There is simply no other co-branded credit card that offers so many different offers on the same cards as Marriott does. Basically, you can pick from a variety of point offerings with different minimum spending requirements on the same Marriott card!
Read more: Sorting The Marriott Credit Cards – Which Is Best?
Marriott Cards Offering 80,000 Points
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When I wrote the post above, a reader e-mailed me to tell me about a targeted 80,000 point offer that he had received. Others wrote to tell me of that as well. Other than being able to find the terms and conditions page, I was unable to chase down a non-targeted landing page for the 80,000 point offer. However, that offer is now public and can be found at the link below.
The question still remains, though – which Marriott offer is best? If you are after straight Marriott points for a redemption, then these 80,000 point offers are the ones for you. But, if you would rather get an offer with the annual fee waived the first year and get a free night upon approval, then you may want to consider one of the other ones below.
[table “” not found /]Card Benefits
These cards carry the same earning and benefit structures as the other versions of the cards (with the exception of the annual fee and the free night upon account approval).
- 1 free night stay at a Category 1-5 hotel every year after your account anniversary
- 5 points for every $1 spent at over Marriott locations, including The Ritz-Carlton
- 2 points for every $1 spent at restaurants, car rental agencies and on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline, PLUS at office supply stores and for Internet, cable and phone service purchases
- 1 point for every $1 spent on purchases anywhere else
- 15 credits toward your next Elite membership level after account approval and every year after account anniversary (which essentially gives you Silver status as long as you hold the card)
- Earn 1 Elite credit for every $3,000 spent on purchases
Is The 80,000 Point Offer Worth It?
– Marriott Premier 80,000 Point Offer Link
– Marriott Business 80,000 Point Offer Link
This limited-time offering (expires August 31, 2015) of the 80,000 Marriott points on both the Premier (personal) card and the Business card does have a couple of differences from the regular offers at the 70,000 point level.
The new Marriott 80,000 Point offer – is it worth it?
Annual Fee Not Waived
To start with, the annual fee is not waived on these increased offers. So, you will be paying $85 for the Premier up front and $99 for the Business up front. You can look at it as paying $85/$99 for 10,000 Marriott points. Personally, I do not believe they are worth that much but if you have a redemption opportunity coming up and spending to get the 10,000 points is not something you are interested in at the moment, then paying for those points can be worth it.
No Category 1-4 Free Night Certificate With Welcome Bonus
In addition to that, the category 1-4 free night certificate that is available upon account approval on other Marriott offers is not offered on either the Premier or the Business offer for the 80,000 points. While there are not a lot of great hotels in the 1-4 range, it is still a free night! To lose that for 10,000 points is most likely not worth it to most customers. *Do not confuse this free night with the category 1-5 free night certificate that comes as you anniversary bonus each year you hold the card. That free night comes with all of these cards.
To put it into perspective, a category 4 night would cost 20,000 points or 15,000 points on a point saver night. You can have that night for free if you apply for the regular Marriott card offers since they give the free night certificate upon account opening. With the 80,000 point offer, you do not get that night so you are taking 10,000 points over that night (and paying the annual fee as well). *One thing to remember – if you have previously had the Marriott Premier or Business card before, you would not be eligible to receive the free night at a category 1-4 as part of the welcome bonus so this section would not apply to you.
Is It Worth it?
So, is it worth it? If you are desperately trying to rack up Marriott points for an upcoming redemption and those extra 10,000 points would be helpful to you, then it very well may be the best option for you. If you have previously had the Marriott card you are looking at applying for, then the category 1-4 night would not be available to you anyway so you are basically just looking at paying the annual fee in exchange for the 10,000 points.
Summary
Marriott and Chase have certainly given many options to their customers for which version of the same cards they want to apply for! If you want a statement credit and fewer points, its there! If you want the maximum points, that is there too. Choice is good and these cards certainly offer that. Now, it is up to you to decide if you want to add a Marriott card(s) to your wallet at this time.
HT: Doctor of Credit
if you would sm chase asking for 80 after applying for a 50 or 70 offer they would give you a challenge offer, if spent 3k in 3 months they would up you to 80k (if fall short they would give you the reg bonus) and you would still get free night and fee waived, i did this for me and my wife the past year no problems.
To me, the no brainer would be to get the 70k personal card with the waived AF and a free night (worth more than the 10k difference to the 80k offer).
Doh..looks like the 70k no-AF offer is dead…:(
I just saw that! It is a shame but hopefully something will come back soon (though Chase may like keeping the annual fee on it even after it drops down). Were you able to grab it before it disappeared?