As you may have noticed in recent months I’ve taken a step back from writing about credit cards and focused more on the travel aspect of this travel blog. The reason for the shift is two-fold. First, I have been traveling internationally a lot more and therefore have more of that content available.
Second, I find it difficult to write about credit cards because everyone’s preferences are different. A points earning card might be the right choice for me, but for someone else. For that reason, I hate giving out “general” advise about credit cards that could potentially lead readers astray.
However, I do have an exception to this new policy and that exception is to write about cards I actually use. One of those cards, that currently deserves a lot of attention, is the Marriott Rewards Premier card from Chase. Well, specifically the new Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card deserves the attention, but more on that in a second.
Existing Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card
For years Chase and Marriott have offered a co-branded credit card simply called the Marriott Rewards Premier card. The card was fine, nothing to write home a blog about, but it was nice. The card came with an 80,000-100,000 Marriott point sign-up bonus, an $85 annual fee, and the card was made of metal (when that meant something).
For that card holders received 5X Marriott points for purchases at Marriott properties, 2X points on most travel purchases, and 1X Marriott points on everything else. Considering Marriott points are only worth about $0.006/point I didn’t find much value in the card.
Instead, the value of maintaining my Marriott Rewards Premier account came from the free night certificate. Each year, Marriott Rewards Premier card holders received a free night certificate. That certificate was valid at any Category 1-5 Marriott properties. So long as I used my annual certificate to pay for a room that cost more than $85/year I came out on top.
Introducing The New Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card
Now that we know more about the singular SPG / Marriott rewards program, we also know more about the future of co-branded credit cards. With that, Marriott and Chase introduced the NEW Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card. The new card features a slightly updated design and not features a $95 annual fee. For the increase in annual fee cardholders now earn 6X Marriott points at Marriott and SPG properties and 2X points on ALL other purchases.
However, the points earning scheme isn’t the only thing that separates the new card from the old. Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card holders also receive the following benefits:
- 100,000 Marriott Point Sign-Up Bonus
- Free Night Certificate (worth up to 35,000 Marriott Points)
- 15 Elite Night Credits Annually (once per member)
- Fast Track To Marriott Gold Status (after spending $35,000 on the card annually)
- Automatic Marriott Silver Elite Status
- Access To Free Premium WiFi
As you can see, this card is again, just slightly more rewarding than the existing Marriott Rewards Premier credit card and comes with just a slightly elevated annual fee. Both cards come with a Free Night Certificate, however the new Rewards Premier Plus card’s certificate is more rewarding. The new card’s free night is capped at 35,000 point per night properties while the existing card is now capped to 25,000 point per night properties. I typically would dive in and compare these two cards, but for now I’ll stick to the point of this post.
My Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Upgrade Offer
As I mentioned earlier, I am currently a Marriott Rewards Premier credit card holder. While I’m quite intrigued by the great 100,000 point sign-up bonus, I have no intention of opening another credit card at the moment. Also, I don’t really feel like having two Marriott credit cards in my wallet, no thanks. However, I would like to do a card conversion to the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card. I want to switch because the new card’s free night certificate is more valuable for a marginal increase in cost.
Thankfully, Marriott and Chase are making it extremely easy to switch between products. In fact, in doing so they are offering bonus offers of up to 50,000 Marriott Points. Here’s how it works. First, begin by visiting this page. Once you click the link you should find yourself on a page that looks like this.
On that same page, Chase prompts you to enter your name, last for digits of your card, and zip code as shown below.
After entering your information click the “Get Started” button. After selecting “Get Started” you’ll be taken to a page which shows you your personalized offer. That page also shows a graphic which compares the benefits of one card to the other. If you chose to accept the offer, which I did, you’ll reach the following page.
Moments later I also received an email from Marriott and Chase which confirmed my request to upgrade.
The body of the email read as follows.
In the end, my offer was for 20,000 Marriott Rewards Points after making a single purchase with the new card.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the upgrade offer from Chase and Marriott. I never use my existing Marriott Rewards Premier card so I’m actually surprised I received an offer at all. The offer is for up to 50,000 Marriott points, but I suspect only those who use the card frequently will receive an offer that high.
I took the offer for a few reasons. First, I wanted access to the better free night certificate. I’m not sure where I’ll use the certificate this year, but at least I’ll have slightly more options than I would have had otherwise. Second, I like the idea of earning 2X Marriott points on non-bonus spending. While I’m still “better off” putting non-bonus spend on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it is tempting to offload much of that spend to the Marriott card for further diversification of points. Additionally, I’m excited for the 20,000 Marriott points. That’s worth about $120, which essentially covers the additional $10 in annual fee for 12 years. Not terrible.
Lastly, I’m glad I didn’t have to open a new credit card account. I’m happy with My Wallet at the moment and I don’t really feel like opening any more accounts. Since there isn’t anything out there that I really want to open I’m happy sitting back and letting myself fall well below Chase’s 5/24 rule so that when the right offer comes along in the future I can actually take advantage of it.
