Marriott credit cards

  American Express Credit Cards, Hotel Credit Cards

Amex Webpage Business Version Available

Annual Fee

$95-99, waived first year on SPG cards.

Typical Signup Offer

Typically 75,000 per card ($3,000 initial spend).

Bonus Categories

6x Marriott / SPG Purchases (≈4.2%)

2x Everywhere Else (≈1.4%)

4x Restaurants, Gas, Telecommunications, and Shipping with the business versions (≈2.8%)

No Foreign Transaction Fee

Both Chase and American Express issue credit cards for the new unified Marriott / SPG program. Each of these cards provides an annual free night certificate, which is the main reason to get the cards (along with their signup bonuses). In addition, having at least one of the cards can provide a significant boost (15 elite night credits) towards reaching higher level Marriott status.

Because there are several different cards, you can earn easily collect multiple free night certificates each year, and/or earn multiple signup bonuses. However, new rules from Chase and Amex restrict how many cards you can get, and how quickly you can get them

Jump to

• Marriott / SPG Card Options
• Signup Bonus
• Free Night Certificates
• Other Notable Benefits
• Additional Benefits with the SPG Luxury Card
• Bonus Categories

Marriott / SPG Credit Card Options

Changes Coming Soon

Marriott has renamed the unified Marriott and SPG rewards program to "Marriott Bonvoy". As a result of this change, Marriott is re-branding all the existing Marriott and SPG credit cards.

More importantly, two of the existing cards are going to close to new cardholders. As of February 13th, 2019, you will no longer be able to signup up for the (renamed) SPG Personal card or Marriott Business card. If you want either of these cards, you'll need to get them now. The Marriott business Card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, and both cards are subject to the additional signup restrictions spelled out below. If you are over 5/24 and eligible to get the SPG Card, we would recommend getting it, and its 75,000 Marriott point bonus, while you can.

To introduce the new branding, the signup offers will be increased to 100,000 points ($5,000 initial spend), starting on February 13th for the SPG cards (Business and Luxury) and February 28th for the Marriott card (Personal). If you want these cards, you should probably wait till then to apply.

There are a few other smaller changes coming. The annual fee on the (renamed) SPG Business card will rise to $125. The (renamed) SPG Luxury Card will get a $100 per stay credit (good for additional charges, but not the basic room rate) for every stay of two or more nights at Ritz Carlton or St. Regis hotels. Unfortunately, you'll need to use a special "rate code", which means you might pay more for the rooms than the credit is worth. The discontinued Ritz card's similar benefit is being modified to include St. Regis stays. Finally, the current and discontinued business cards will earn an extra free night certificate (35,000 point cap) with $60,000 of spending in a year.

There are five different credit cards that have valuable benefits and are available for new signups. In addition, there are a couple of recently available cards that are no longer available for new signups.

The four main cards have nearly identical features and benefits: these are the personal and business versions of the Amex SPG and Chase Marriott cards.

	SPG Personal card (Amex). Because it is issued from Amex, it has the advantage of not being affected by the Chase 5/24 rule. On the other hand, you can only earn the signup bonus once per lifetime. The card includes a few features that you don't get from the Marriott card: Boingo hot spot access and access to Amex offers. The card currently has a 75,000 point signup bonus ($3,000 initial spend), and is waiving the first year's $95 annual fee. Amex Webpage
	SPG Business Card. The business version is identical features to the personal version, except for a 4x point bonus reward rate on US restaurants, US gas stations, wireless telephone service and shipping. However, since you can easily earn more valuable bonus rewards with other cards, there is really no effective difference. This card currently has the same signup bonus as the personal card. Amex Webpage
	Marriott Premier Plus Card. We generally don't recommend getting this card. It is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so if you are already affected by that rule, you can't get it anyway. And, if you are still under the limit, we recommend that you sign up for some other card instead. Because you can't signup for both the personal version of the Amex card and the personal version of the Chase card, getting this card won't help you obtain additional free night certificates each year. The card currently has a 75,000 point signup offer, and a $95 annual fee. Chase Webpage. Alternative Webpage. There are some better signup offers available through referral fees. You can get 3 free nights certificates (capped at 35,000 points per night), or 2 free night certificates, plus a $200 statement credit, plus a waived first year annual fee. This last option is generally the most valuable option. Marriott is continuing to support the Marriott Premier card, which is no longer available for new sign-ups. Existing cardholders can either keep their card, or can upgrade to the new card, but can't have both versions.
	Marriott Premier Business Card. The business version of the Marriott card is not subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, and is much more interesting than the personal version. Like the business version of the SPG card, it offers 4x points on restaurants, gas, telecommunications services, and shipping. It currently has a 75,000 point signup bonus and a $99 annual fee. Chase Webpage

The premium SPG Luxury card adds a number of enhanced features, but comes with a much higher annual fee. In addition, Marriott continues to support the high-end Ritz Carlton card, but that card is not available for new signups, and is covered in its own guide.

SPG Luxury Card (Premium version). While this card has a $450 annual fee, it comes with a $300 credit for any Marriott / SPG purchases, easily lowering your out-of-pocket expense to $150 ($55 more than the other cards). For that, you'll get a more valuable free night certificate, automatic Gold status, and the opportunity to spend $75,000 per year to earn Platinum status. This card currently has the same signup bonus as the other SPG cards. Amex Webpage

Collecting the Signup Bonus

Marriott Points

Our base value for Marriott points is .7 cents per point. You can use them for hotel rooms, or transfer them to dozens of different frequent flyer programs to use for award tickets. How Much are Hotel Points Worth?

• It is worth signing up for these cards, just to collect their signup bonuses. The normal signup bonus for the base cards are 75,000 points, with higher offers sometimes available. 75,000 Marriott points is valued at over $500, and 100,000 Marriott points is valued at $700.
• You can only earn the signup bonus for the Amex cards once per lifetime. Amex won't let you qualify for a signup bonus, if you've had the same card before. However, targeted offers occasionally bypass this limitation, and allow you to earn the bonus for am Amex card that you've already had.
• The Chase Marriott cards are affected by the 5/24 rule. You won't be approved if you've gotten 5 or more cards (from all banks combined), in the past 24 months.Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule.
• Chase, Marriott, and Amex are working together to limit the total number of signup bonuses you can earn.
• You can't receive a bonus on the Marriott Premier Plus or the SPG Luxury card, if you've received a bonus on the other card in the last 24 months. If you want to use a 5/24 slot on the Marriott card, get it first, and then get the Luxury card 2 years later. Since most people will want to use their 5/24 slots on another card, they won't be affected by this rule.
• You can't receive a bonus on the Marriott Premier Plus or the SPG Personal card, if you still have the other card. If you want the Premier Plus, you'll need to get one card, wait a year, cancel, wait an extra 30 days, and apply for the other card. If, for some reason, you think you will be staying under the 5/24 limits, get the Chase card first, so that you are eligible for another signup bonus as soon as possible.
• If you are eligible for business cards, the rules are more complicated:
• You can only receive a bonus on the Marriott Business card or the SPG Luxury card, if you haven't received a bonus from the other card in the last 2 years.
• You can't receive the bonus on the Marriott Business card or the SPG Personal card, if you currently have the other card.

Official Signup Bonus Rules

• You can't receive the bonus on the Marriott Premier Plus card, if you had the SPG Personal card in the last 30 days; and you can't receive the bonus on the SPG personal card if you've had any of the Marriott Personal cards (including the discontinued ones) in the last 30 days. You'll need to cancel the standard card with one of the banks, to be eligible for a bonus from the other bank. There is no 24 month rule on getting the other card's bonus (however), but there are still rules on getting each card's bonus a second time.
• You can't receive the bonus on the Marriott Business card, if you had the SPG Personal card in the last 30 days. But, you can get the SPG Personal card, if you have the Marriott Business card. So, if you want both, make sure to get the Marriott Business card first. You won't be able to reapply for signup bonuses on the Marriott business card, unless you cancel (or never get) the SPG Personal card. As with the rule above, there is no 24 month rule between these cards.
• You can't receive the bonus on the SPG business card, if you have had one of the Marriott business card in the last 30 days. But, you can get the Marriott Premier Plus Business card, even if you have the SPG Business card. So, if you want both, make sure to get the SPG Business card first. As with the rules above, there is no 24 month rule between these cards.
• As long as you follow the timing rules, you can get the SPG Business card, followed by the Marriott Business card, followed by the SPG Personal card without a problem. But, if you do it in any other order, you'll need to cancel one of the cards first to be eligible for a signup bonus.
• You can't receive the signup bonus on the SPG Luxury card if you have the Ritz Carlton card. The Ritz Carlton card is not available for new signups.
• There are also some limitations to how often you can receive signup bonuses from some of these cards. These time limits only allow you to receive a bonus if it has been at least 24 months from the last signup or upgrade offer on some of the other cards, and you have not acquired those other cards in the last 90 days.
• You can't receive a bonus on either the personal version or the business version of the Marriott Premier / Permier Plus cards, if you've received a bonus on the SPG Luxury or Business cards in the last 24 months.
• You can't receive the bonus on the SPG Luxury card if you've received a bonus on either the Marriott personal or business cards in the last 24 months. But, the SPG Luxury card bonus is unaffected by the other SPG cards.
• You can't receive the bonus on the business version of the SPG Business card if you've received a bonus on the personal version of the Marriott card in the last 24 months. But there is no time limit between with the Marriott Business card or the SPG Luxury card.

Free Night Certificates

Each of these cards provides an annual free night certificate Marriott Free Night Certificates.

• Each certificate can only be used for hotel nights below a "points cap". For example, the certificate from most of these cards can only be used for a hotel night that would cost 35,000 points or less. That means that you can use it at one of the new Category 5 hotels during the standard season, or at one of the new Category 4 hotels during the peak season (once peak and off-peak peak pricing starts in 2019).

The current Marriott credit cards issue Category 1-5 certificates, not certificates based on a specific points cap. If you have one of these certificates, it will transition to a points-based certificate in August. It is still unclear whether it will be capped at 35,000 points (the points cost of the new Category 5 level) or at 25,000 points (the point cost of the current Category 5 level).

• The SPG Luxury card (and Ritz Carlton card) provide a more valuable certificate than the other cards. Its point cap is 50,000 points, which is good enough for a Category 6 hotel during the standard season, a Category 7 hotel during the non-peak season, and a Category 5 hotel during the peak season.
• You'll receive the certificate a month or two after each year's anniversary date. You don't receive one the first year you have the card (you get the signup bonus instead).
• If you are interested in additional certificates, you can sign up for multiple cards. However, if you want to also receive a signup bonus for each new card, you'll need to follow some restrictions.
• You can't receive the signup bonus on the Marriott Premier Plus card if you already have the SPG Personal card, and vise versa. Since the Marriott Premier Plus card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, most people will want to use their 5/24 slots on other cards, and stick with the SPG Personal card. Otherwise, you can get the Marriott card, cancel it after one year, get the SPG card, cancel it after one year, and get the Marriott card again.
• You can't receive the signup bonus on the SPG Business card, if you already have the Marriott Business card; and you can't receive the signup bonus on the Marriott Business card, if you already have the Amex Personal card. So, if you are eligible for business cards, get the SPG Business card first, followed by the Marriott business card, followed by the SPG Personal card. However, you'll have to invest some time, as you can't get the bonus on the Marriott Business card, if you've received the bonus from the SPG Business card (or Luxury card) in the last 24 months.
• You can receive the bonus on the SPG Luxury card regardless of the other cards you have (other than the discontinued Ritz card). But, you'll need to wait 2 years after receiving a bonus on the Marriott personal and business cards (and you can't get the bonus on the Marriott cards until 2 years after getting the Luxury card).

Other Notable Benefits

• Silver elite status. Silver status entitles you to a measly 10% bonus points on stays, and priority late checkout (upon availability).

If you spend at least $35,000 per year ($30,000 in 2018), you'll get Gold status. However this only provides 2pm priority late checkout (upon availability), a 25% bonus points per stay, plus a per-brand point bonus, and an enhanced room upgrade (upon availability).

Since Gold status doesn't provide breakfast, lounge access, or much possibility of a significant room upgrade, we wouldn't get any of these cards for their hotel status benefit. And we wouldn't recommend spending $30-35,000 on the cards, rather than earning higher rewards by using a different card, to upgrade to Gold status.

• 15 elite night credits. Starting in 2019, having any one of these cards entitles you to 15 credit towards qualifying for elite status. For example, you'd only need 10 additional nights to reach Gold status, and 35 nights to reach Platinum status. You can only earn one set of credits per account—it is not possible to combine the elite night credits from multiple cards.

You can also earn 1 elite night credit for every $3,000 you spend on the older Marriott Premier card (not available for no signups). This ability continues into the future, if you have and hold onto these older cards, but it was not something we ever recommended, unless you are very close to a higher level status. The opportunity of every $3,000 worth of each elite night credit is about $30.

• Premium in-room access At participating properties.

In addition, the Amex cards provide the following benefits.

• Boingo hotspot access. Free access to over a million Boingo hotspots around the world. Boingo website.
• Access to Amex Offers. Amex continuously provides discount offers to their cardholders. Most of the offers are in the form of "Spend $x, get $y back", but other offers are in the form of "x% off your entire order" or "Earn an extra Membership Reward point on your purchases". To take advantage of the offers, you need to go to the Amex website, find the ones you are interested in, and "add them" to your card. Each offer will then be automatically applied when you use your card to make the corresponding purchase. Amex Offers Website.
• Free ShopRunner membership. As with all Amex cards, you are entitled to a complimentary ShopRunner membership, which provides free two-day and return shipping from around 150 of the largest online retailers. ShopRunner Website
• Exclusive access to entertainment events. Amex sponsors cardmember-only events around the country and also provides early ticket access for some other shows.

Additional Benefits with the SPG Luxury Card

If you decide to spend an extra $355 per year for the premium SPG credit card, you'll get a collection of valuable additional benefits.

• Annual $300 Marriott / SPG credit.. The first $300 you spend every year at Marriott and SPG hotels are taken off your credit card bill. As long as you are spending at least $300 with the program over the course of the year, this brings the out-of-pocket expense of the Luxury card down to $150. The question then becomes whether the other unique benefits are worth the extra $55 per year (compared to the other cards). This credit works on your cardholder year, so you can't use two credits during the first year you have the card.
• Annual 50,000 point hotel certificate, rather than a 35,000 point certificate.
• Gold Elite Status, rather than Silver. Unlike the other cards, you'll get Gold status, without any spending requirement. The new Gold status isn't worth that much, but it is better than nothing, and it certainly isn't worth putting enough spending on the other cards to earn it.
• Platinum Elite Status, if you spend $75,000 per year. Platinum status comes with free breakfast, lounge access, and the possibility of an upgrade to a suite. Assuming you have some way of generating this much spend, don't have a chance to earn status with 35 nights, still spend a bunch of nights at the program's hotels, and highly value these benefits, it might be worthwhile. You'd probably be giving up about $750 - $1,000 in lost rewards (or payment service fees) to qualify, but well-timed status can last for over two years.
• Airport lounge access. Like the other premium cards, a get a Priority Pass membership that provides free access to over a thousand airport lounges and restaurants. With this card, you can bring in up to two travelling companions. Get Free Airport Lounge Access from a Credit Card
• $100 TSA fee credit. Every 4 years, you can receive an automatic reimbursement of your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee (up to $100).
• 3x points with airlines and US Restaurants. This reward rate is too low to add any value.

Even assuming you don't need the Priority Pass membership or TSA Credit, we think that the minor benefits of Gold status, combined with the more valuable free night certificate, are probably worth the extra $55. For example, we would value 15,000 points at $110. But, it isn't by much, and there is some chance that you won't get full value from the $300 hotel credit. All things considered, it is a bit of a toss-up whether you'd choose to keep this card, versus (or in addition to) one of the other cards.

If you do value the Priority Pass membership and spend a few nights a year at Marriott or SPG, the card is almost certainly worthwhile.

Bonus Categories

• These cards earns more valuable rewards on your Marriott and SPG purchases than almost any other card. 6x points are valued at 4.2 cents per dollar, which is better than any card except the Chase Sapphire Reserve and probably the Citi Premier and Prestige Cards.Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
• The business cards earn 4x points in a variety of categories, but you can earn more valuable rewards from other cards. They earn bonus points at US Restaurants, US Gas stations and for wireless telephone and shipping purchases. 4x points is valued at 2.8 cents per dollar. This is probably better than what you can earn from your general purpose reward card, but not as good as what you could get from cards that offer good bonus rewards for these categories.
Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spending.
Best Credit Cards for Gas Spending.
Credit Cards that Offer Bonus Rewards on Less Common Categories.
• You don't want to use these cards for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.

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