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The Chase Marriott Boundless has come out with a new version of an old offer: instead of points, the card awards three free night certificates after completing $3,000 spend in three months. The last time we saw this offer it was paired with some attractive 10x spending categories, but this time the certs are riding solo.
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 already know that many readers will take a look at this offer and have some unique ideas about where Marriott can put their free night certificates. Marriott’s award chart just went dynamic last month, to much consternation (and some celebration). Overall, the outlook on many of the most sought after properties became worse, while some other properties actually improved. We actually raised our RRV on Marriott points to .75 cents per point.
So, three 50K certificates is way better than the old 100,000 point offer, right? It depends. I typically prefer points over free night certificates, as points are more flexible and don’t have to be used within a year. That said, there’s still a lot of value to be had with these 50K certificates, especially when considering that they will soon be able to be used at properties costing up to 65,000 points with Marriott’s new top-up feature (supposedly arriving this month).
We recently redid the value of many hotel program’s free night certificates by taking the points value and multipying it by a somewhat subjective “fudge factor,” that takes into account the inflexibility of the certificates and their one-year expiration dates. The Marriott 50K certs came out to just over $300, so this makes the three certs “worth” $900, well above the previous 100,000 points welcome offer (valued at $750 via RRV).
Keep in mind that we have seen an offer in the past for five 50K free night certificates. I’m not confident that we’ll see that offer again, as it came out in a very sketchy time for travel and was probably based on an assumption of significant breakage. I’d be surprised if they felt the need to give away five nights again, but for some, it might be worth waiting it out to see.
Personally, even though this offer is decent, I wouldn’t take this offer without a definite plan of how to use the certificates…especially with all of the backed-up certs still out there from the pandemic. If you know where you’ll use those certs to good value, however, this could be a very solid deal (see Greg’s post for best uses of Marriott free night certs, written just before the dynamic switch).
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[…] usually don’t do Marriott Bonvoy points. But its recent Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card offering three free nights could appeal to some. I still regret a few years ago I did not go for a signup bonus offering five […]
Two years ago, I stayed at the Mauna Kea beach hotel for 50,000 points per night. If I booked the same hotel today, it would be 100,000 points per night. Bonvoy is a joke. These certificates are a joke. This offer is a joke.
Agreed! I stayed 5 nights at Mauna Kea for 50,000 points per night (after getting 5 nights x 50,000 certificates deal on Bonvoy Boundless) in April 2021. Now it would be impossible to go to Mauna Kea with points/certificates.