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.
- Here are some examples of hotels considered as having great value for free night redemption:
- Category-6 (standard redemption): Al Bustan Palace=a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Langkawi, The Ritz-Carlton Cancun, The Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, The Ritz-Carlton Budapest, The Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain, The Ritz-Carlton Abama, The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, The Ritz-Carlton Moscow, The Ritz-Carlton Macau, The Ritz-Carlton Santiago, The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta, The Ritz-Carlton Mexico City, The Ritz-Carlton Bali, The St. Regis Houston, The St. Regis Langkawi, The St. Regis Singapore, The St. Regis Mexico City, Las Alcobas Mexico City=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Tembo del Inka Valle Sagrado=a Luxury Collection Resort, The Shanghai EDITION, W Hollywood, W Miami, JW Marriott Nara, JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge, Château de la Resle=a Member of Design Hotels, The Westin Miyako Kyoto, The Westin Palace Madrid, Marriott's St. Kitts Beach Club, Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View, St. Pancras Renaissance London, Le Metropolitan Paris=A Tribute Portfolio Hotel
- Category-7 (with decent off-peak rate availability): The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, The Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale, The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, The Ritz-Carlton Bacara - Santa Barbara, The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, The Ritz-Carlton Washington DC, The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds - Lake Oconee, The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah Al Wadi Desert, The Ritz-Carlton Osaka, The Ritz-Carlton Toronto, The Ritz-Carlton Herzliya, The Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong, The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui, The Ritz-Carlton Vienna, The St. Regis Atlanta, The St. Regis Osaka, The St. Regis Toronto, The St. Regis Washington DC, Hotel The Mitsui - Kyoto=a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Jaffa - Tel Aviv=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Caresse - Bodrum=a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, King George - Athens=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel Grande Bretagne - Athens=a Luxury Collection Hotel, SLS Hotel - Beverly Hills=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel Imperial - Vienna=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel Marqués de Riscal - Elciego=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Excelsior Hotel Gallia - Milan=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel President Wilson - Geneva=a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Bodrum EDITION, The West Hollywood EDITION, The New York EDITION, The Times Square EDITION New York, W New York - Union Square, W Amsterdam, W Bali Seminyak, JW Marriott Essex House New York, The Algonquin Times Square=Autograph Collection, 11 Howard New York=a Member of Design Hotels, Blakes Hotel London=a Member of Design Hotels, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort, Le Méridien Bora Bora, Paris Marriott Champs Elysees, Wealia Beach Resort - Marriott Maui, Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, Renaissance Paris Vendome
- Category-5 (peak redemption): Sharq Village & Spa=a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Doha, The St. Regis Shanghai Jing'An, The St. Regis Cairo, The St. Regis Doha, Trump Turnberry - Scotland=a Luxury Collection Resort, Hotel Paracas=a Luxury Collection Resort, The Alexander - Yerevan=a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Sanya EDITION, W Muscat, W Santiago, W Brisbane, JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort, JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort, JW Marriott Monterrey Valle, Pier One Sydney Harbour=Autograph Collection, Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay
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