Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite
Following the leaks about the upcoming Chase Sapphire Reserve card (full details here) I had heard rumors that another Chase Visa Infinite card could be coming. Then, this past weekend some of the details began to leak out and now we have all of the details of the brand new(ish) Ritz Carlton Rewards Credit Card. Let’s take a look.
The Offer
Three complimentary nights at at any participating Tier 1-4 Ritz-Carlton® hotel after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening plus 10K points for adding an authorized user and making a purchase within the first 3 months.
Card Benefits
- Visa Infinite benefits including $100 off multi-person roundtrip tickets
- $300 annual travel credit
- 5X Ritz Carlton, 2X air, car, restaurants & 1X everywhere else
- $100 Global entry fee credit
- Ritz/Marriott Gold status the first year
- Spend $10K each year to keep Gold status. Spend $75K for Platinum
- No foreign transaction fees
- $450 annual fee which is not waived
Analysis
The old card came with a $395 fee and 2 free nights. This new offer has a higher fee but gives you an extra night and 10K points. As a first year offer the higher fee definitely seems worth it given the better bonus. In the long term, for the extra money you mostly get Visa Infinite benefits which do include that $100 multi-person flight discount which could come in handy. Concierge service is included as well.
One interesting thing to look at is club upgrades. The old card had a published benefit of three free club upgrades per year. The offer page for this new card does not mention the upgrades, although I have seen some other internal information that seems to indicate it still does. I don’t want to say either way, but the loss of the club access could be big for some, but only those who actually pay to stay at Ritz. (And that honestly isn’t me.)
There are two more intriguing things to look at for me. This card is a conversion of the old Ritz product and thus is not a new product altogether. For that reason we can hope it isn’t subject to the 5/24 guideline since the old card didn’t seem to be. The other interesting thing is with 3 free nights, a couple can apply together and you can get a very nice turnkey vacation with just two cards! Too bad Cat 5 properties are excluded.
You can find all of the benefits and the direct application here.
Conclusion
In my opinion this is a very good and valuable offer ($1,000+ after factoring the annual fee) if you have a good use of the nights and the other benefits. As long as you can maximize the travel credit, then the annual fee is incredibly manageable and Ritz/Marriott Gold the first year with the ability to spend to up to it in subsequent years is a great benefit. The only problem for me is that thing called Sapphire Reserve. I want one of them and thus I will have to wait on this.
What are your thoughts on this new Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite? Let us know in the comments and thanks to Richard Kerr of Travel Hacking 101 and Doctor of Credit for sharing news of this card early.
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I wish they give the number of points in stead of 3 free night certificate just like they did more than a year ago.
In the event that the new CSR is subject to 5/24, and this Ritz card isn’t, it seems like the Ritz card would be a nice one to have for the Visa Infinite perk and $300 travel credit. Does anyone know if the Ritz card has the same travel insurance as the Sapphire card? Like if I pay the taxes/fees on award travel with the Ritz card (to use the travel credit), would I be fully covered like I would with the Sapphire?
Same here. I’m waiting to see what happens on 8/21 re: Chase’s Reserve card. If by any chance it’s not subject to 5/24, I’d rather sign up for that one. UR points are MUCH more useful to me…
I think the key is how liberally one can use the $300 annual travel credit.
The lack of 3 club access for paid stays is a huge loss with the new card, so I am passing on this card.
Nico, the data points suggest from DoC website says that current card holders can access the $100 off airline tickets, as the card number is already moved to the Visa Infinite label.
@Nico, though the $100 off with Visa Infinite does sound tempting, this wouldn’t be a very good card for using it versus the upcoming Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) card. The CSR will also be a Visa Infinite card, but it earns 3x UR points for travel and the Ritz card only offers 2x Marriott/Ritz points. The end result with the CSR is earning more points that are also more valuable for your airfare purchase.
Anyone know if they are converting current cardholders to the Visa infinite? I’m curious about the $100 off on the round trip flights.