Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card Review
Chase has issued a personal and business Marriott hotels co-branded card for quite a while now. With the recent merger between Marriott and SPG the credit card lineup has been shuffled a little bit. Chase is replacing their old personal Marriott card with the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card. This card also replaces American Express’ beloved personal SPG card.
Chase is giving a limited time increase offer for the new product release. Let’s take a look at all of the details.
Current Sign Up Bonus vs Historical High
The current sign up bonus is as follows:
- 100,000 Marriott Rewards points
- After spending $5000 within the first 3 months
- The $95 annual fee is NOT waived
Since this is a new product this is also the historical high. The bonus is 15,000 points higher than the old Marriott card’s sign up bonus. It is also 25,000 points higher than the old standard offer for the SPG personal card.
CLICK HERE to compare this and other hotel credit cards
Bonus Restrictions
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card falls under the dreaded Chase 5/24 rule. You can not sign up for the card if you have had more than 4 new credit accounts within the last 24 months. This includes credit accounts that are not credit cards, like personal loans.
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card also has the standard 24 month bonus restriction language:
“This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.”
Earning Structure
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card comes with the following earning structure:
- Earn 6X Marriott Reward points for every dollar spent at a Marriott & SPG hotel
- Earn 2X Marriott Reward points for every dollar spent on all other purchases
Cardmember Perks
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus comes with the following perks:
- Free night award on cardmember anniversary for any hotel up to 35,000 points
- No foreign transaction fees
- Silver Elite Status
- Get Gold Status if you spend $35,000 each account year
The following perks will be added to the card down the line:
- Free in room internet for cardholders – coming in August 2018
- 15 Elite night credits – coming in 2019 (this perk will not stack with other cards, max of 15 per year)
CLICK HERE to compare this and other hotel credit cards
Fees
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card comes with a $95 annual fee which is NOT waived.
Sign Up Bonus Value – $600 ($505 net)
Marriott points are valued in the $0.006 per point range which would put the 100,000 point welcome bonus worth $600. Once you account for the $95 annual fee which is NOT waived the net value is $505.
Summary
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card is an improvement from the old Marriott personal card. It is also replacing the personal SPG card, and this card is a devaluation compared to the old SPG card. The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus is pretty much a merging of the old SPG and Marriott cards.
Having said that this card does offer some value to Marriott loyalists. The increased sign up bonus is competitive (it is more lucrative than the old SPG sign up bonus of 75,000 Marriott points).
The earning structure is pretty good for hotel stays netting you a a return of 3.6%, which is in the neighborhood of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. As for regular spend the card is pretty poor with a 1.2% return on spend. The only reason to put regular spend on this credit card would be to achieve Gold Status once you reach $35,000 in spend. For most people it wouldn’t be worth the effort.
CLICK HERE to compare this and other hotel credit cards
Long Term Keeper
The free annual night and the 15 elite stay credits will make this a long term keeper for some. If you are able to max out the value of the free night, a 35,000 point stay, you are getting $210 in value for $95. But these free nights come with an expiration date so be sure you will have a use for it. A room that costs 16,000 points a night would be the break-even point so it isn’t hard to get value out of the anniversary night.
For the Marriott loyalists that are chasing status the 15 nights will be a huge help and would make this card a long term keeper.
If you are not chasing status and you are unsure if you will be able to use the annual free night then this would not be a long term keeper for you.
Conclusion
The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card is an improvement on it’s predecessor. It comes with a better welcome bonus, a better annual free night, and a better set of perks. It is a step down from the SPG Personal card that it is also replacing though.
If Marriott is your brand of choice or if you are able to maximize the free night stay every year then this card could offer you value that exceeds the annual fee.
What do you think of the new card? Is it an improvement? Worth Getting? Let us know in the comments section.
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I give up, I have been trying to find out the answer to this question for 3 weeks now and have gotten 3 different answers. My wife this past February was approved for her marriott premier visa card and she then upgraded her card to the premier plus in October. So a simple question, in what month will she revive her the chase anniversary free night award. Chase has tole me February, October, one rep told me annual fee will be charged in October but the free night will come in February. please help me
In the past it has been based on the old card’s anniversary date. That is how they did it with the Hyatt card etc. So should be February for the regular annual fee and free night.
I’ve called both Chase and Marriott to ask them this question but so far no one can give an answer. The current Marriott Rewards Premier card gives 15 Elite Night credits per year (which automatically qualifies you for Silver Elite Status). The new Premier Plus gives “Guaranteed Silver Elite Status” and starting in 2019 it gives 15 Elite Night credits per year. I want to know if “Guaranteed Silver Elite Status” means that they will be crediting 10 Elite Nights (lowest amount needed for Silver Elite) and then the 15 will get stacked on top of that (meaning 25 Elite Nights per year) or is 2019 only going to get this benefit inline with the existing card? The extra 10 nights per year would be awesome…
I am guessing you get 15 nights which automatically gives you silver status….not 10 plus 15.
I agree with your assumption but it could be clearer. In the end the only real value of this card over the current (excluding bonus for new customers) is the yearly free night @ 35K points but with the re-evaluation of the properties this will probably just end up being a 10$/year bonus to Chase. Guess they need to pay for all “reviews” on these blogs somehow.
Does the 100k points count towards lifetime status ?
Does this card also get the night stay credit per 3000 spend?
No you just get 15 night credits starting next year instead of the 1 per 3K. I think the 15 nights is probably better imo.
No it doesn’t and it costs more to get to Gold Elite status with the new card…. silly Chase.
Premier = $30,000 (15 Elite Nights per year + 10 Elite Nights @ $3,000 spend each)
Premier Plus = $35,000 Gold Elite Status
Do you need to close your old Marriott personal before applying? Since this is new product, I assume not?
I think they may be considering them the same product. If it has been 24 months since you got the old one I would suggest closing it and then applying. Have you checked your account for upgrade offers? Some have been getting up to 50K after 1st purchase offers.
i *just* opened the old chase marriott premier (non-plus) card 2 months ago ….. am i eligible for the new bonus ?
I believe that would fall under Chase’s 24 months terms – I think they are considering them the same card.
Did you check to see if you got an upgrade offer on the card. People are seeing 10-50K offers in their accounts.
You were correct, I called, made some adjustments and got the approved for the card.
Where would this upgrade offer show up? I just applied last week and received my card on Wednesday, May 2nd.
I just applied. Got a 30 day message.
Currently 4/24 but I do have 5 open Chase cards. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. I’ll call recon soon.
I would think you are out of available credit from Chase and you may need to move credit lines around.