Recently, I signed up for the Ritz-Carlton card. Even though I’ve recommended getting it before August to lock in the new Marriott/SPG Platinum Elite status, that wasn’t why I signed up for it.
The real reason was for the signup bonus of two free Tier 1-4 nights. Tier 4 properties currently cost 60,000 points per night. And when the Marriott/SPG/Ritz programs merge in August, all properties will be bookable for 60,000 points per night or less until a new category is introduced in 2019. So we expect the Ritz two free nights to change from being usable at only less than top tier Ritz properties to all Marriott, SPG, and Ritz properties worldwide. That’s pretty amazing, but even that wasn’t my sole motivation…
In my post, “Potential huge win with Marriott Travel Packages before August,” I discussed the small chance (I pegged it at 20% chance) that stay certificates (floater certificates) will be converted to equivalent points in August. That would be a huge win if Marriott made us whole with the full points equivalent (see that post for details). When I first wrote the post, I didn’t think that Ritz free night certificates would be included if this happened, but then I got more information when Starwood Lurker answered my question about floater certificates and said that examples include credit card certs. Despite his answer, I’m still unsure what exactly constitutes a floater certificate, but it suddenly seemed that my estimated 20% chance of a big win would include the Ritz certs as well. That sold me. While two free nights anywhere is an excellent signup bonus, I’ll very happily take 120K points instead if they’ll offer it.
My new Ritz card appeared on my doorstep last week, and I immediately met the $4K spend requirement by paying a large bill through the Plastiq bill payment service. My card’s payment due date is August 1, but I want to make sure to get the free night certificates before then. I may need to secure message Chase to see if they can expedite the bonus.
Priority Pass Select
One of the many benefits of the Ritz card is Priority Pass Select membership. Unlike most other ultra-premium cards, Ritz’ version includes unlimited guests. I doubt that will last long, though, considering that Chase recently reduced the Sapphire Reserve guest benefit from unlimited to 2.
The other unusual aspect of this card is that authorized user cards are free. And, authorized users can get their own Priority Pass Select membership (my understanding is that you have to request it for each authorized user — it doesn’t come automatically).
We know that the Ritz card is going to change dramatically in August, but at the moment we only know a few details of those changes for certain. But I think it is reasonable to expect that the new version will either charge for authorized users (like with the Sapphire Reserve) or will no longer offer free Priority Pass Select membership to authorized users.
And so, finally, I get to the main point of this post:
- If you have the Ritz card, and…
- If you have friends or family members who could benefit from Priority Pass Select membership, then…
- Add them as authorized users and request Priority Pass cards immediately
(since the ability to do so might go away in August)
(but first make sure they don’t mind being added as authorized users)
Authorized user credit cards will be shipped to your address. You don’t have to give the credit cards to your friends or family members. You can simply give them the separate Priority Pass cards when they arrive.
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Based on Chase’s website and the terms and conditions for the Ritz Carlton card, it appears that Gold Marriott status is not only for the first year, and not dependent on any level of spend. Was that changed since this was written? or does anyone have contrary info?
Sort of. This post is from 2018. Significantly, this was published a month before the merger with the Starwood program. When the programs merged, Marriott re-named their tiers. At the time this post was published, Marriott had the following tiers if memory serves me correctly:
-Silver (I can’t recall how many nights this required)
-Gold (50 nights; free breakfast/lounge access)
-Platinum (75 nights)
Beginning in August 2018, the tiers changed to:
-Silver
-Gold (25 nights; benefits include more points and “priority” late checkout, but not much more)
-Platinum (50 nights; free breakfast/lounge access)
-Titanium (75 nights)
As you can see, Gold used to be 50-night status that was desirable because of the breakfast/lounge benefits. It therefore used to be a first-year-only benefit (similar to the way that the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant recently offered Platinum status — the current equivalent 50-night status — for the first year. That offer has since expired).
At the time this post was written, the exciting opportunity was to get the card new and get the associated Gold status because we knew that when the programs merged, that would map to “Platinum” status in the new program (which wasn’t an upgrade, it was just the new name for 50-night status that includes free breakfast/lounge access).
However, there just isn’t much benefit to Marriott Gold status now. It gets you a 25% bonus on points earned from stays, but that’s really the only concrete benefit. Note that you can also get Marriott Gold from having the Amex Platinum card (which also gives you Hilton Gold, which is a much more useful status since it gives you free breakfast at Hiltons).
Keep in mind that having Gold status from a credit card does not shorten your path to Platinum status. That is to say that you don’t get credit for the 25 elite nights required for Gold status — you get the same 15 elite nights that you would get with any Marriott card. You would still need 35 more elite nights to get to Platinum whether you have Gold status from the Ritz card or you simply had the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless and Silver status.
So all that is to say that yes, the Ritz card still comes with Gold status, but that isn’t equivalent to the first-year Gold status that it came with when this post was written and it isn’t a particularly exciting benefit today. The Ritz card does have plenty of other benefits that make it worthwhile in my opinion, but the status benefit isn’t exciting today.
Do you know if the number of guests is unlimited? I have gotten two different answers from chase…2 guests and unlimited guests.
Yes it is unlimited. The Chase rep was probably confused with the Sapphire Reserve which switched from unlimited to 2 guests.
Heya Greg, are you able to confirm with any contacts at Chase that the priority pass associated with Ritz Carlton is still unlimited? I’ve called multiple times and all the reps have said it was changed across the board for all priority pass cards associated with the Reserve and Ritz as to 2 guests.
Haven’t found any DP on flyertalk.
My new PP card just came a couple of weeks ago. I should have taken a picture of the letter, because I’m 90% certain it said unlimited guests in the letter. That’s why the Ritz PP is the one in my wallet.
How do you request a Priority Pass card for your authorized user?
Chase Secure Message.
Greg, can we still add AUs and get the seperate PP memberships? What happened in August?
Antohony, yes you can still add AUs and get PP memberships for them. In August, the card changed:
1) Now offers annual 50K free night certificate valid at all Marriott properties that cost 50K points or less
2) $75K spend now gets you 50 night elite status instead of 75 night elite status
3) The card now annually offers 15 elite nights towards status, but those nights don’t stack with other cards. e.g. you’ll have a total of 15 elite nights even if you have multiple cards with this feature
Hi Greg – did your Ritz Carlton Visa Gold status convert to Platinum (yet) in the new MR program? My MR account still shows Gold Elite. I talked to the RC executive line on 8/29 and they claim the Platinum status show up until 2019 but that I would have it all year.
I can’t tell with my account: I also had Gold status early this year due to a soft landing from Platinum, so I now have Platinum either due to that soft landing or to the Ritz card.
I don’t think the RC executive you talked with is correct. You should have Platinum now as long as you had Gold before the merger due to the Ritz card
I sent a secure message yesterday and today I’m finally showing as platinum. Again, might be a coincidence as I don’t think the SM would have been dealt with so fast but I’ll take it!
There does not seem to be much discussion about the 10,000 points authorized user. So it is my understanding that that will convert to 10,000 Marriott points plus the possible 120,000 for the two free nights loading certificates. Am I correct on that?
Does 10k points are Marriott points. Ritz points = Marriott points. You technically have either a Ritz account or a Marriott account, but it’s all the same. Yes, that’s in addition to the sign up bonus.
For the AU PP cards, how do we request the cards? Call the number on the back of the card? Thank you.
I haven’t done it yet, but I assume that you can either call the number on the back of the card or submit a secure message. I’d do the latter.
Good morning! Currently Marriott Gold through status match with SPG. Earned through spend, not stays. Applied for and was approved for Ritz card late last week. Prompted by piece suggesting platinum status would follow through Feb 2020 (plus the free night certs/point equivalencies). Thank you for the heads-up!
Travelling soon and staying at some SPG properties. Moocher that I am, would like to enjoy free breakfast for us, if possible.
7/23-7/28 = Sheraton Rhodes Resort
7/28-8/2 = Amsterdam Element
Have some legitimate spend for a kitchen remodel, but would need to MS a bit to hit 10k to get platinum. Is it worth it?
Thanks in advance.
Just read that Element Amsterdam offers complementary breakfast. Oops.
Ritz comes with automatic gold for the first year…
Brian is correct. You don’t need to spend anything to get status if you just opened the Ritz card — you get automatic Gold status, which will convert to Platinum when the new program launches in August.
There’s nothing that is going to get you free breakfast at the Sheraton Rhodes. That said, they have a nice area for SPG Gold and Platinum members that’s separated from the main dining area. Service there was fantastic. In fact, the Sheraton Rhodes has some of the best service I’ve had at an SPG property.
You won’t get Platinum (free breakfast) status until sometime in August (and we don’t know exactly when). Sorry it’s not the news you wanted.
greg. i dont think u realize how n00b heavy ur fan base is becoming. i think u should start putting disclaimers and adding key risk points for people who dont get it before busting out “Act Now” posts. i assume u see the massive shift in reddit the past 2 years.
Just applied after reading this Article got the dreaded 30 day wait email. I hope i get it in time to meet the minimum spend by Aug 1
Call them. Same thing happened to me. I had to move some credit around from another Chase card to get approved.
Question: can the $300 reimbursement be applied to airline gift card purchases? could you extend on what this reimbursement id good for?
Not easily. You need to call in or send a secure message to get the credits. This one involves human interaction, so YMMV on the agent you speak with. It’s not impossible, but not as easy as with other cards. Personally, I’ve used it with low cost carriers since they charge for everything. I’ve had no trouble using it for baggage and seat fees on Spirit and WOW Airlines or on Southwest upgraded boarding at the gate.
Nick,
Can we use it for the $15 Southwest Priority boarding that we pay for in advance too? I’m not sure if you were referring to something else before boarding the flight.
I haven’t tried that. I’ve used it for the A1-15 boarding at the gate – $30 or $40 per segment.
Will adding someone as an authorized user increase that persons Chase 5/24 count?
This depends on whether or not the card gets connected to their credit profile. If they live at the same address as you, probably yes. If they don’t, probably no.
You can change the statement day to something like 25 and then it would post on July 25th with the statement?
I expect it would.
Like others are asking, why are you rushing to get the spend done now? None of the earlier posts about this card mentioned anything about this, so I’m surprised to see it now.
In addition, at least under the current rules the certificates expire a year after issued, so I had the idea of finishing the spend on the later side
The certs can be extended for another yr. Just call.
wow! really. that would be great.
Are you sure that’s the case for free night certs? I know that’s been the case with the seven night certificates from travel packages. I’m not sure how they handled it with the Ritz certificates. That said, I got a report yesterday about someone who was unable to extend a 7-night certificate. Still trying to determine whether it’s a change in policy on those – not sure if such a change might also affect other certificates like the ones from this card.
Data Point: Successfully extended 3x free Tier 1-4 nights certs for another 12 months on 1/7/2018. It was done just before I cancelled my Ritz Card.
Awesome, thanks.
PP is not a worthwhile benefit, there are too many passes out there and being denied entry (even during non peak times) is the norm…count it as a YMMV benefit
You are just unlucky. Like you, I can’t speak for everyone, but IMHO, it’s definitely a great benefit.
It is infinitely better to have it than not. Especially when it doesn’t cost anything. You’re right that there are overcrowding issues in some places — but PP has responded by adding more restaurants where you get a $28 credit. Even if your AUs are only able to use that once per year, that’s a free $28 meal x your number of AUs. Not a bad deal.
Nick, how does the credit work for PP at restaurants. Is it at the point of sale, or a credit back on your statement?
At the point of sale. It comes directly off the bill at the restaurant. Most restaurants will not allow you to use it towards gratuity, though I’ve read that some do. At grab-and-go type places, you just get $28 worth of stuff for free. If you have guest privileges, it varies based on your card. That’s what makes the Ritz card so valuable. Guesting privileges are theoretically unlimited. That said, some restaurants do limit you. I think Bobby Van’s in JFK limits you to 2 guests. I think some of the grab-and-go places allow more.
You can check the terms of each in the Priority Pass App.
Don’t fully understand why we need the ritz certs before Aug 1?
Just guessing that it increases the chances of the certs being turned into points (which I’d prefer). It’s not really necessary