2026 MVC Maintenance Fees and Chase Sapphire Reward Points.

[tugsforjay]

Since Chase has modified their rewards program, does anyone know how paid Maintenance Fees are categorized by Chase and which Chase credit card would result in the most reward points? TIA

 

[ljmiii]

Since Chase has modified their rewards program, does anyone know how paid Maintenance Fees are categorized by Chase and which Chase credit card would result in the most reward points? TIA

Paying with my CSR, My MVC MFs coded as Merchant type MARRIOTT, Category Travel, and I received "+4 points on hotels".

My HGVC and DVC MFs coded as Merchant type TIMESHARES, Category Travel, and I received "+4 points on hotels" on them as well.

 

[Dean]

Paying with my CSR, My MVC MFs coded as Merchant type MARRIOTT, Category Travel, and I received "+4 points on hotels".

My HGVC and DVC MFs coded as Merchant type TIMESHARES, Category Travel, and I received "+4 points on hotels" on them as well.

4/point for me as well.

 

[RebelR]

I have the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Chase card and the MFs coded as a Marriott Hotel Purchase so I got 6x points

 

[rickandcindy23]

Since Chase has modified their rewards program, does anyone know how paid Maintenance Fees are categorized by Chase and which Chase credit card would result in the most reward points? TIA

Points are different from system to system. I love Chase Sapphire Reserve and nothing I can charge on Marriott is worthy of the 6X points Marriott gives on my Bonvoy Brilliant. I keep it and charge some MF's on it.

Chase Sapphire Reserve has other benefits that make it worthy of the fee, but for big spenders it really pays. I did charge over $75K on that card for 2025, which gave me A list status with SW and a $500 credit. I think I can figure out how to get Rick's to that spend for next year as well. Two $500 credits and both of us with A list status would be great.

 

[Dean]

Points are different from system to system. I love Chase Sapphire Reserve and nothing I can charge on Marriott is worthy of the 6X points Marriott gives on my Bonvoy Brilliant. I keep it and charge some MF's on it.

Chase Sapphire Reserve has other benefits that make it worthy of the fee, but for big spenders it really pays. I did charge over $75K on that card for 2025, which gave me A list status with SW and a $500 credit. I think I can figure out how to get Rick's to that spend for next year as well. Two $500 credits and both of us with A list status would be great.

For me I get more value from the 4X CSR than 6X Bonvoy even with the changes though we have both. I'm using the CSR for Apple when they have the 1.5X specials and with the changes in hotels, for points savers.

 

[VacationForever]

Points are different from system to system. I love Chase Sapphire Reserve and nothing I can charge on Marriott is worthy of the 6X points Marriott gives on my Bonvoy Brilliant. I keep it and charge some MF's on it.

Chase Sapphire Reserve has other benefits that make it worthy of the fee, but for big spenders it really pays. I did charge over $75K on that card for 2025, which gave me A list status with SW and a $500 credit. I think I can figure out how to get Rick's to that spend for next year as well. Two $500 credits and both of us with A list status would be great.

Isn't SW A list now obsolete?

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Isn't SW A list now obsolete?

A-List still exists, it just comes with different perks now:

Priority Boarding, Group 5
1st bag free
25% bonus on points
Priority Check-in and Security lanes

Not particularly strong perks in my opinion, but not nothing either...

 

[dioxide45]

A-List still exists, it just comes with different perks now:

Priority Boarding, Group 5
1st bag free
25% bonus on points
Priority Check-in and Security lanes

Not particularly strong perks in my opinion, but not nothing either...

Wasn't there something also about a Companion Pass? Does that still exist?

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Wasn't there something also about a Companion Pass? Does that still exist?

That also still exists, but it's separate from A-List. You need to earn 135,000 points or 100 flights in a calendar year.

We are on track to receive that within the next month or so, thanks to a credit card bonus and some ordinary spending on the card.

 

[dioxide45]

That also still exists, but it's separate from A-List. You need to earn 135,000 points or 100 flights in a calendar year.

We are on track to receive that within the next month or so, thanks to a credit card bonus and some ordinary spending on the card.

Wasn't there a time where they removed points earned from credit card bonus from the qualifying points for Companion Pass? 100 flights is a lot. That is like a flight every 3.5 days. One would have to be a true road warrior to make that work.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Wasn't there a time where they removed points earned from credit card bonus from the qualifying points for Companion Pass? 100 flights is a lot. That is like a flight every 3.5 days. One would have to be a true road warrior to make that work.

I am not sure if they have ever removed credit card points from the count, but I do know they are currently counted. Purchased or transferred points, like converting Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest, don't count.

Base points from flying count, as well as credit card points, and partner points, such as booking a hotel from the Southwest website all work towards a companion pass.

I agree that 100 flights is a lot, and it probably only works for heavy business travelers.

 

[ljmiii]

100 flights is a lot. That is like a flight every 3.5 days. One would have to be a true road warrior to make that work.

I assume that SW works like United and each segment counts as a separate ‘flight’ for the purpose of qualifying for elite status.

But still…even if your average travel on SW is two segments per journey that’s still once a week.

 

[jmhpsu93]

Wasn't there a time where they removed points earned from credit card bonus from the qualifying points for Companion Pass? 100 flights is a lot. That is like a flight every 3.5 days. One would have to be a true road warrior to make that work.

They actually advertise the SW Chase card sign-up bonus as a quicker way to Companion Pass. The thing they removed was inbound point transfers on the Marriott travel packages they used to have. You would get the points but nothing towards status or CP. We would do a five-day package sending over 100K points to SW and with some spending in January have CP for 23 months. Did that for two or three cycles until they got wise about it.

 

[Wahoo]

A-List still exists, it just comes with different perks now:

Priority Boarding, Group 5
1st bag free
25% bonus on points
Priority Check-in and Security lanes

Not particularly strong perks in my opinion, but not nothing either...

Southwest A-List also now includes free seat selection at the time of booking, and free upgrade to an extra legroom seat if available 48 hours from departure. This benefit and the free checked bag are the benefits that make it worthwhile to me.

 

[kuruk333]

Since Chase has modified their rewards program, does anyone know how paid Maintenance Fees are categorized by Chase and which Chase credit card would result in the most reward points? TIA

MVC maintenance fees usually post as a standard service or property management charge, not travel. Chase codes them as a non bonus category, so you earn base points only.

Because of that, Sapphire Preferred or Reserve both earn 1x on maintenance fees. There is no advantage using the Reserve for this specific charge. If you want to maximize return, some people use a Chase Freedom card when there is a quarterly bonus that happens to include general services, but that is rare and capped.

 

[rickandcindy23]

They actually advertise the SW Chase card sign-up bonus as a quicker way to Companion Pass. The thing they removed was inbound point transfers on the Marriott travel packages they used to have. You would get the points but nothing towards status or CP. We would do a five-day package sending over 100K points to SW and with some spending in January have CP for 23 months. Did that for two or three cycles until they got wise about it.

They always catch on. Doesn't matter what company, someone notices and stops the benefit and definitely cold turkey.

We had a great game of 5X points on Visa Gift Cards and took great advantage for at least a year.

Buy gift cards at 5X, take gift cards to grocery store or Walmart for money orders, which we deposited to our account. Great way to build points. We built well over 1,000,000 points each doing that. It was actually fun. I do obsess over these loopholes.

 

[ljmiii]

MVC maintenance fees usually post as a standard service or property management charge, not travel. Chase codes them as a non bonus category, so you earn base points only.

That hasn't been the experience of most MVC owners and as I wrote upthread...

Paying with my CSR, My MVC MFs coded as Merchant type MARRIOTT, Category Travel, and I received "+4 points on hotels".

My HGVC and DVC MFs coded as Merchant type TIMESHARES, Category Travel, and I received "+4 points on hotels" on them as well.

Where do you own that the MFs didn't post as Marriott and/or travel?

 

[Norcal5]

I just checked mine because of this thread. I'm getting 4 points on mfs. Luckily I checked. $1200 in fraud charges for 3 restaurants in New York.