Chase has begun sending letters to Fairmont credit card holders stating that the Fairmont card will be replaced with a Chase Sapphire Preferred card on August 15th. My wife and I got the card in January of this year when some of the application links for the card stopped working. I know that many readers did the same when I posted “The other Chase card you should consider today.” The remaining working application links died 5 days later.
Since the card was no longer available to new applicants, we knew it was likely that Chase would discontinue the card altogether. I had hoped that the card would limp along for existing cardholders for a few years, but it was not to be. We only have 2 more months to enjoy the card.
The good news is that points earned from the card will turn into Ultimate Rewards points. Plus, if you signed up for the card anytime after August 15th 2016, you can get a free anniversary night after only $6K spend. The bad news is that we’ll turn into Fairmont status-less pumpkins on March 1 2018. That’s really sad: the Premier upgrade certificates alone are insanely valuable.
Details follow.
Conversion details
- Chase asserts that the conversion will happen on August 15th and that new cards will arrive “about six to eight weeks after”. I believe this means that starting August 15th the card will operate as a Sapphire Preferred card (e.g. it will earn 2X for travel & dining) even though it will still look like the Fairmont card until the replacement arrives.
- Your account numbers won’t change, but you’ll get a new expiration date and security code.
- On August 15th, any points you’ve earned from credit card spend will become Ultimate Rewards points. With your Sapphire Preferred account, you’ll be able to transfer those points to valuable transfer partners such as Hyatt, United, Southwest, etc. Or you can use points to pay for travel at a value of 1.25 cents each. Or, if you have a Sapphire Reserve card, you can move points to the Reserve card and use points to pay for travel at a value of 1.5 cents each.
- If you want to redeem your points as Fairmont credit card points, you must do so by August 14th. Most awards are only worth 1 cent per point, so most people will be better off waiting for the conversion to Ultimate Rewards. There is one exception: free night Ovation rewards can be quite valuable under the right circumstances. See more below.
- Free night with $12K spend: One of the Fairmont credit card’s perks was that you can earn a single free night each year after spending $12,000 with the card. If you originally got the card on or before August 15 2016, and you’ve spent $12K by August 15th 2017, then you’ll get the free night added to your Fairmont account (the free night will arrive either six weeks after your anniversary date or 8 to 10 weeks after August 15th, whichever comes first). This free night will be valid for 1 year from issue.
- Free night with $6K spend: If you signed up for the Fairmont card more August 16 2016 or later, then you only have to spend $6,000 before August 15th in order to get the free night that usually requires $12K spend. And, presumably you already spent $3,000 in order to earn the card’s 2 free night signup bonus, so you only need to spend $3K more for this free night. I stupidly already spent nearly $12K both of our cards, so I won’t benefit from this one time benefit. The free night from $6K spend will be valid only until February 28, 2018.
Chase Considerations
Don’t worry if you were thinking of signing up for the Sapphire Preferred card for its signup bonus. If you do so before August 15th, you’ll be fine. After August 15th, you can simply product change the card previously known as Fairmont to a different card so that you can apply for the Sapphire Preferred anew.
If you’re over 5/24 and have therefore been locked out of getting an Ultimate Rewards card that you want, this may be your ticket in. You should be able to convert your new Sapphire Preferred card to the Sapphire Reserve, Freedom, or Freedom Unlimited. In some cases it may require a few steps. For example, you may have to first convert to the no-fee Sapphire, then convert that to another card, etc. You won’t earn a signup bonus when doing this, but you also won’t ruin the chance of getting a signup bonus in the future.
The card conversion from Fairmont to Sapphire Preferred shouldn’t affect your 5/24 status with Chase. I believe that your credit report will still show the account as having been opened on the date that it was originally opened rather than on the date of conversion.
If you want to earn Ultimate Rewards points and you happen to being staying at a Fairmont or will be dining at a Fairmont between now and August 14th, then use your Fairmont card to pay. The card earns 5X at Fairmont properties. Since those points will become valuable Ultimate Rewards points, that’s pretty good.
Fairmont Considerations
One of the most valuable benefits of the Fairmont credit card was that it automatically gave you Fairmont Premier status. That status will presumably end on March 1 2018. As a reminder, Premier status offers the following benefits every year:
- $50 in dining or spa credits
- 1 room upgrade
- 1 suite upgrade
- 1 free 3rd night on a 3 night paid stay
If you want to keep your Premier status past February 28th 2018, then you’ll have to complete 5 stays or 10 room nights by the end of this calendar year.
You can also earn up to 2 stay credits through spend on the Fairmont card, if you hurry. The card offers 1 stay credit towards status for every $7,500 spent, with a max of 2 per year.
That said, since Accor purchased Fairmont last year, we don’t know whether the Fairmont loyalty program will remain at all past this year. So it would be risky to invest in a bunch of stays or spend just to keep status.
Ovation Rewards
The only reward worth considering with your Fairmont credit card points are Ovation Rewards, which are basically free nights in exchange for points. The point cost for the free night Ovation Rewards depends upon which Collection (A,B, C, or D) the hotel is in. You can find a list of hotels by collection here.
Chase / Fairmont charges the following number of points for a standard room:
- Collection A: 25,000
- Collection B: 35,000
- Collection C: 45,000
- Collection D: 65,000
If you have enough points, this could be a good use for those points. Keep in mind that Ovation Rewards include free breakfast:
Ovation Rewards are valid for a one night stay in the indicated room type, and include applicable room taxes, full breakfast for two in the hotel’s all day dining restaurant with related taxes and gratuities only (excludes buffets and alcohol.) Ovation Rewards certificates are redeemable based upon last room availability in the room category purchased (some exceptions may apply.)
Rocking Fairmont Free Nights and Elite Benefits
For more details about getting the most out of your Fairmont card and free nights while you still can, please see:
Also see:
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They are allowing to extend the expiration date from 2/28 to 3/30
they are now offering 30 day extensions
Can you elaborate on that? Do you mean that they’ll let you book a stay up to 30 days later? What about upgrade certs, can those be applied 30 days later too?
Is the extension offered only on the stay expiring 2.28.17? And did Fairmont allow the longer expiration stay cert (the mistake) stick?
I called today and asked why my wife and I had different dates. They said the longer date was a mistake which makes sense because neither of us spent more than $6k. They refused to lengthen my date to match my wife’s.
Oh wow, that’s lucky for you that one had a later date then
For those confused about why some certs expire end of Feb and others mid-October, it has to do with how much was spent on the Fairmont card. If you spent $6K before it turned into a Sapphire card, then your cert should be valid until end of Feb. If you spend $12K then it should be valid 12 months from issue (i.e. mid October 2018)
Has anybody tried calling to get the short date extended, makes no sense to me that some are a year and some are only 3 months
Strangely enough, me and my wife both qualified but one expires 2/18 and the the other 11/18, no idea why
[…] this year, the Chase Fairmont Visa Signature card was discontinued (See: Bye bye Fairmont card. I hardly knew ya). Greg wrote about how to maximize value with credit card spend before this card was converted to […]
Fairmont finally deposited our free nights!
Both accounts opened in January of this year. Spent $6k on one account and the expiration date of the certificate is February 28, 2018 as expected (noted as “Fairmont Visa Complimentary Night – Courtesy”). Spent $12k on the other account and the expiration date is October 16, 2018. No mention of Courtesy on the certificate with the full year validity.
Same for me! My wife and I now have free night certs valid through Oct 16 2018 (we each spent $12K)
There were several arguments on FlyerTalk regarding validity length of the certs for those who spent $12k but had less than a year. They were adamant that people would get the February 28 expiration no matter if they spent $6k or $12k. I’m glad that wasn’t the case (at least for those of us who had the card for less than a year)!
Same here. Expires 2/28/18.
Chase says a communication went out Friday addressing the breakdown with Fairmont. Free night is supposed to post to our FPC accounts by month end (Oct).
Still nothing, this is a huge FAIL!
Not in my account either. Wonder if anyone received this at all….
Same. Same. Called Chase and rep gave me the same story. Try calling back in two or three days and we will escalate this with marketing if you have not received your cert. The person did confirm again that October 10 was the date for me….
Still nothing in my account
Same here. Just checked today.
I called both Fairmont and Chase. I was told by Chase that I met the minimum $6000 spend who then transferred me to Fairmont who told me it should be in my account by October 10.
Chase. Was put on hold too. Still haven’t gotten it; but hopefully by Oct 14th.