With the end of August coming rapidly (and with it the start of school and the beautiful fall season) also comes the end of some increased offers and bonuses. Is this particular offer worth applying for right now?
The Quandary Of Applying For The 80,000 Point Marriott Offer
The Old vs New
One of those offers is the Marriott Rewards Premier card at 80,000 points. That is the highest it has been but it does come with some downsides. The previous high that had been around for quite was 70,000 points. So this is giving customers an extra 10,000 points – how can that be bad?! 🙂
The Bad Part About The Current Offer
The bad part is that the 80,000 point offer has eliminated the free Category 1-4 night upon account approval (no spending necessary). A category 4 hotel costs 20,000 points so that is like losing another 20,000 points. The current offer also eliminated the waiver on the annual fee for the first year. The annual fee is $85 so you are essentially paying $85 for the extra 10,000 points of this new offer.
I wrote a few months ago about the various offers available all at once on the Marriott Rewards Premier card – the same card but multiple offers depending on the link you used. The “public” offer was for 50,000 points but 70,000 point offers were all over as well as well as 40,000 point offers that also had a statement credit.
Unfortunately, Chase decided to do some housecleaning on those backdoor links and shut them down. That means that the current 80,000 point offer is the only game in town, right now. That offer expires August 31.
The New Standard Offer?
My best guess would be that we will see the 50,000 point offer coming back as the standard offer. I am also fairly certain that the annual fee will go back to being waived for the first year. What I don’t know is whether the free night at a Category 1-4 will make a reappearance. That has only ever been available for new customers anyway so if you have held this card before, it won’t make a difference to you.
Should You Get It?
So, if you have had the Marriott Rewards Premier card in the past, it comes down to this – do you mind paying $85 for at least 10,000 points (which may be as high as 30,000 extra points depending on the new offer) over the regular offer? While I do not value Marriott points as highly as Hyatt points (even though they are both 1:1 transfer partners from Ultimate Rewards), they still have some good value. Especially since you can take advantage of transfer offers like this one from United to get United miles at a decent value.
If you have been on the fence about it, it is hard to know whether to take the plunge. Chase is very good about matching to a better offer if you applied within the last 90 days. The problem is that Chase will not consider 70,000 points, fee waived, and free night a better offer – if they do indeed bring that one back.
If you want as many Marriott points as you can get, then I would think about applying before Thursday. If you have never had the card before, you may want to wait to see if the new standard offer brings back the free night upon approval.
Disclosure: I do not have direct referral links to these cards. If you decide this is right for you, you could help support the site by clicking the links on this page here and applying for it through them.
