Chase Marriott Rewards Visa Signature (old review)

Updated October 22, 2014.  Note that the $45 annual fee version is no longer offered to new applicants.  For the updated review please visit here.

The Facts

Marriott Rewards Visa Signature

  • Annual Fee: waived for 1st year and $45/year thereafter
  • Signup Bonus: 30,000 points plus two nights at Category 1-4 hotels
  • Rewards: 3x Marriott, 1x everywhere else
  • Other Benefits: 10 nights credit toward elite status - essentially giving you Silver status if you don't have any.

Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature

  • Annual Fee: waived for 1st year and $85/year thereafter
  • Signup Bonus: 50,000 points plus one night at Category 1-4 hotels
  • Rewards: 5x Marriott, 2x airfare, car rental and dining, 1x everywhere else
  • Other Benefits: One free night at Category 1-5 hotels upon anniversary (the certificate expires 6 months after issuance).  15 nights credit toward elite status.  Earn 1 night credit toward elite status for every $3,000 spent with no earning limit.  Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
  • Best Use of Marriott Rewards points: You may redeem points for hotel stays or upgrades at over 4,000 Marriott brand hotels worldwide, including Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriot, Autograph Collection, Edition, Marriott, Renaissance, Gaylord, AC Hotels, Moxy, Courtyard, Fairfield, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club.  There are some partner redemption options as well, but mostly they are not that attractive.  You may also transfer points into frequent flyer miles: the best rate you get is 125K points = 50K miles (2.5:1).  It does not look that great (SPG points transfer to miles at 1:1.25 at the best); however, if you value a mile at 2 cents, then 1 point = 0.8 cent, which is actually comparable to Marriott/Ritz hotel redemption value.  The best value when redeeming Marriott points is the hotel+air travel package where you get 7 nights plus 35K to 120K airline miles.  The chart looks complicated; however, a simply way of looking at this is that it allows you transfer points to miles at 1:1 for 12 airline partners (including Alaska, Continental, Delta, United, US Airways) or at 1:0.7 for 19 airline partners if you book a 7-night stay.  Undoubtedly, this is a extremely valuable redemption option - the problem is that you need a lot of points for one single transaction (200K to 540K).
  • Other Facts:  The chipped version of Premier Visa now contains quite bit of metal, just like Sapphire Preferred, so is heavier than regular plastics.

The Math
The Premier level is $40/year more expensive than the regular level, but it comes with one annual free night, 5x and 2x categories, more night credit and waived foreign transaction fees thus is the clear winner of the two.

Since Marriott points are normally valued at less than 1 cent per point, this card is not good for general spending.  However, thanks to the annual free nights at Category 1-5 hotels, this is one of the few cards that you may want to pay the annual fee happily but keep it in the drawer.  Due to its popularity, Chase increased the annual fee from $65 to $85 in July 2011.

The Conclusion
The annual free night makes Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature a great card to have, even if you only stay at Marriott hotels a few times a year.