Chase has introduced temporary benefits on more of its credit cards.  In a recent post, we covered Chase Sapphire series, Ink series, and Freedom series.  Now select cardmembers will receive the following category bonuses between 11/1/2020 and 12/31/2020; you need to activate the offer through a link in the promotional email or at chase.com/mybonus directly.

• 5x miles/points on Amazon.com and groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for United Airlines cards, Southwest RapidRewards cards, Brith Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, Marriott Bonvoy cards, and Ritz-Carlton cards.
• 5x points on Amazon.com and 3x on groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for Hyatt cards and IHG Rewards cards.
• 10x points on Marriott portfolio hotels, up to $3,500 spent per month, for Marriott Bonvoy cards and Ritz-Carlton cards.

In addition, not from Chase or Amex, the following hotel program policies are recently announced:

• Marriott: annual free night certificates expiring before 12/11/2020 will be valid until 1/31/2021, and those expiring between 12/11/2020 and 7/31/2021 will be valid until 8/1/2021.  These cards earn annual free night certificates: Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, and those Marriott/Ritz-Cartlton/SPG cobranded cards issued by Chase or Amex that are no longer accepting new applications.
• Hyatt: annual free night certificates with an expiration date between 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2021 will be valid until 12/31/2021.  Chase World of Hyatt Visa and Hyatt Visa earn annual free night certificates.

Finally, to track all the COVID-19 related temporary credit card benefits, please visit our featured review which has been under continuous update with the most recent updates highlighted in cardinal.

In response to Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa's crazily lucrative five free 50K-nights offer, Amex has also brought us very impressive offers for both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card:

• For the 2021 calendar year, enjoy free Marriott Platinum Elite status, the second top tier elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy program, normally achieved by staying at least 50 nights per year and offering lounge access/free breakfasts, upgrades to a suite, and other perks. 
• Earn 100,000 points when you spend at least $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening for either card.
• Earn additional 25,000 points upon your first anniversary when you renew your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card.  The annual fee is $450 but after considering the annual $300 Marriott credit becomes $150 effectively.  The card offers a free 50K-night upon each anniversary, which can easily negate the effective annual fee.
• Earn up to $150 in statement credits for select U.S. advertising purchases within the first 6 months with your Marriott Bonvoy Business Card, which carries a $125 annual fee and offers a free 35K-night upon each anniversary.

Considering how lucrative Marriott Platinum status could be, we judge these as the best signup bonuses ever for both cards.  The only concern is obviously your travel plan during this pandemic.

Chase has brought us an amazing signup offer for Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature:

• When you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, you will earn five free nights at Marriott International portfolio hotels worldwide, each capped at 50,000 points redemption level. 
• The free night certificates expire 12 months after issuance. 
• The potential maximum value for this signup bonus is 250,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, compared to the previous signup bonus of 100,000 points.  This is easily the best offer ever for this card, and probably also better than any of the previous offers from Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Starwood credit cards. 
• The downside of free night certificate compared to outright points bonus includes: (1) the free nights will have the best value when redeemed at hotels that require exactly or at least close to 50,000 points per night, which represent a subset of Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, while Marriott Bonvoy points can be redeemed at any Marriott portfolio hotels at different redemption levels; (2) free night certificates expire after 12 months of issuance and there is no way to extend them after expiration dates (except for COVID-19 related measures), while Marriott points expire after 24 months of account inactivity and any qualifying activity will keep all points active for another 24 months; (3) Marriott points can also be transferred to frequent flyer miles of 44 partners, and in our book this feature actually represents better value than hotel redemption (currently 0.75 cent per point vs. 0.6 cent for hotels).  Partners such as American, United, Alaska, Delta, Southwest, British, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Japan, Air Canada, ANA, Avianca, Singapore, Turkish, Korean, Flying Blue, Etihad, all have their own unique strength and value;  (4) you can redeem these free nights separately at different hotels or at the same hotels for different stays, but if you decide to redeem them for a five-night stay at the same hotel, keep in mind that Marriott allows you to pay for 4 nights using points and get the 5th night for free - in this way the five free nights will represent value of 200,000 points instead of 250,000 points as previously discussed.
• Of course, it is up to you to decide which hotel(s) you want to redeem these free nights.  Here we would like to give some ideas to maximize the value of these free nights.  The following is Marriott Bonvoy's current hotel redemption chart, and obviously better value could be found at Category-6 hotels requiring 50,000 points for standard redemption rate, Category-7 hotels requiring 50,000 points for off-peak rate, and Category-5 hotels requiring 40,000 points for peak rate, as circled in red.

COVID-19 pandemic has obviously changed consumer behavior big time, and it makes sense that credit card issuers are making adjustments accordingly.  This post summarizes these adjustments from Amex, Chase, and Citi.

American Express

• For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Platinum Card (personal): up to $320 in statement credits on select U.S. streaming services and U.S. wireless phone services (up to $20 per category per month, from May through December 2020); cardmembers that renew between April and December 2020 will receive $200 in statement credits for Amex Travel (Amex's travel booking portal, from August 2020 to December 2021).
• Business Platinum Card: up to $320 in statement credits on wireless phone services and U.S. shipping (up to $20 per category per month, from May to December 2020); up to additional $200 in statement credits on Dell purchases in U.S. (up to $100 from 5/1/2020 to 6/30/2020; up to $100 from 7/1/2020 to 12/31/2020) - this is on top of the $200 Dell credits that are already part of this card's benefits; select cardmembers will also receive a $200 credit when they renew between May and November 2020.
• Green Card: up to $80 in statement credits on U.S. wireless phone services (up to $10 per month, from May through December 2020).
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card: earn 6x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020); $300 Marriott statement credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020).
• Marriott Bonvoy Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $59 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
• Hilton Aspire Card & Hilton Surpass Card: earn 12x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020; bonus points earned through these credit cards from May to December 2020 will be considered base points for determining Hilton elite status; unexpired free weekend night certificates as of 5/1/2020 and newer certificates issued until 12/31/2020, will be valid for any night of the week, and those issued between 5/1/2020 and 12/31/2020 will be valid for 24 months (instead of 12 months); in addition, Hilton Aspire's $250 Hilton resort credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020.
• Hilton Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $50 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve, SkyMiles Platinum, SkyMiles Gold, SkyMiles Blue cards: earn 4x miles on U.S. supermarkets, from May through July 2020; select Business SkyMiles Reserve cardmembers will receive a $125 credit when they renew between May and December 2020; select Business SkyMiles Platinum cardmembers will also receive a $75 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.

Chase

• For those who open a new credit card (personal or small business) from January through March 2020, the period to meet spending requirements to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Sapphire Reserve Card: annual fees will be reduced from $550 to $450 for those who renew the card from 4/1/2020 through 7/31/2020; earn 5x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchases per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
• United Club Infinite Card, United Club Card, United Presidential Plus Card: earn 5x miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Bonvoy Bold, Marriott Rewards Premier: earn 6x points on groceries, up to $6,000 in purchase, from 5/1/2020 through 7/31/2020.
• The following cards will earn 3 points or miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020: Sapphire Preferred Card, United Explorer Card, United MileagePlus Select Card, Southwest RapidRewards (RR) Plus Visa, Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Priority Visa, British Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, World of Hyatt Visa, Hyatt Visa, IHG Rewards Club Premier WEMC, IHG Rewards Club Select MasterCard, and Disney Premier Visa.

Citi

• For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Citi Prestige: the annual $250 travel credits can now be used towards groceries and dining, from May to December 2020.
• Citi AA Executive: cardholders that renew after 3/31/2020 will receive a $225 statement credit, which equals to half of the annual fee.
• Citi AA Platinum Select: the annual $125 flight discount certificates (after $20K annual spending) that are expiring between 3/31/2020 and 5/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.
• CitiBusiness AA Platinum Select: the annual $99 companion certificates (after $30K annual spending) that are expiring on 12/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.

After Citi's September overhaul and Barclay's November overhaul of their credit card protection benefits, Amex will also have some major changes coming on January 1, 2020.  Here are the breakdowns of the upcoming changes.

• Trip Cancellation & Interruption: added to Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.  This covers trips cancelled or interrupted due to weather, terrorism, sudden illness or injury, jury duty, up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per year.  In addition to tickets paid entirely with an Amex card, awards tickets and Pay with Points tickets are covered as well.
• Trip Delay: added to Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, for flight delays more than 6 hours, up to $500 per ticket.  Also added to Gold Card (personal and business), Green Card, and Delta Platinum (personal and business), for flight delays more than 12 hours, up to $300 per ticket.  In addition to tickets paid entirely with an Amex card, awards tickets and Pay with Points tickets are covered as well.
• Travel Accident Insurance: removed from all cards!
• Roadside Assistance: removed from all cards!  For most cards it is not big deal, as the benefit only dispatches a service provider and you still have to pay for the service.  However, certain premium Amex cards such as Platinum Card (personal and business), Gold Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant currently offer Premium Roadside Assistance which covers towing up to 10 miles and other incidentals for free, for up to 4 times per year, and this benefit will be gone as well!  Many cardholders including myself, actually use the Premium Roadside Assistance in lieu of AAA's basic plan, and in 2020 they have to look into alternatives such as Chase Sapphire Reserve (which unfortunately only covers up to $50 per use) or start paying AAA once again.
• Return Protection: removed from all cards except for Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Blue Cash Preferred, EveryDay Preferred, and Plum Card (business).
• Extended Warranty: coverage will be reduced from two years of extended warranty down to one year.  Remember Amex actually just increased the coverage from one year to two years back in August 2018, and in 2020 the only card issuer that continue to offer two years of extended warranty is Citi (and only for certain cards).  What is more, this benefit will be removed entirely for EveryDay Card, Blue Card, Blue Cash Card, and Cash Magnet.
• Purchase Protection: coverage will be reduced from 120 days back to 90 days.  The same story here - Amex just increased the coverage from 90 days to 120 days in August 2018.  The coverage usually covers only theft or damage, up to $1,000 per item and $50,000 per year, but Amex will add accidental loss and increase the per item limit to $10,000 for Platinum Card (personal and business), Gold Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. 

Overall, the changes are mixed - some gain and some loss - but not as bad as Citi's drastic devaluation.  The cards that benefit from the changes are probably limited to those with an annual fee at least $450 - Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant; the rest of the cards are generally considered to receive reduced coverage.  We think most cardholders will be unhappy about the changes.  We will update our Protection page once these changes kick in.

There are quite a few updates on the website in the recent weeks, and here is a quick roundup.

• Chase Southwest Performance Business Visa write-up is up - please see the Chase Southwest Visa Cards review for details.  The impressive 80K points signup will get you really close to the 110K-point qualifying threshold to achieve the potentially extremely lucrative Southwest Companion Pass which allows you take a companion for free for a year.
• Amex Blue Business Cash review is up - this card is no the new benchmark for general business spending with a strait 2% cashback on everything up to $50K spent per year and no annual fees.  If you can leverage Membership Rewards' miles transfer feature to achieve a points value higher than 1 cent a piece (1.5 cents in our book), you'd better off with the old "King of Business Cards" Amex Blue Business Plus; however, for most business owners, Blue Business Cash is a much easier option to get $1,000 in rewards per year.
• U.S. Bank Business Cash WEMC review is up.  Its 3.75% & 1.25% cash rewards structure is nothing to write about, but the $500 signup bonus is worth looking into.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa review is up.  If you can take advantage of the annual free night capped at 35K redemption level, the $95 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa is actually a better card to apply and keep.
• Chase United Explorer Business Visa is offering up to 100,000 miles at signup.  Before get too excited, you have to know that this comes with a rather difficult spending requirement of $25K within 6 months of new account opening.  Even with the devaluation of United miles in the coming November, due to the fact that partner redemption will be kept the same, this signup offer (worth $1,250 in our book) still tops our chart of best signup bonuses.
• Chase IHG Premier MasterCard offers the historical high - 125K points & $50 statement credit & 15 extra points for IHG purchase for the first year & 2 extra points for other general spending for the first year.  However, due to the relative low value of IHG points, this signup offer is worth about $460 in our book.
• Amex Hilton Ascend has been rebranded back to Amex Hilton Surpass, and nothing else changed.  It still comes with 130K Hilton points at signup (worth $425 in our book), complimentary Hilton Gold status, and an annual free weekend night after $15K spending.
• Amex Platinum Card offers 75K Membership Rewards at signup now.  It is very decent offer for those who are also interested in the iconic card's Fine Hotels & Resorts program, arguably the best airport lounge program offered by a credit card, Hilton Gold status, Uber & Saks credits, 5x points on airfare, etc.

This week we have seen some elevated signup bonuses on a few credit cards (our value for the bonus minus first year annual fee is for your reference - your valuation may vary):

• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles personal card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 60,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Mile) - our value $650
• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles business card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 70,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $750
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles personal card ($195 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $705 (historical high) 
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles business card ($195 annual fee): 80,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $755 (historical high)
• Amex Delta Reserve personal card ($450 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $350 (historical high)
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa ($95 annual fee): 100,000 points - our value $655 (historical high)
• Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier MasterCard ($89 annual fee): 120,000 points - our value ($390 (historical high) 

With the new name for the world's largest loyalty program unveiled, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card is finally rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.  Everything remains the same but the name - including (1) the $450 annual fee, (2) 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, (3) annual $300 credits at any Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, (4) an annual free night at Marriott portfolio hotels or resorts with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less, (5) annual 15 night credits towards Marriott elite status,  (6) free Marriott Gold status and upgrade to Marriott Platinum status after $75K annual spending, and (7) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited airport lounge access for you plus two guests.

At the same time, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express is rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.  The only thing that changes other than the name is the annual fee - increased from $95 to $125 and NOT waived for the first year any more.  However, if you apply before  3/28/19, you will continue to receive the first annual fee waiver and your annual fee after the first year will be grandfathered in at $95.  You will also receive 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months.  If you have been thinking about applying for this card, you probably want to do it before March 28.

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Luxury Card is finally here, with a 100K signup bonus.  Our review is now alive.  The card is totally worth keeping after the first year thanks to the annual $300 Marriott credits and the free night capped at 50K points level.  For your information, the new Marriott program has 8 redemption categories, and 50K points are required for a Category 6 standard awards night.  We have also updated the High-end Credit Card Comparison, as well as quite a few related reviews.

The Facts

• Annual Fee: $450
• Signup Bonus: 100,000 points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  The welcome offer is not available to applicants who have or have had this card.  Effective 8/26/18, welcome offer is not available to applicants who (i) have or have had JP Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card, Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card, or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a welcome or upgrade offer for Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card, Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card, or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card in the last 24 months.  Historical best bonus: 100,000 points since introduced in August 2018.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 6x Marriott portfolio hotels, 3x U.S. restaurants and airfare, and 2x everywhere else.
• Best Use of Marriott points:  (1) You may redeem points for hotel stays or upgrades at over 6,500 Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, including Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, JW Marriott, EDITION, W Hotels, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, AC Hotels, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, Protea, Moxy, Four Points, element, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club.  (2) You may transfer points into airline miles of 30+ frequent flyer programs, mostly at 3:1 ratio.  If you transfer 60,000 points in a bulk you will get 5,000 miles as a bonus (60K points = 25 miles).  Please see our review on Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR for details of the programs that allow frequent flyer miles transfer.  (3) You may also redeem points for Marriott Hotel+Air Travel Packages - you exchange a certain number of Marriott points for a certain number of frequent flyer miles plus a 7-night certificate for a Marriott portfolio hotel at a certain redemption level.  Generally, the new Travel Packages represent devaluation from the old Travel Packages before August 2018 - you save some points when use this option, but in our opinion most of the time the saving is not big enough for the hassle of finding a single hotel to stay seven nights in a row.
• Marriott Benefits: (1) Annual $300 statement credits towards purchases at Marriott portfolio hotels each membership year.  (2) An annual free night at any Marriott portfolio hotels with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less upon each cardmember anniversary after you renew the card (the e-certificate expires 12 months after issuance).  (3) Complimentary Marriott Gold Elite status, the third tier status in the combined Marriott loyalty program effective August 2018.  Normally achieved by staying at least 25 nights per year, Marriott Gold doesn't offer much but at least is better than nothing.  (4) Upgrade to Marriott Platinum Elite status, the second tier status, after you spend at least $75,000 in a calendar year.  Marriott Platinum, normally achieved by staying at least 50 nights per year and offering lounge access/free breakfasts and upgrades to a suite, is the real deal; however, spending $75K is quite a requirement.  (5) Coming 2019, 15 night credits toward elite status each calendar year.  (6) Free premium internet access at Marriott portfolio hotels.
• Other Benefits: (1) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide for you plus two guests. (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees every four years.  (3) Waived foreign transaction fees, with an embedded EMV chip.  (4) Amex 24/7 Concierge Service.  (5) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit or earn bonus points on select merchants when using your Amex card; you need to manually add an offer to your Amex card to be eligible for savings or bonus, and unlike other savings/bonus programs, you don't need to shop through a certain portal.  (6) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants.  (7) Entertainment Access including American Express Presale, American Express Preferred Seating, and Premium Access (dining access).  (8) Unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi plan.  (9) Premium Roadside Assistance - while most credit card's roadside assistance service only dispatches a provider and you have to pay for the actual charge, Amex Hilton Aspire is among the very few cards that cover towing up to 10 miles and other incidental charges, up to 4 times in a calendar year, regardless of how far you are away from home.
• History: with the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs in August 2018, Amex introduced the SPG Luxury Card as the flagship credit card in the combined loyalty program.

The Math

First of all, the effective annual fee of Amex SPG Luxury Card is very reasonable at $150 after considering the easy-to-use $300 annual Marriott credits.  With that, you receive several valuable perks including the 50k-point free night, 15 elite qualifying night credits, and Priority Pass Select membership.

Even though Marriott points are probably our favorite frequent traveler currency (thanks to Marriott's decision of keeping SPG's best feature), the earning rate of 2x points in the general spending category offered by this card (as well as any other Marriott credit cards) is not that impressive, especially compared to the old Amex SPG which technically returned 3x Marriott points for general spending.  Our current valuation of Marriott points is 0.75 cent a piece, which means that this card returns 1.5%, 2.3%, 4.5% travel rewards for the 2x, 3x, and 6x categories, respectively.  For general spending, you might want to consider a 2% cashback card without annual fees (such as Citi Double Cash) or a miles credit card with potential higher return such as Amex EveryDay Preferred (which returns 2.25% travel rewards when you have at least 30 transactions per month) and Chase Freedom Unlimited (which returns 2.25% travel rewards when you pair it with Chase Sapphire Reserve or similar premium UR cards).  The bottom line is that we won't recommend this card for spending, probably except for purchases at Marriott hotels.  In this way, this card is considered a great "drawer card".  How about spending $75K to get the lucrative Marriott Platinum status?  Let's use 2% cashback as the benchmark - your "complimentary" Marriott Platinum essentially costs you $75,000 x (2% -1.5%), i.e., $375 per year.  This may be reasonable for some travelers but probably not for most.

​Amex SPG Luxury vs. Amex SPG: the effective annual fee on the SPG Luxury Card is only $55 more than the lower-tier SPG Card.  With that, you get a 50K-point free night instead of a 35K-point free night, Marriott Gold for free instead of spending $35K, the potential Marriott Platinum after $75K spending, as well as Priority Pass Select membership, Premium Roadside Assistance, etc.  It is almost a no-brainer to pick the more expensive card as long as you stay at least a few nights at Marriott portfolio hotels.

Amex SPG Luxury vs. Amex Hilton Aspire: As the flagship credit card in each of their program, each card carries a $450 annual fee and offers complimentary Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited access for you plus two.  How do they compete with each other?  Let's first compare the annual statement credits - SPG Luxury offers $300 for any Marriott portfolio hotel purchases, while Hilton Aspire offers $250 for airline incidentals plus $250 for Hilton portfolio resorts; obviously, SPG's credits are easier to use, but Hilton's total credits are $200 more - considering both the absolute value and how easy to use, we call it a draw.  Secondly, let's look at the annual free nights - Hilton Aspire wins this one as the annual free weekend night can be redeemed at any Hilton portfolio hotels, while SPG Luxury's free night is capped at 50K-point properties (a top-tier hotel requires 70K-100K).  Thirdly, Hilton Aspire's complimentary Diamond status again blows SPG Luxury's complimentary Gold status out of water.  Marriott Platinum status will be a good match of Hilton Diamond status, but it does require a whooping $75K annual spending on the card.  Lastly, while we don't recommend either card for general spending, charging the hotel purchases to either card does make sense and the value actually compares well - Hilton Aspire's 14x points (5.6% cash equivalent return in our book) vs. SPG Luxury 6x points (4.5% in our book and offering more flexibility due to the valuable airline miles transfer).  In general, Amex Hilton Aspire packs more value in our opinion, but which to pick actually heavily depends on which frequent guest program you are more loyal to.

To see how Amex SPG Luxury Card competes with other cards with similar annual fees, please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex SPG Luxury, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United MP Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, CNB Crystal, and MasterCard Black Card.

The Conclusion
Amex SPG Luxury, with the annual $300 Marriott credits and the anniversary free night, is such a great card to keep without ever spending a dime on, even for travelers that only stay at Marriott portfolio hotels just a few times a year.  For travelers that frequent Marriott, this card's 6x points on Marriott purchases, 15 elite qualifying night credits, and the potential Marriott Platinum after $75K spending, are all worth looking into.  It is currently rated as one of Best Credit Cards for Perks.

With the final integration of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programs, we have updated our Featured Review: Marriott Rewards vs. Membership Rewards (MR) vs. Ultimate Rewards (UR) vs. ThankYou (TY) vs. Club Rewards (CR).

In this review we will compare five most popular and versatile rewards programs in the market.  They are similar in that their points can be transferred into miles/points of a number of frequent traveler programs (airlines/hotels).

Marriott Rewards
Marriott Rewards is the frequent guest program of Marriott International whose hotel portfolio includes Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, JW Marriott, EDITION, W Hotels, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, AC Hotels, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, Protea, Moxy, Four Points, element, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club.  Marriott points can be valuable when redeemed for hotel stays in Marriott portfolio hotels.  Here we don't want to go into details of hotel redemption, please visit marriott.com for more information.

Marriott points can be extremely valuable when transferred into miles of 40+ frequent flyer programs, mostly at 3:1 ratio.  This ratio may seem low compared to other programs, but you have to understand this essentially represents the same value as the old Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points which transfer to airline miles at 1:1 and to Marriott points at 1:3 before the final integration of Marriott Rewards and SPG programs.  In fact, with the merger, the number of airline partners actually further increased from 34 to 44.  As Marriott points are generally obtained more easily than the points in the other programs in this review, they do continue to represent great value.

• Aegean Airlines Miles+Bonus (3:1)
• Aeroflot Bonus (3:1)
• Aeromexico Club Premier (3:1)
• Air Canada Aeroplan (3:1)
• Air China Phoenix Miles (3:1)
• Air New Zealand Airpoints (200:1)
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (3:1)
• Alitalia MilleMiglia (3:1)
• All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (3:1)
• American Airlines AAdvantage (3:1)
• Asiana Airlines Asiana Club (3:1)
• Avianca LifeMiles (3:1)
• British Airways Executive Club (3:1) 
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (3:1)
• China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles (3:1)
• China Southern Airlines Skypearl Club (3:1) 
• Copa Airlines ConnectMiles (3:1)                                                                                             
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (3:1)
• Emirates Skywards (3:1)
• Etihad Guest (3:1)      
• Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns (3:1)                                                                            
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (3:1)     
• Hainan Airlines (3:1)                                                            
• Hawaiian Airlines (3:1)
• Iberia Plus (3:1)
• Japan Airlines Mileage Bank (3:1)
• Jet Airways JetPrivilege (3:1)
• JetBlue TrueBlue (6:1)
• Korean Air SkyPass (3:1)
• LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass (3:1)
• Miles and More (3:1)
• Multiplus (3:1)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer (3:1)
• Qatar Airways (3:1)
• Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan (3:1)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (3:1)
• South African Airways Voyager (3:1)
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (3:1)
• TAP Air Portugal TAP Victoria (3:1)
• Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus (3:1)
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (3:1)
• United Airlines MileagePlus (3:1.1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (3:1)
• Virgin Australia Velocity (3:1)

Most importantly, if you transfer 60,000 points you receive a bonus of 15,000 points, i.e., 60K Marriott points = 25K miles, or 2.4 Marriott points = 1 mile of most partners.  You can transfer your Marriott points to a household member's Marriott account but there is paperwork you will have to do and sign.  However, you can only transfer your Marriott points to a frequent flyer account under your name.

In addition, you might redeem Marriott points for the Travel Packages (Hotel + Air Packages): your points will be converted to a certain number of frequent flyer miles plus a seven-night hotel certificate at a certain redemption level.  Marriott revamped the Hotel + Air charts in August 2018, with major devaluation.  The new travel packages do not represent good value compared to the simple miles transfer without the hotel certificate; for example, you might redeem 330K Marriott points for 100K miles plus a 7-night certificate at Category 1-4 hotels - you essentially only save 60K points for the hassle of finding a single hotel to stay for 7 consecutive nights.
                                                                                                                                                                     
Membership Rewards (MR) from American Express
On the earning side, you earn one extra point for each dollar spent on travel booked through MR (American Express Travel); however, Amex charges a booking fee on airfare or air-hotel packages ($6.99 per domestic ticket; $10.99 per international ticket) so most likely it is not a good deal.  Effective May 2015, Amex waives the booking fee for Platinum and Centurion cardmembers.  Amex used to have a shopping portal that allowed you to earn up to 10X bonus points; however, it was closed in 2013.

On the redemption side, MR points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, travel (Pay with Points), and so on, at up to 1 cent per point.  However, some cards are eligible for a transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to over 20 frequent traveler programs.  Let's look at these two groups:

• Not eligible to transfer points: Blue ($0), Blue Business ($0), Zync ($25); however, if you have another card that has the transfer feature, all your MR points will be pooled together and all of them will be eligible to transfer points.
• Eligible to transfer points: EveryDay ($0), Blue Business Plus ($0), EveryDay Preferred ($95), Membership Rewards Business Card ($75), Green ($95), Business Green Rewards ($95), Gold ($125), Ameriprise co-branded Gold ($125), Premier Rewards Gold($175), Business Gold Rewards ($175), Mercedes-Benz Credit Card ($95), Platinum ($550), Business Platinum ($450), Mercedes-Benz co-branded Platinum, Ameriprise co-branded Platinum, Morgan Stanley co-branded Platinum, Goldman Sachs co-branded Platinum, Centurion ($2,500).

MR points can be transferred into miles or points of the following programs:

    Airline Partners

• AeroMexico Club Premier (1:1)
• Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1)
• Alitalia MilleMiglia (1:1)
• All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club (1:1)
• British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1:1)
• EL AL Israel Airlines Matmid Club (50:1)
• Emirates Skywards (1:1)
• Etihad Guest (1:1)
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
• Hawaiian Airlines (1:1)
• Iberia Plus (14:1)
• JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)

    Hotel Partners

• Choice Privileges (1:1)
• Hilton HHonors (1:2)
• Marriott Rewards (1:1)

Compared to airline miles transfer, hotel points transfer does not represent  good value.  Even though MR does not have the built-in 25% transfer bonus like Marriott, Amex runs limited-time transfer promotions on certain partners several times a year, so the value of MR points can be higher.  Another huge advantage of MR over Marriott is that the transfer to most partners is instantaneous rather than days or weeks.  This can be very useful when you find a particular award ticket available and want to grab it immediately before it is taken.  The downside of MR is that Amex charges 0.06 cent per point up to $99 for transfer to domestic airlines.  For example, if you transfer 100K points to 100K Delta miles, you will be charged $60 for the transaction.  You can not transfer your MR points to someone else's MR account.  However, you can transfer your MR points to your authorized user's frequent traveler accounts.

Three Ways of Using MR points for Airfare: In addition to the aforementioned two options to redeem MR points for airfare - Pay with Points (fixed value, 1 cent per point) and the transfer feature, Amex also offers certificates for economy tickets for the following airlines: Cathay Pacific, Swiss, Qantas, and South African Airways.  Note that they (except Swiss) are not transfer partners: you can't transfer MR points to their miles but you rather use a bulk of points in exchange for certificates that can be used for economy tickets (or companion tickets).  The use of certificates is not subject to capacity control and you can actually earn miles on them.  There is no certificates for business or first class tickets.

For example, using the certificate a round-trip economy ticket on Swiss from SFO/LAX to Europe costs 65K points no matter how much the revenue ticket actually costs.  If you use Pay with Points feature and the revenue ticket costs $1,000, you will need 100K points.  For comparison, if you want to use Swiss' own frequent flyer program - Miles and More, which by the way is a transfer partner of Marriott, it will cost 50K miles plus fuel surcharge (which can be as high as, say $400) and is subject to capacity control.

Ultimate Rewards (UR) from Chase
Chase  Ultimate Rewards (UR) is a knock-off of Amex Membership Rewards.  On the earning side, you earn one extra point for one dollar spent on airfare booked through UR, but unlike Amex, Chase does not charge a booking fee.  You also earn up to 10x points when shopping through UR.  

The regular UR program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, cash, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point.  However, premium UR cards including Sapphire Preferred ($95), Sapphire Reserve ($450), JPM Reserve ($450), and Ink Preferred ($95), have two premium redemption features: one is 25% bonus to travel redemption via UR (1 point = 1.25 cent); the other is to transfer points into miles/points of frequent traveler programs.  Just like MR, transfer from UR to miles/points is instantaneous.  Also like MR, if you have a regular UR card such as Freedom and another premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred, you can pool all UR points together and enjoy the premium features.  You can transfer your UR points to the UR account or a frequent traveler account belonging to one household member.  Points transfer to third parties is prohibited.  Currently, UR has the following partners:

    Airline Partners

• Aer Lingus AerClub (1:1)
• British Airways Executive Club (1:1)
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
• Iberia Plus (1:1)
• Korean Air SkyPass(1:1) - partnership ending 8/26/18
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1:1)
• United Airlines MileagePlus (1:1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)

    Hotel Partners

• IHG Rewards Club (1:1)
• Marriott Rewards (1:1)
• World of Hyatt (1:1)

ThankYou (TY) from Citi
For several years, Citi's ThankYou Rewards (TY) had been lagging behind with only one transfer partner Hilton HHonors (this relationship ended in December 2017), and we were excited to see that Citi finally introduced several airline partners in July 2014.  Currently there is no points earning for shopping with Citi.

The regular TY program allows redemption for merchandise, gift cards, statement credit, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point.  However, premium TY cards including Citi ThankYou Premier ($95), Citi Prestige ($450), and Citi Chairman, have a transfer feature similar to Marriott, MR, and UR, that allows ThankYou points to be transferred to frequent traveler programs.  If you have a regular TY cards such as ThankYou Preferred, you may pool all your points together and the points earned through the regular TY cards become eligible for transfer.  You may share your TY points with someone else; however, the shared points will expire in 90 days.  You can only transfer your TY points to a frequent traveler account under your name.  TY partners include the following:

• Avianca LifeMiles (1:1)
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (1:1)
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (1:1)
• Etihad Guest (1:1)
• Flying Blue by Air France and KLM (1:1)
• Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (1:1)
• JetBlue TrueBlue (1.25:1)
• Jet Airways JetPrivilege (1:1)
• Malaysia Airlines Enrich (1:1)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer (1:1)
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club (1:1)
• Sears Shop Your Way (1:12)
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (1:1)
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (1:1) 
• Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (1:1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1)

Club Rewards (CR) from Diners Club
Club Rewards from Diners Club has always had the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to miles/points.  Club Rewards points earned from Diners Club cards such as Diners Club Premier ($95) and Diners Club Elite ($300), both of which hasn't been accepting new applications since late 2014, can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, cash, travel, etc., at up to 1 cent per point.  In addition, CR points can be transferred to the following frequent traveler accounts, mostly at 1:1:
​
​    Airline Partners

• Air Canada Aeroplan (1000:1000)
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (1075:1000)
• British Airways Executive Club (1000:1000)
• Delta Air Lines SkyMiles (1075:1000)
• El Al Airlines Matmid Club(1000:20)
• EVA Airways Infinity MileageLands (1000:1000)
• Hawaiian Airlines (1075:1000)
• Icelandair Saga Club (1000:1000)
• SAS EuroBonus (1000:1000)
• South African Airways Voyager (1000:1000)
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (1613:1200)
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (1000:1000)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1000:1000)

​    Hotel Partners

• Best Western Rewards (1250:3300)
• Choice Privileges (1250:2400)
• Hilton HHonors (1250:2000)
• Hyatt Gold Passport (1250:750)
• IHG Rewards Club (1250:1500)
• Marriott Rewards (1250:1500)

For the master comparison chart, please see the updated review.