Credit Card to Consider: Marriott Rewards Card With 70K Points

Sometimes with all of the published offers with credit card applications, some of the more behind the scenes cards and offers can get lost in the noise. So, I want to highlight some of these cards as credit cards to consider. I definitely think they should be strongly considered and I will tell you why in each post.

Credit Card to Consider: Marriott Rewards Card with 70K Points

Disclosure: I do not receive a commission for this card.

Application Link – Chase Marriott Rewards Card – 70,000 points after spending $1,000 in 3 months 

This offer is around from time to time. Most of the public offers you will see are at 50,000 points or less. Obviously, a card that gives 70,000 points as a sign-up is a pretty decent one! It has been a number of years since I have held this card but my dad and mom have held this card for many years. Here is what it has to offer:

• 70,000 Marriott Reward points after spending $1,000 in 3 months
• 5 points per dollar spent at Marriotts
• 2 points per dollar spent on airfare purchased directly from the airline and car rentals and restaurants
• 1 point per dollar on everything else
• 15 elite credits towards status (only 10 needed for Marriott Silver)
• 1 free night stay at a category 1 – 4 with account approval
• 1 free night stay at a category 1 – 5 every anniversary
• No foreign transaction fee
• $0 annual fee for the first year and $85 after

Value

Marriott has 9 award categories and then another 5 award tiers for Ritz-Carlton hotels. The lowest award category redemption requires 7,500 points for regular awards and 6,000 points for pointsaver hotels. Using the sign-up bonus would give almost 10 free nights at a category 1! The top Marriott tier requires 45,000 points for regular awards and 40,000 points for pointsavers. So, the sign-up bonus would give you 1 free night at a top-tier and another night at a category 5.

A Category 1 hotel – TownePlace Suites Dayton North

A Category 9 hotel – Vail Marriott Mountain Resort

What I Like

Obviously, I love the bonus! 70,000 points is a great bonus and incentive to get the card. I also love the free night upon approval and the annual free night. That they had bumped it up to a category 5 opens up a lot more, upscale hotels. Also, Silver status is at least helpful for certain circumstances when staying at Marriotts. Finally, I am glad to see a hotel card that has no foreign transaction fees so you can use it at Marriott hotels anywhere in the world.

The reason I had mentioned above that I no longer have the card is that I had traded the credit line in a number of years ago when I had applied for a different Chase card. I would love to get the card again, even without the sign-up bonus, but the anniversary night is not enough to make me use a Chase application on a card that I cannot get the bonus for (since I have had it before).

What I Don’t Like

Like most hotel cards, this card offers zero incentive for daily use. That it offers 2 points per dollar on certain travel purchase and restaurants simply puts it in line with the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s category bonuses. With the Sapphire Preferred, you are at least getting a 7% bonus on the points earned. Not only that, but you can transfer UR points into Marriott. So, Chase has offered nothing to encourage customers that have other Chase cards to use this card for everyday use.

Get It or No?

I would definitely advise that you apply for this card. One of the chief reasons I encourage it is because Marriott is a partner of Ultimate Rewards. To me, one of the worst uses of Ultimate Reward points is to transfer to Marriott. That is because in many (high-end) circumstance, you would be better off using your Ultimate Reward points to pay for a stay at a Marriott (using the points at a value of 1.25 cents per point) than using them to stay on an award. The highest category Marriott would require you to transfer 45,000 Ultimate Reward points to Marriott for a stay while it would only take 30,000 Ultimate Reward points to transfer to Hyatt for their top category.

Another reason to get this card is that there are a lot of Marriotts all over the world. With their immense network of hotels, you can always find a Marriott to stay at. Also, you could use it for one of the best Marriott race redemptions around – the Boston Marriott Copley Place. It is only .3 miles away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon so you would have the perfect hotel!