For Those w/Marriott Premier Card - Interesting

[Former Cruiser]

This is very eye-opening:
http://www.nextadvisor.com/credit_cards/articles/19/best-travel-reward-credit-cards-analysis

 

[MichaelColey]

For everyday spending, it's certainly not the best choice, primarily because Marriott Rewards points aren't that valuable. But for the categories where it earns 2 points (especially if they don't take AmEx), or spending at Marriott (where it earns 5 points), it's a decent (or even good) value.

I've recently installed a useful iPhone app called Wallaby that keeps track of the different category bonuses (including quarterly promotions like Discover), and that makes it much easier to remember which card to use where.

Starwood AmEx has been my "go to" card for about 10 years now, and I'm glad to see it's at the top of their list.

The other thing it doesn't really factor in is the fringe benefits. An extra elite night for every $3000 spent, the points towards lifetime status, and the annual free certificate, while not much, do increase the value a bit.

 

[vacationtime1]

For everyday spending, it's certainly not the best choice, primarily because Marriott Rewards points aren't that valuable. But for the categories where it earns 2 points (especially if they don't take AmEx), or spending at Marriott (where it earns 5 points), it's a decent (or even good) value.

I've recently installed a useful iPhone app called Wallaby that keeps track of the different category bonuses (including quarterly promotions like Discover), and that makes it much easier to remember which card to use where.

Starwood AmEx has been my "go to" card for about 10 years now, and I'm glad to see it's at the top of their list.

The other thing it doesn't really factor in is the fringe benefits. An extra elite night for every $3000 spent, the points towards lifetime status, and the annual free certificate, while not much, do increase the value a bit.

We view the annual free night certificate as balancing out the annual fee. That makes the Marriott card effectively "free", so it can be maintained for the limited purpose of paying for Marriott hotels and Marriott timeshare MF's.

The Hyatt card also has a free night feature and its economics are better than Marriott.

So we have both (and others).

 

[tante]

I would say the free night choices at Hyatt are much better than the Marriott. IHG is probably the best buy the card is useless for regular spending.

 

[jtdillian]

These so called credit card experts don't do much research do they? If they did they wouldn't be calling airfare a poor value if they new about the travel packages!

 

[MichaelColey]

These so called credit card experts don't do much research do they? If they did they wouldn't be calling airfare a poor value if they new about the travel packages!

The (Marriott air+hotel) travel packages are a better deal than a straight Marriott->miles redemption, but they still have the weak point that you have to include a 1-week Marriott hotel redemption into the mix, and it's really tough to find a good redemption value for that (at least anywhere I go).

Do you have to use all 7 nights at one hotel, in one stay? That's probably my biggest holdup. If we're going to stay somewhere 7 nights, it's going to be in a timeshare, not a hotel. On the other hand, I do have many 4-6 night hotel stays for business trips, but I hesitate to use that many points for a business stay when I can typically find a nice mid-level hotel for about $100/night.

 

[bazzap]

The (Marriott air+hotel) travel packages are a better deal than a straight Marriott->miles redemption, but they still have the weak point that you have to include a 1-week Marriott hotel redemption into the mix, and it's really tough to find a good redemption value for that (at least anywhere I go).

Do you have to use all 7 nights at one hotel, in one stay? That's probably my biggest holdup. If we're going to stay somewhere 7 nights, it's going to be in a timeshare, not a hotel. On the other hand, I do have many 4-6 night hotel stays for business trips, but I hesitate to use that many points for a business stay when I can typically find a nice mid-level hotel for about $100/night.

Yes, you do have to spend all 7 nights in one stay.
MVC owners also though have the choice to book a 5 night (Marriott air+hotel) travel package.
Also, you can use the Travel Package ACs to stay at MVC resorts, accepting they are mostly higher category for MR usage.

 

[jimf41]

There are a lot of factors that enter into which card is best. So many that I don't think it's possible to come up with a "best" card. If I had used their # 1 card the Barclay World MC the last 20 years instead of a Marriott card I wouldn't have platinum status nor would I have ever had it. That's a lot of free food, drink and room upgrades I wouldn't have received.

In addition I've run a few events both business and social and paid with the Marriott racking up 5 points per $ as opposed their 2. It's more which one works best for you. There are a lot of cards that give you cash back. They don't work for me even though they are a much better deal than Marriott's card because I would never save that cash back and put it towards a vacation.

An odd thing I read in the survey itself was that in the hotel only category the MR card was at the bottom but the Chase Sapphire was 4th. Since the card gives less than the MR card I couldn't figure out how they came up with the ranking. Then I read the notes and they turn their points into Hyatt points 1:1 and stay at Hyatt's. Well if you want to stay at a Hyatt I'd get a Hyatt card as they are ranked 3rd.

Of course if you are traveling down I-95 to sunny Florida you might find that a little chancy as there are less than 600 Hyatts in the whole world. I think Marriott is at 4000 or so now.

 

[Wally3433]

Ritz Card is not on there, which has better benefits vs. regular Marriott card.

140k sign up bonus (or two free nights (current offer), 3 Ritz club lounge upgrades and a 10% yearly bonus on Marriott rewards points among other benefits. $395 annual fee is canceled out by $300 annual travel fee credit.

Exhaustive details on this card on Flyertalk....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...xpired-ck-wiki-ritz-carlton-rewards-card.html

 

[OldPantry]

The real champ?

Took a look at the article. The Marriott card certainly looks like a dud. Sure, once you have a quarter of a million points, you can start playing the travel package game, but ... really?

The very best of the cards in the article offer the equivalent of 2.5% (Virgin America). Now that sounds fine, but you're tied to VA, and have to go through all their hoops to cash in. So, once again, I conclude that my Bank of America card beats everything out there. It's a straight 2% cash back, with an additional 1/2% if the reward amounts to $300 or more. No fuss, no muss, no rotating categories, no need to accumulate a ridiculous number of points to take advantage. Just cash back, regular as clockwork. It's been worth thousands of dollars over the past five years, and will continue to (knock on wood) if BOA doesn't cancel the deal.

 

[OWMBGV]

For everyday spending, it's certainly not the best choice, primarily because Marriott Rewards points aren't that valuable. But for the categories where it earns 2 points (especially if they don't take AmEx), or spending at Marriott (where it earns 5 points), it's a decent (or even good) value.

I've recently installed a useful iPhone app called Wallaby that keeps track of the different category bonuses (including quarterly promotions like Discover), and that makes it much easier to remember which card to use where.

Starwood AmEx has been my "go to" card for about 10 years now, and I'm glad to see it's at the top of their list.

The other thing it doesn't really factor in is the fringe benefits. An extra elite night for every $3000 spent, the points towards lifetime status, and the annual free certificate, while not much, do increase the value a bit.

Agree with your post and to add, the best card depends on the circumstance. Over the next year and half, I will be using the my Marriott Rewards Visa for all purchases for the elite night credit for every $3k charged to the card as this year it will push me to Platinum and next year LT Platinum. Sure I could wait and gain LT status a year or so later, but the reciprocal UA silver is a nice benefit. Since I use this card in conjunction with Marriott stays, its not such a bad deal when all is factored in.

 

[Big Matt]

Completely agree. The card is the only reason that I was able to get to lifetime platinum. The points weren't the hard part. It was the nights and not traveling much for business I was challenged until they made that change.

I'm now looking for another card that will get me some other perks.

 

[MichaelColey]

Yeah, sometimes you'll use a card that isn't the best deal, just because of special circumstances for you.

I did something similar a few years back, when AA was eliminating their Lifetime Status program. I was at 1.15 million (so I had Lifetime Gold) when they announced it. I wanted to get to 2 million for Lifetime Platinum. I was able to get to 1.8 million through SPG transfers, HH transfers, and credit card application bonuses, before they switched to just butt-in-seat miles counting. They allowed Citi AA World Elite credit card spending count towards lifetime miles for another year after the cut everything else off, so I switched to using that and hit 2 million that way. I would have earned 1.25 miles per dollar (vs. 1 mile per dollar) if I had used SPG AmEx instead, but it wouldn't have counted towards lifetime status.

I considered Lifetime Platinum Status to be well worth the lower mileage earnings. I've enjoyed that status now for several years.

 

[Quilter]

There are a lot of factors that enter into which card is best. So many that I don't think it's possible to come up with a "best" card. If I had used their # 1 card the Barclay World MC the last 20 years instead of a Marriott card I wouldn't have platinum status nor would I have ever had it. That's a lot of free food, drink and room upgrades I wouldn't have received.

In addition I've run a few events both business and social and paid with the Marriott racking up 5 points per $ as opposed their 2. It's more which one works best for you. There are a lot of cards that give you cash back. They don't work for me even though they are a much better deal than Marriott's card because I would never save that cash back and put it towards a vacation.

An odd thing I read in the survey itself was that in the hotel only category the MR card was at the bottom but the Chase Sapphire was 4th. Since the card gives less than the MR card I couldn't figure out how they came up with the ranking. Then I read the notes and they turn their points into Hyatt points 1:1 and stay at Hyatt's. Well if you want to stay at a Hyatt I'd get a Hyatt card as they are ranked 3rd.

Of course if you are traveling down I-95 to sunny Florida you might find that a little chancy as there are less than 600 Hyatts in the whole world. I think Marriott is at 4000 or so now.

Jim,
we have the Chase Sapphire. I'm liking how the UR points move to several partners. Moved some to United and they were there the next day. Moved some to Hyatt in the morning and they were there in the afternoon. The Sapphire has better travel insurance than the Marriott. We put that to use after booking a Viking cruise and then needing to cancel. We got a full refund. The best way to use the Sapphire is to combine it with a Freedom (no fee) and get 5x the points in the quarterly spending categories. You can move these into your UR account if you also have the Sapphire. More UR points if you have the Ink Bold (Business). Always get 5X points on gas and we have our internet/phone on it's auto pay (5x points).

I'm working on the spend requirements of new UA cards but when that's done I want to get a Hyatt card. We have a reservation in Sept. and the card will not only give us 2 free nights in ANY category but will give us Platinum Hyatt status so I'm hoping for an upgrade.

The Marriott card has been great for us. M/f's and room charges add up the points. Getting the miles in travel packages allows us to get air seats that would cost thousands, not just hundreds.

Recently drove down to NC on 75 and back on 23. Put the Hilton, Marriott, Sapphire cards in my wallet because I didn't know what would be available when I was ready to stop. As it turned out it was a FI both times. One I paid for and the other I used the annual VISA certificate. No FI in Maggie Valley so I stayed at a Best Western (used Sapphire). Best Western matches status so my Marriott Platinum has transferred to BW Diamond.

 

[BocaBoy]

The other thing it doesn't really factor in is the fringe benefits. An extra elite night for every $3000 spent, the points towards lifetime status, and the annual free certificate, while not much, do increase the value a bit.

I think these "fringe benefits" are a really big deal to a lot of people.

 

[janej]

Ritz Card is not on there, which has better benefits vs. regular Marriott card.

140k sign up bonus (or two free nights (current offer), 3 Ritz club lounge upgrades and a 10% yearly bonus on Marriott rewards points among other benefits. $395 annual fee is canceled out by $300 annual travel fee credit.

Exhaustive details on this card on Flyertalk....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...xpired-ck-wiki-ritz-carlton-rewards-card.html

Is Ritz-Carlton rewards same as Marriott rewards? Do you need two separate reward accounts?

 

[bazzap]

Is Ritz-Carlton rewards same as Marriott rewards? Do you need two separate reward accounts?

No, they are separate programmes and you can only belong to one at any time.
You can use and benefit from whichever programme you choose though when staying at Ritz Carltons or Marriotts
http://www.marriott.com/marriott/hotel-rewards/the-ritz-carlton/faq.mi

 

[amanda14]

No, they are separate programmes and you can only belong to one at any time.
You can use and benefit from whichever programme you choose though when staying at Ritz Carltons or Marriotts
http://www.marriott.com/marriott/hotel-rewards/the-ritz-carlton/faq.mi

Right if you navigate between Ritz and Marriott it is reciprocal to those two brands is my understanding.

 

[janej]

No, they are separate programmes and you can only belong to one at any time.
You can use and benefit from whichever programme you choose though when staying at Ritz Carltons or Marriotts
http://www.marriott.com/marriott/hotel-rewards/the-ritz-carlton/faq.mi

Thanks!

So can you have both Marriott and Ritz Carltons card?

Jane

 

[bazzap]

I may be wrong, but I don't believe we can get the Ritz Carlton credit card in the UK so You really need advice from someone in the U.S.
I suspect you might be able to have both credit cards there, but I am not sure how beneficial that would be when you can only subscribe to one of the Rewards schemes?

 

[krj9999]

I think I may be convincing myself to get a Hyatt card as well, mostly for the free night which should more than offset the annual fee. Double points in some categories are pretty attractive.

We view the annual free night certificate as balancing out the annual fee. That makes the Marriott card effectively "free", so it can be maintained for the limited purpose of paying for Marriott hotels and Marriott timeshare MF's.

The Hyatt card also has a free night feature and its economics are better than Marriott.

So we have both (and others).

 

[Wally3433]

Yes, you can have both the Marriott Card and the Ritz Card. I have both right now. They both earn points that get added to the same Marriott Rewards account.