also plans on applying for any Chase cards, you might want to weigh the cost of that 7.5k bonus. Authorized user cards also count toward the 5/24 rule. Adding another household member who isn’t planning on apping any Chase cards soon might be another option for you.
Conclusion
The Chase Marriott 100k bonus is an increase of 20k points above the regular bonus. The ability to link accounts and transfer Marriott Rewards to Starwood Preferred Guest makes this card even more desirable. As with any credit card application, make sure it fits into your overall card strategy, and that you’re solid on credit card tactical fundamentals.
Click here for the Flyertalk wiki containing links to the 100k offer.
Click here to read my review of this card.