Deal has expired, view more Chase Marriott deals by clicking here.
Update 8/12/19: Some people have received a similar offer, but for only a single night instead of two. Hat tip to Traveling For Miles
The Offer
- Chase is offering some Marriott Premier cardholders the ability to upgrade to the Premier Plus, they will receive two free night certificates that can be used on properties costing up to 35,000 points a night if they spend $3,000 by 9/30/19
Card Details
- Annual fee of $95, not waived first year
- Eligibility for this product: The product is not available to either:
- current cardmembers of the Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier credit card (also known as Marriott Rewards® Premier) or Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ credit card (also known as Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus), or
- previous cardmembers of the Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier credit card (also known as Marriott Rewards® Premier) or Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ credit card (also known as Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus), who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 24 months.
- Eligibility for the new cardmember bonus: The bonus is not available to you if you:
- are a current cardmember, or were a previous cardmember within the last 30 days, of Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card (also known as The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express);
- are a current or previous cardmember of either Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card (also known as The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express) or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (also known as the Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card), and received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade bonus in the last 24 months; or
- applied and were approved for Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card (also known as The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express) or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (also known as the Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card) within the last 90 days.
- Chase 5/24 rule applies to this card
- Free award night every anniversary valid at a property costing up to 35,000 points
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 6x points per $1 spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels
- 2x points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Elite status:
- Automatic silver elite status
- Gold status if you spend $35,000 or more within a card member year
- 15 elite night credits towards status each year
Our Verdict
We have previously seen deals for $200 or up to 50,000 points. This is probably the best deal if you’ve able to maximize the free night certificates, but some people may have preferred the points offer due to better flexibility or even the $200 offer. I don’t think either of the cards is worth keeping long term, so doing this upgrade bonus might make sense.
Hat tip to reader @rduclos911
I upgraded less than a month after my annual fee and the $85 fee was reversed and they have yet to charge new annual fee.
Yeah, same question as Ryan- my annual fee for my $85/yr card comes up in late August. Am I giving up that upcoming free night by upgrading now? or am I paying $95 now, getting the upgrade bonus, and then also getting an anniversary 35k night? Not clear to me from the email offer
I got an offer to upgrade — 2 free 35K nights just by making a purchase (no minimum spend). Two questions — will upgrading affect my credit score or show as a new inquiry/card? Also, my card renewed in March and I paid the $85 annual fee then. Will I have to pay the $95 annual fee now by upgrading, or does the $85 I already paid somehow count for the first year?
I’d take the one night or two night cert offer but no dice so far. I passed on 20k last year and 15 elite nights last quarter. I already have a 2 night stay at a 35k Marriott booked for Nov with one cert + 35k, so I see the one cert offer as just as good as 35k for me. Two cert offer is gravy. Anyone know if Chase will grant this offer to those not targeted if asked?
Doh, checked my email but not the link. Got the 1 night offer. Sweet!
My offer is for one free night (35K limit), and with the requirement of one purchase (no minimum amount). My Premier card is only a little over a year old, and I really have not used it beyond meeting the minimum spend. This is the best of the upgrade offers I have received so far, so I am debating taking it versus waiting for a better offer. I definitely want to upgrade to the Premier Plus at some point before the next annual certificate is issued.
Mine doesn’t have $3000 spending requirement, as long as I make purchase using the new card.
Got only one free night with first purchase on boundless upgrade offer.
My husband’s account also got “make one purchase” and not $3000 spend. His offer is just one 35,000 night certificate instead of two. We took it anyway.
I agree with Chucks. It is much easier to find stays with 35,000 certificates than with 25,000 certs or the old system. That opens up a lot more possibilities for $10 a year.
off topic, but marriott and hilton seem to be in a competition to confuse credit card holders with their naming “system”. I realize marriott has a bit more of an excuse…but those two sets of cards you need a cheat sheet to figure out what you have and which one it used to be.
I have the marriott premier..or premier plus…or bonvoy bold..or boundless. or something. plus i’m aspiring to ascend a hilton card…I think.
Will, why don’t you see value in long-term holding of the card?
$85 (or $95) AF for an annual free night certificate, I always come out ahead as I stay at a Marriott at least once/year
Interested in your opinion, thank you as always.
Brandon
I find that I have to really work at finding a good redemption for the free night certificate and usually it ends up altering my travel plans
Just to clarify, Do they hard pull for this?
I used to be in your camp, Will, but a 35k/night place really is a lot easier to redeem than the old free nights that came on the card (category 2?).
Plus for me, as a result of something screwed up by the SPG merger and some status match I have many more lifetime years of status and nights than I really should. 15 elite nights on the card counts towards elite status and pushes me closer to lifetime at a bargain.
Yeah I can totally understand it working for some people, but I don’t have a lot of one night stays at all and I don’t like moving hotels. When I do have a one night stay it’s usually an airport hotel and in that case work will cover it.
I have to agree with Chucks. Some of those 35k hotels are actually quite nice, including decent stays in major cities you didn’t used to get.
The way to beat this is to have multiple free night cards. I know they restrict now, but for those of us who were grandfathered in, you can have multiple per year. Plus if a significant other has a card too, you can really spin this into a multi-night stay. Just something to consider!
Like I said, I know it works for some people I just personally don’t find them very useful. I find I have to change travel plans to get them to work well for me and I use this hobby to subsidize my travel rather than dictate it.
So glad I took the 10K upgrade offer a year ago… NOT.
Same boat here. Smh
I also took 10K offer, but called Chase about a month after that. Chase gave me 40K bonus, total 50K. Call them and see.
Yes i was offered 60k points and i took it . I think i would rather have the flexibility to use points than 2 35k certificates.
Lucky you!