Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
The Chase Marriott Boundless has come out with a new offer that could be quite valuable for someone able to maximize the use of free night certificates at properties that ordinarily cost 50K points per night.
The Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
125K points ⓘ Non-Affiliate Limited Time Offer: Earn 125,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months.$95 Annual Fee This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Recent better offer: 5 x 50K free night certificates after $5K in spend (expired 1/9/24) Earning rate: ✦ 6X Marriott Bonvoy ✦ 3X gas stations, grocery stores, and dining on up to $6K in combined purchases each year ✦ 2X everywhere else Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Earn Gold status when you spend $35K each year ✦ 1 Elite Night Credit towards elite status for every $5K spent Noteworthy perks: ✦ Annual free night certificate for 1 night at a hotel redemption level up to 35K ✦ Automatic Silver status ✦ 15 nights of elite credit each year ✦ 1 Elite Night Credit for every $5K spent See also: Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide |
Quick Thoughts
I typically prefer points over free night certificates. However, Marriott has some great properties at the 50K level. It wouldn’t be hard to get well over $1,000 in value with some redemptions of those certificates, which might make this offer a great deal if you’d otherwise want to use points at properties at that end of the spectrum.
The 10x gas, grocery, and restaurants is also low-hanging fruit. One could easily have more than 25,000 points after completing the welcome bonus spending to add a bit more value yet.
Keep in mind that we saw an offer for five 50K free night certificates last year. If you expect that offer to come back, it would obviously make sense to wait. On the other hand, I’m not confident that we’ll see that offer again. The 5-night offer came out at a very uncertain travel time when most probably wouldn’t have had an immediate use for the certs, limiting the amount of time they would have to use them. As things continue to open up, I’d be surprised if they felt the need to give away five nights again. On the other hand, we’ve seen a lot of awesome offers lately, so one can hope.
I’d probably not jump on this offer without a plan for how to use the certificates. The downside of certificates is of course that they expire in a year and you can neither add points to stay at a higher-tier property nor get anything back if you make suboptimal use of them. But if you know where you’ll use those certs, this could be a solid deal.
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Do you think they will have a better offer then the current one (listed above)? Like you (and most I assume), I like the points more then the award nights. I had plans for the award nights for a stay in 2022, but am a little hesitant now since they expire vs points.
Nick, Once again you gave a great candid review. That is why I always tell people to only follow your blog-great information as well as honest presentation. Keep up the good work!
Agreed, generally speaking. But C19 is not over yet…over time going to pick off more folks due to weakening immune systems (Due to an unspoken of cause/factor that is rapidly increasing – it’s taboo!) and vax powered variants and ADE. We just need to look at South America. South Africa is ticking up.
With that said, I don’t think the 5-nighter will return unless restrictions really return – which seems doubtful. We’re just going to have to take future waves on the chin so to speak.
Some years worse, some better.
No, don’t ask me what the taboo factor is…it’s taboo for a reason! Though if enough people ask…maybe I’ll let it slip out. 🙂
Here’s a hint…the first reported COVID death in ALL of the Americas (North/South) was in Kirkland, WA – despite C19 circulating much earlier. Learn about Kirkland, WA history — and you may figure it out!
Think about the odds….first city. Just a coincidence, or is someone trying to teach us a lesson. Hahahahha.
Hope this 3-nighter sticks around..would like to take advantage of it, just not right now. Finishing up spending on other cards.