Sign-Up Bonus, Earning Categories, and Points
Right now the card offers bonus points upon signing up and spending the required amount in the allotted time (see card summary table above).
You earn 5 points for every $1 spent at over 5,700 participating Marriott Rewards and SPG hotels, 2 points for every $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly with the airlines, at car rental agencies & restaurants and 1 point everywhere else.
Then, you get 1x points for everything else you purchase. With rewards rates as cheap as 6,000 pts per night (Category 1 PointSavers) and 5,000 for an upgrade, this is a pretty good deal.
Bottom Line: Earn 5x points for hotel purchases and 2x on restaurants, airfare, and car rentals when you use the Marriott Premier card. Earn 1x points for everything else!
Card Benefits and Elite Status
The Chase Marriott Premier card benefits are really where this card shines. Each year, you automatically get 1 free hotel stay anywhere worldwide, up to a Category 5.
Category 5 hotels include Courtyard, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn and more, depending on your location.
Next, you start off with Silver status in the Marriott Rewards Program, which is the second level of their status program. You’d have to stay 10 nights in a year to earn this otherwise, which makes it a nice perk!
Benefits include late checkout, weekend discounts, and a bonus of 20% added to the points earned for the stay. They also include a 5th night free each time you book 4 nights or more!
Gold is the next tier up, which requires staying 50 nights in the hotels in a year. This is quite a jump, but for those who travel often it isn’t that hard to achieve. At this level you get free breakfast for 2, lounge access (where applicable), and a 25% point bonus.
To make reaching Gold status and beyond a bit easier, for every $3,000 you spend on the card you also get 1 Elite credit toward your status (equal to one night’s stay).
So if you’ve only stayed 25 nights this year in hotels (giving you 40 Elite credits when added to your existing 15), but you’ve spent over $30,000 on the card, you should be awarded Gold status through the elite credit benefit from Chase.
Be sure to check that your Elite credits are getting applied to your account, as this can take up to 6-8 weeks.
If you truly travel a lot, then reaching the Platinum Elite status is your best bet. By doing so, you will earn 50% additional points per stay.
This will really help you rack up the points and allow you to redeem many awards for your personal travel.
Bottom Line: Get automatic Silver status and extra Elite Credits for spending on the ChaseMarriott Premier card! This makes Elite Status more attainable.
Other Travel Partners and Benefits
Traveling frequently with United becomes a little bit sweeter with the Marriott credit card, too. With the RewardsPlus Program, you can earn Silver status with United MileagePlus program when you reach Platinum Elite at Marriott.
If you want to transfer points to MileagePlus from Marriott Rewards, you’ll receive a 20% discount. That means 8,000 Marriott points will give you 2,000 MileagePlus points. (It takes 10,000 points to get 2,000 miles on most other airlines.)
Another great feature of the Marriott Premier card is no foreign transaction fees.
This is especially useful for travel abroad so that you can pay for the lodging without worrying about an additional standard 3% fee added on top of your bill.
With an $85 annual fee, you may wonder if the card is worth it. For frequent travelers, such as those who take trips for business, you will likely find no downside.
The 15 Elite credits per year and 1 free stay more than make up for this moderate fee. Plus, the sign-up bonus points can be put to use for free nights and upgrades worth way above that amount.
Like most cards, the sign-up bonus is only available to new cardmembers. If you’ve never used the card and want to maximize your ability to stay in style at Marriott hotels, then this is the card for you.
With extra benefits such as Silver status, a partnership with United, no foreign transaction fees, and the ability to earn additional Elite credits through spending, you will find this card very valuable if you travel with Marriott.
Bottom Line: The Marriott Premier card holds value with a free night each year, which is worth more than the annual fee of the card. It also gives Elite status and has additional benefits to boost value.