Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature (discontinued for new applications)

Updated May 3, 2018.  This card has been discontinued as of May 2018, replaced by Marriott Rewards Plus Visa.  Note this review is NOT being updated.  
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The Facts
  • Annual Fee: $85
  • Signup Bonus: 75,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening & waived first year annual fee.  This bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received a signup bonus for this card in the past 24 months.  Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards).  Historical best bonus of this card: (1) 107,500 points with $85 annual fee in 2017; (2) two free nights at Category 1-5 hotels + $200 statement credit + 7,500 points for adding an authorizer user + first year annual fee waiver in 2016;  (3) 70,000 points with the first year annual fee waived and a Category 1-4 hotel upon signup a few times in the past years.
  • Rewards: 5x Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and Starwood hotels (over 5,500 worldwide), 2x airfare, car rental and dining, 1x everywhere else
  • Best Use of Marriott Rewards points: There are several great options for redeeming Marriott points.  (1) You may redeem points for hotel stays or upgrades at over 4,000 Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, including Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, AC Hotels, Gaylord, Moxy, Courtyard, Fairfield, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites, Protea, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club.  (2) You may transfer Marriott points into frequent flyer miles, but the transfer rates are OK.  For example, the best rate you get for United miles is 2.24:1 (112K points = 50K miles) and for Alaska, American, British, Delta etc. is 2.8:1 (140K points = 50K miles).  (3) The best value for redeeming Marriott points is perhaps the hotel+air travel package where you get 7 free nights plus a certain number of airline miles.  Even though the four package charts look very complicated, this option essentially allows you transfer points to miles at 1:1.1 for United Airlines, 1:1 for 13 airline partners (including Alaska, American, British, Delta, Southwest, etc.), 1:0.7 for 26 airline partners, or 1:0.5 for one airline partner, when you book a 7-night awards stay.  Undoubtedly, this is an extremely valuable option; however, the problem is that you need a lot of points for one single redemption (200K to 540K).  (4) With the merger of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts and before the two frequent guest programs fully integrate, you may also transfer Marriott points to SPG points at a 3:1 ratio, which allows you to redeem points at Starwood hotel stays as well as for transfer to 30+ SPG's airline partners.  Please see our featured review for details of SPG program.  As SPG points may be transferred into most its airline partner miles at 1:1.25 ratio, when you transfer Marriott points to SPG points and then to frequent flyer miles, the ratio is essentially 2.4:1 (e.g. 120K Marriott points = 50K miles), a little better than Marriott's own formula with the exception of United Airlines.
  • Marriott Benefits: (1) One free night at Category 1-5 hotels upon anniversary (the certificate expires 6 months after issuance).  (2) 15 nights credit toward elite status, which essentially gives you Marriott Silver status.  Marriott Silver is the entry level status which in not much in benefits.  (3) Earn 1 night credit toward elite status for every $3,000 spent with no earning limit.
  • Other Benefits: Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
  • Other Facts:  Chase used to offer a entry level card Marriott Rewards Visa which has a $55 annual fee but doesn't offer annual free night.  Due to the popularity of the Premier Visa, Chase increased its annual fee from $65 to $85 in July 2011.  The chipped version of Premier Visa contains quite bit of metal, just like Sapphire Preferred, so is heavier than regular plastics.  There is also a business version which carries a slightly higher annual fee ($99) and some small extra benefits.

The Math

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.  

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