Credit Card: Marriott Bonvoy Boundless vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

[SuiteLady]

I have both credit cards. I am trying to decide if I should keep both and, if so, when to use each one. I like that Chase Sapphire Preserve gets me 5x points if I book through them and I can book any hotel brand. However, I do not feel that their points/rewards amount to much. I would not want to Chase Sapphire Reserve because the annual fee is too high for us. I just realized that I can transfer Bonvoy points to many airlines and it also seems like I get good Marriott hotel value out of the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card if I use the points effectively. My question is should I keep both cards? Is so, when should I use each one to maximize value?

 

[ljmiii]

Don't just look at the multiple - The Points Guy puts the value of a Chase Ultimate point at 2.0 cents while Bonvoy points are worth 0.84 cents. Also, Chase points transfer to airlines at 1:1, Bonvoy at 3:1 (i.e. if all you are doing is transferring to airlines, Chase points are 3 times as valuable).

That said, my suggestion would be to keep your Bonvoy card for Marriott and MVC spending and then use the Bonvoy points only for Marriott stays. Dining and travel go on Chase Sapphire. You might consider a 2% cash back card for general spending but the Sapphire isn't bad. And there are cards out there (e.g. Hilton AMEX Surpass) for gas and groceries.

 

[jont]

That said, my suggestion would be to keep your Bonvoy card for Marriott and MVC spending and then use the Bonvoy points only for Marriott stays. Dining and travel go on Chase Sapphire. You might consider a 2% cash back card for general spending but the Sapphire isn't bad. And there are cards out there (e.g. Hilton AMEX Surpass) for gas and groceries.

That's exactly what I do.

 

[jwalk03]

I have both. I like the 15 elite night credits I get each year on the Bonvoy Boundless and the Annual Free Night certificate is worth more than the $95 annual fee alone. I only use the Marriott card to pay my maintenance fees and for Marriott hotel spend.

I like the Sapphire Preferred card primarily for Car Rentals as it includes PRIMARY car rental insurance coverage instead of secondary like most other cards.

 

[frytard]

I have both. I like the 15 elite night credits I get each year on the Bonvoy Boundless and the Annual Free Night certificate is worth more than the $95 annual fee alone. I only use the Marriott card to pay my maintenance fees and for Marriott hotel spend.

I like the Sapphire Preferred card primarily for Car Rentals as it includes PRIMARY car rental insurance coverage instead of secondary like most other cards.

Also luggage insurance if purchasing airline tickets.

i have both as well. Marriot card is good for one thing only which is Marriottonly.

chase preferred or reserve is superior in every other way. Theresin above mentioned it’s 1:1 ratio, but that actually for cash back purposes the airline can be up to 1:1.8 in terms of value.

i have two main cards. Costco citi cause I spend a *bleep* ton there, and CSR which is for restaurants and travel(other than Marriott). I have niche cards like alaskan for the BOGO and other cards I had in the past that I run once a year to keep credit history.

 

[SuiteLady]

Thanks for the explanation. I was confused and thought I would get 3 airline points for 1 Bonvoy point but it is actually the opposite!

I am having trouble finding the AAA rate for hotels on the Chase site. I saw it one time but now I can’t find it. Does anyone know how to find it?

The other thing I was reading is about booking hotels with Chase: 1) you must pay for hotels at the time of booking and 2) it takes 2 billing cycles to get a refund. These seem like negatives to me. Any thoughts?

 

[jwalk03]

Also luggage insurance if purchasing airline tickets.

i have both as well. Marriot card is good for one thing only which is Marriottonly.

chase preferred or reserve is superior in every other way. Theresin above mentioned it’s 1:1 ratio, but that actually for cash back purposes the airline can be up to 1:1.8 in terms of value.

i have two main cards. Costco citi cause I spend a *bleep* ton there, and CSR which is for restaurants and travel(other than Marriott). I have niche cards like alaskan for the BOGO and other cards I had in the past that I run once a year to keep credit history.

I love the Costco Visa too. I use that for the 4% on Gas and the 2% back at Costco.

I use the Marriott card for Marriott spend.

I use my Southwest Priority Card for most everything else. Its only 1% on most stuff, (3% on SWA, 2% on SWA Travel partners, and 2% on Streaming Services) but the points count toward earning a Companion Pass each year which makes them very valuable to me! Not many better benifits out there, than buy one get one free airline tickets for an entire year!!

 

[ljmiii]

I am having trouble finding the AAA rate for hotels. I saw it one time but now I can’t find it. Does anyone know how to find it?

Where? On the AAA website, marriott.com or somewhere else? On marriott.com next to #rooms/guests, you choose your rate - one choice is AAA/CAA.

The other thing I was reading is 1) you must pay for hotels at the time of booking and 2) it takes 2 billing cycles to get a refund. These seem like negatives to me. Any thoughts?

Again, not sure where. On marriott.com there are sometimes prepaid rates (and AAA prepaid rates) presented alongside other ones.

 

[craigc]

We have Chase Sapphire Reserve for its lounge access and travel insurance. Its pricey but we easily cover the cost every year through the $300 travel credit, reimbursement for TSA pre etc. We keep our Marriott Bonvoy to pay our $9k in maintenance annually plus anything we spend while at Marriott properties. The free night covers the annual cost of the card..

 

[CalGalTraveler]

For us the Chase Sapphire is a keeper for all of the reasons stated previously. We are currently 2 player but may downgrade one to Freedom and sign up for either the $75 authorized user or apply for a $95 preferred card for player #2 to get the bonus.

Why not downgrade to a $95 Bonvoy card? Same 6x Bonvoy and 35k cert. IMO after the restaurant credit is up we will downgrade. Not worth extra cost.

 

[SuiteLady]

Where? On the AAA website, marriott.com or somewhere else? On marriott.com next to #rooms/guests, you choose your rate - one choice is AAA/CAA.
Again, not sure where. On marriott.com there are sometimes prepaid rates (and AAA prepaid rates) presented alongside other ones.

Both are Chase questions.

 

[SuiteLady]

Another question. I am comparing rates to book through Chase Ultimate Rewards vs booking direct through the hotel. For most hotels, I am finding booking direct is a lot cheaper than through Chase. By booking direct, I can find the AAArate but I can‘t find it through the Ultimate Rewards website or maybe I just do not know how to use their website. Are people finding it is often more expensive through the Ultimate Rewards website?

If this is the case for the hotels I am interested in that are not Marriott, would it be better to book direct through the hotel and just get the 2x points for direct booking since the 5x points through chase is more expensive and the points are worth less than the point value with Ultimate Rewards?

An example is booking through chase was $58 more per night. That point value of the total amount with Chase is worth less that $4. Am I calculating this correctly? It seems like the $58 savings per night outweighs the point value Chase assigns through their website. So if I book direct, I will save $58 per night and get 2x points if I put it on the Chase credit card. Does that sound like the right move?

I am new to the Chase Sapphire Presevre card so I am trying to figure out the best strategies.

 

[SuiteLady]

For us the Chase Sapphire is a keeper for all of the reasons stated previously. We are currently 2 player but may downgrade one to Freedom and sign up for either the $75 authorized user or apply for a $95 preferred card for player #2 to get the bonus.

Why not downgrade to a $95 Bonvoy card? Same 6x Bonvoy and 35k cert. IMO after the restaurant credit is up we will downgrade. Not worth extra cost.

I have both the Bonvoy card to use when I stay at Marriott hotels and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for other travel that is not Marriott. I am just trying to figure out if the Chase card is worth it for booking the hotels (that are not Marriott) through the Ultimate Rewards website. I am interested in a hotel that is independent but it costs $58 more per night through the Ultimate Rewards website. See the post above and can you share your thoughts on my questions? Thank you in advance!

 

[funNsun]

I agree w/ replies you have received so far. Generally, I suggest keeping both and using the Marriott card only for Marriott purchases.

I will add that the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) will give you effectively 4.5% return on dining and non-portal travel spend. For example, you earn 3x points on dining but this is redeemable against dining charges at a 1.5x rate (and you still earn the points on the dining charges). Also, I highly recommend coupling the CFR card with a Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) card, which earns 1.5x points on everything and has no annual fee. These CFU points are then transferrable instantly to your CFR card and redeemable at the 1.5x rate (effectively a 2.25% return on regular spending). I don't find the Chase travel portal all that useful despite the 5x points rate and instead prefer in most instances to transfer points to Chase partners.

One of the best is Hyatt, which has very reasonable points redemptions as compared to Marriott, Hilton and others. For example, 5K or 8K is often all that is needed to secure a room at many Hyatt hotels. So, you could spend $1,666 on your CFR card to get 5K points, transfer to Hyatt and redeem for a free night. The Bonvoy card (and the Marriott Bonvoy points system) never comes anywhere close to this. On the low side, most Marriott hotels require at least 20-30K of Bonvoy points.

A highly underrated feature of the CSR card is its travel insurance (as someone mentioned above), which even applies on points booked flight as long as the security fee ($5.6 per flight or so) is paid with the CSR card.

 

[mdurette]

However, I do not feel that their points/rewards amount to much.

I'm another vote for keeping both, especially if you have paid Marriott stays. If not and you wanted to pick one for points accumulation, then I would keep the Chase Preferred for flexibility.

But, the above quote is your given reason for not caring for the preferred card. What do you mean by this? That earning points is not enough or is it you don't get enough benefit when you spend them?

 

[SuiteLady]

I'm another vote for keeping both, especially if you have paid Marriott stays. If not and you wanted to pick one for points accumulation, then I would keep the Chase Preferred for flexibility.

But, the above quote is your given reason for not caring for the preferred card. What do you mean by this? That earning points is not enough or is it you don't get enough benefit when you spend them?

Actually, I may be wrong about this. I have over 100,000 points right now and it at worth about $1200 if I redeem on the UR portal. That is actually very good. But most of it is due to the enrollment bonus. Since booking through the UR portal is more expensive than booking hotels direct, I doubt I will ever book through UR and get the 5x points. Most likely, I will book non-Marriott hotel directly and only get 2x points for travel.

 

[SuiteLady]

I agree w/ replies you have received so far. Generally, I suggest keeping both and using the Marriott card only for Marriott purchases.

I will add that the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) will give you effectively 4.5% return on dining and non-portal travel spend. For example, you earn 3x points on dining but this is redeemable against dining charges at a 1.5x rate (and you still earn the points on the dining charges). Also, I highly recommend coupling the CFR card with a Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) card, which earns 1.5x points on everything and has no annual fee. These CFU points are then transferrable instantly to your CFR card and redeemable at the 1.5x rate (effectively a 2.25% return on regular spending). I don't find the Chase travel portal all that useful despite the 5x points rate and instead prefer in most instances to transfer points to Chase partners.

One of the best is Hyatt, which has very reasonable points redemptions as compared to Marriott, Hilton and others. For example, 5K or 8K is often all that is needed to secure a room at many Hyatt hotels. So, you could spend $1,666 on your CFR card to get 5K points, transfer to Hyatt and redeem for a free night. The Bonvoy card (and the Marriott Bonvoy points system) never comes anywhere close to this. On the low side, most Marriott hotels require at least 20-30K of Bonvoy points.

A highly underrated feature of the CSR card is its travel insurance (as someone mentioned above), which even applies on points booked flight as long as the security fee ($5.6 per flight or so) is paid with the CSR card.

What is the benefit of combining the CFU card with the CSR card?

 

[aamarquez8]

I am just trying to figure out if the Chase card is worth it for booking the hotels (that are not Marriott) through the Ultimate Rewards website

For our upcoming trip, i did a price comparison on two different resorts we planned to book. I don't recall the exact difference in cost but wasnt much bc i booked via Ultimate Reward, charged one resort and used points for the other.

 

[SteveinHNL]

We have Chase Sapphire Reserve for its lounge access and travel insurance. Its pricey but we easily cover the cost every year through the $300 travel credit, reimbursement for TSA pre etc. We keep our Marriott Bonvoy to pay our $9k in maintenance annually plus anything we spend while at Marriott properties. The free night covers the annual cost of the card..

How do you pay your Marriott MFs on your credit card? That's an option? Also does that hold true for HRC MFs since Marriott now owns HRC?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I have both the Bonvoy card to use when I stay at Marriott hotels and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for other travel that is not Marriott. I am just trying to figure out if the Chase card is worth it for booking the hotels (that are not Marriott) through the Ultimate Rewards website. I am interested in a hotel that is independent but it costs $58 more per night through the Ultimate Rewards website. See the post above and can you share your thoughts on my questions? Thank you in advance!

Two more options to compare : YMMV

1) if you cashed out the chase points at 1.5x and paid AAA rate on Marriottt.com (plus you could pay with Marriott card 6x or CSR 3x if indep.)

2) transfer chase points to hotels. Hyatt is a great value.

 

[Bodie]

I have a Marriott branded Chase card and use that for the MFs.

Two more options to compare : YMMV

1) if you cashed out the chase points at 1.5x and paid AAA rate on Marriottt.com (plus you could pay with Marriott card 6x or CSR 3x if indep.)

2) transfer chase points to hotels. Hyatt is a great value.

 

[funNsun]

What is the benefit of combining the CFU card with the CSR card?

The benefit is 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on any spend. We use this for our non-bonused spend (i.e., non-dining, non-travel, etc.). Then, the points acquired from the CFU card are transferred to our CSR card. From here, there are a few options for redemption as discussed above. At a minimum, they can be redeemed (using Chase's pay yourself back option) against dining purchases (and some other purchases) at a further 1.5x. This provides a total return of 2.25% for such non-bonused spend. A better redemption (and probably one of the best in my opinion) is to transfer to Hyatt points (1:1 transfer rate) and use for free Hyatt stays. Other transfer partners include United and Southwest.

 

[SuiteLady]

The benefit is 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on any spend. We use this for our non-bonused spend (i.e., non-dining, non-travel, etc.). Then, the points acquired from the CFU card are transferred to our CSR card. From here, there are a few options for redemption as discussed above. At a minimum, they can be redeemed (using Chase's pay yourself back option) against dining purchases (and some other purchases) at a further 1.5x. This provides a total return of 2.25% for such non-bonused spend. A better redemption (and probably one of the best in my opinion) is to transfer to Hyatt points (1:1 transfer rate) and use for free Hyatt stays. Other transfer partners include United and Southwest.

I am a bit confused with the CFU card. Is it a cash back card or a points card? It sounds like it is a cash back card that pays 1.5%. If so, how do you combine the cash back portion with the points portion of the CSP. I do not have CSR. I have Chase Sapphire Preferred so I am not sure if the combination of CSP and CFU would be the same as combining with CSR.

Also 1.5% cash back is lower than some other pure cash back cards that pay 2% cash back. So what would be the advantage of CFU rather than getting a 2% cash back card?

Thank you again!

 

[jwalk03]

I am a bit confused with the CFU card. Is it a cash back card or a points card? It sounds like it is a cash back card that pays 1.5%. If so, how do you combine the cash back portion with the points portion of the CSP. I do not have CSR. I have Chase Sapphire Preferred so I am not sure if the combination of CSP and CFU would be the same as combining with CSR.

Also 1.5% cash back is lower than some other pure cash back cards that pay 2% cash back. So what would be the advantage of CFU rather than getting a 2% cash back card?

Thank you again!

All Chase branded rewards cards earn ultimate rewards points. You can use those points for a multitude of options including cash back or travel. If you have a CSR or CSP card you can combine the UR points you earn on CFU to your Sapphire card and they function exactly the same as points earned on Sapphire directly, even though you earn them at 1.5% back instead of the 1% back on everyday spend on Sapphire.

 

[craigc]

How do you pay your Marriott MFs on your credit card? That's an option? Also does that hold true for HRC MFs since Marriott now owns HRC?

Yep, just go to https://www.marriottvacationclub.com/ and go the "Account" tab. There you will see "Maintenance Fees / Club Dues". Can't comment on HRC, sorry.