topic Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it? in Credit Cards

Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 06:15:46 GMT

I have been using chase for years... I am a proud sapphire preferred member.. Was wondering if anyone on here uses the marriot rewards card for travel and such? I really like the 5x bonus points per dollar spent at a marriot hotel... Any other pros/cons?

Thank you for you're time.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

-Cal- — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 06:18:05 GMT

Answer to your title: Yes, if you utilize hotels.

You receive a free night stay every year, covers the annual fee.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 12:15:14 GMT

I'm planning on getting a couple hotel cards during my next spree and this is gonna be one. Like cal said the af is more than made up for by the free anniversary night, and although I travel more than the average person I don't have any specific brand loyalties so it's nice to have a card that makes sure your earned points don't expire if you don't stay with a certain chain for a while and get you certain guaranteed statuses with their loyalty programs. IHG is another one you may wanna look at too, only $49 af with a decent signup bonus and they give you platinum elite status and can stay at any of their hotels with you free anniversary night not just in a certain tier (although I'm sure Marriott tier 5 is nicer than pretty much anything in the ihg family)

I won't be using the much outside of at their actual locations though just enough to keep them active so I'll just have to see after a year or two if it's worth it

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 13:08:51 GMT

Yes absolutely it is.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

8in2years — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 13:26:08 GMT

Great card. Yes, worth it.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

bch238 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 15:33:24 GMT

Definitely. I only use it when I stay the Marriott, though. Racks up serious points. After the first year, the free night is bumped to a Cat 5 hotel (up from a Cat 4, which was difficult to find use for, frankly--mine expired).

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

ojefferyo — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 16:55:44 GMT

I like my card, AF is easy to turn an eye to especially the free night every year.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

jsucool76 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 17:22:50 GMT

love Marriott

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

NRB525 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 18:21:44 GMT

The Marriott card will work well if you stay at Marriott a lot. The free night makes the AF worth the cost. The no FTF is helpful for foreign travel. I plan on keeping mine, but at a low level of spend.

The Hyatt points seem to be worth more, so regular spend gathers costs better. no FTF.

The AMEX Hilton card has good category (grocery, gas, dining) rewards, so that can help build points, but there is a FTF. No annual free night, but no AF either.

Club Carlson earns points everywhere, so is interesting, the AF gives lots of points back, but there is a FTF on this one also.

The IHG also is interesting.

If one is looking to limit the number of cards, then shopping carefully, comparing the cards, is an important step. There are many decent hotel cards to choose from. I will probably end up with 4, perhaps these 5 by the time I'm done, but I'm fine with having a lot of cards. Others might not be.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 18:42:39 GMT

I honestly have a hard time deciding on the hotel cards.

I think I'll be going for the Ritz over the Marriott...I'm hoping to App for the Ritz after I clear my current spends. AF is high on the Ritz but I gotta have this .9oz card ... you shouldn't app for cards based on looks but how about basing it on weight?

I chose the IHG over SPG, Hyatt because IHG has good bonus point opportunities in addition to the free nights, etc, etc.

But man, it seems like they all have great perks and I want 'em all.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

jsucool76 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 18:44:18 GMT

spg points are worth the most, but harder to earn.

Hyatt points are next, and you earn a bit more than spg

Marriott and ihg are about equal, earnings are a bit better

hilton earns the most points but they're worth the least.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 18:47:42 GMT

@jsucool76 wrote:
spg points are worth the most, but harder to earn.

Hyatt points are next, and you earn a bit more than spg

Marriott and ihg are about equal, earnings are a bit better

hilton earns the most points but they're worth the least.

Looks like you have both Marriott and Ritz, which card do you use more often?

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 18:52:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I honestly have a hard time deciding on the hotel cards.

I think I'll be going for the Ritz over the Marriott...I'm hoping to App for the Ritz after I clear my current spends. AF is high on the Ritz but I gotta have this .9oz card ... you shouldn't app for cards based on looks but how about basing it on weight?

I chose the IHG over SPG, Hyatt because IHG has good bonus point opportunities in addition to the free nights, etc, etc.

But man, it seems like they all have great perks and I want 'em all.

I could have written this post, just changing the 'after I clear my current spends' to 'after I get my HELOC or refi'. I have my eyes on travel and I just. can't. think. about. it. yet.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

jsucool76 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 19:00:29 GMT

@CreditFlunky

i used my Ritz till I hit 10k spend, and now I only use it for hotel stays. 10k let's me keep my gold status. Marriott card is just for the free night.

right now I'm big on the Prestige/forward combo

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:28:01 GMT

I really love my Marriott card. I'm currently in the process of planning two vacations. Doesn't hurt to have this card.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

red259 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:33:02 GMT

@-Cal- wrote:
Answer to your title: Yes, if you utilize hotels.

You receive a free night stay every year, covers the annual fee.

- Only if you use the free night and I believe there is a cat limit on which properties you can use the free night at, so you really want to check to make sure you will be able to use that free night every year otherwise its a waste. Now if you are a frequent marriott guest it can be worthwhile, but if you have no loyalty to marriott and do not use them often then I would avoid the card as there are probably better fits out there. The exception to this general rule is if they have a massive signup offer like they did with the ritz card it could be worth it for at least the first year.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

jsucool76 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:35:19 GMT

the Marriott card is great whether you're loyal or not. you can find a category 5 property almost anywhere (exceptions being in the heart of NYC, and in hawaii) which can more than pay for the annual fee. plus with an (almost) constant bonus of 70000 points, it's a hard offer to pass up.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 23:04:02 GMT

A member here posted a couple of weeks that he just got back from vacation in Orlando , 7 night stay at the Marriott for free. He used some of his bonus from his 70,000 bonus and his free night. Pretty sure he stayed at a category 1.

You can't argue that it wasn't a good deal. Hell if I'm going to somewhere like Disney most of my stay will be outside of the room and I'll take 7 nights At a category 1. Can't believe people don't take advantage of credit cards.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

jsucool76 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 23:06:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
A member here posted a couple of weeks that he just got back from vacation in Orlando , 7 night stay at the Marriott for free. He used some of his bonus from his 70,000 bonus and his free night. Pretty sure he stayed at a category 1.

You can't argue that it wasn't a good deal. Hell if I'm going to somewhere like Disney most of my stay will be outside of the room and I'll take 7 nights At a category 1. Can't believe people don't take advantage of credit cards.

There's no cat 1 hotels within 30 miles of disney. lol. A few cat 2s about 20-25 miles away, around the UCF area.

Re: Marriot Rewards? Worth it?

kdm31091 — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 23:22:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
A member here posted a couple of weeks that he just got back from vacation in Orlando , 7 night stay at the Marriott for free. He used some of his bonus from his 70,000 bonus and his free night. Pretty sure he stayed at a category 1.

You can't argue that it wasn't a good deal. Hell if I'm going to somewhere like Disney most of my stay will be outside of the room and I'll take 7 nights At a category 1. Can't believe people don't take advantage of credit cards.

Not everyone can manage them correctly and reap the rewards without getting into debt though. That's the problem.