Starting August 26th, Marriott and SPG credit cards will have new rules regarding who is eligible to receive a welcome bonus. View from the Wing revealed these charts from Marriott:
Complicated? Indeed. Thankfully, the above charts aren’t quite as complicated as Marriott’s free breakfast rules, but still…
I created a new matrix to try to simplify things. Just pick out the card you want to get (across the top), and then look down to see if you encounter any roadblocks:
Matrix Key:
Offers Available On/Around August 26th
Sometime around August 26th, we expect the SPG Luxury card to appear on the scene with a 125K welcome bonus. We also expect the four other cards to have 75K bonuses. Here are the anticipated welcome bonuses (click each card link to view current card details):
- SPG Luxury Card: 125K after $5K spend in 3 months
- SPG Credit Card: 75K after $3K spend in 3 months
- SPG Business Credit Card: 75K after $3K spend in 3 months
- Marriott Rewards Premier Plus: 75K after $3K spend in 3 months
- Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Business: 75K after $3K spend in 3 months
Are you eligible before August 26?
The above rules become effective August 26. Until then, the usual old Chase and Amex rules still apply. In other words, with Amex, you can’t get the bonus if you’ve ever had the same exact card before (unless you find a targeted offer that doesn’t have this lifetime language). And with Chase, you must no longer have the card and 24 months must have passed since you last received a welcome bonus. Plus you need to keep in mind Chase’s 5/24 rule which applies to the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card, but not to the Marriott Rewards Premier Business card.
| Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months. To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely. |
Is it a good idea to apply before August 26th?
The SPG cards don’t currently have useful welcome bonuses, and the SPG Luxury card isn’t yet available, so don’t bother with those. The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus and Marriott Rewards Premier Business cards, though, are both available with 75K bonuses. Are they worth getting now?
Marriott Rewards Premier Plus: If you get this card now, it would make you ineligible for the SPG Business or SPG Luxury card for the next 24 months after receiving the bonus. Both SPG cards are arguably better options if you can qualify for them after August 26th. Unlike the Marriott card, neither SPG card will increase your chance of a Chase shutdown, and the SPG Business card will not add to your 5/24 count. And the SPG Luxury card is expected to have a 125K welcome bonus (but it will add to your 5/24 count). Bottom line: Only apply for the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card if you’re under 5/24 and you would already be ineligible for the SPG Business and SPG Luxury cards due to other considerations.
Marriott Rewards Premier Business: If you get this card now, it would make you ineligible for the SPG Business card until you cancel this one and wait 30 days. It would also make you ineligible for the SPG Luxury card for the next 24 months after receiving the bonus on this one. Bottom line: This is a good choice if you won’t be eligible for the SPG Luxury card due to other considerations. And, as a business card, this one will not add to your 5/24 count. If you apply before August 26th, you’ll not only get the welcome bonus but also 15 elite nights towards status. This year only, those 15 nights will stack with elite night credits from other cards.
Post 8/26 Workarounds
In response to Nick’s post about the new Marriott / SPG card restrictions, several readers proposed workarounds. Let’s look at each:
Use a new rewards account
View from the Wing’s post stated that Amex and Chase won’t share data directly, but rather Marriott itself will be the gatekeeper to determine if a person has met the rules. Playerx therefore suggested that it might be possible to circumvent some of the rules by creating a new rewards number for your application. For example, if you want the SPG Luxury Card, but you have recently received a welcome bonus or upgrade bonus for the Chase Marriott Premier Plus card, you might be able to get the SPG Luxury Card by applying with a new SPG account which is not tied to your Marriott account.
This approach would work if Marriott only uses your rewards number to decide if you’re eligible. If they match you with other criteria, then it won’t work. My guess is that it won’t work.
Estimated chance of success: 25%
Multiple concurrent applications
Stannis asks “What if you haven’t had any of these disqualifying cards, could you … get all the cards simultaneously?”
I don’t think this will work. My guess is that Marriott’s determination of whether you are eligible for a bonus will not be in real time during the application process. Therefore, by the time they check to see if you have certain other cards open, the answer will be yes.
Estimated chance of success: 5%
Don’t complete upgrade spend requirement
Via Frequent Miler Insiders, a reader said that they had upgraded from the Marriott Rewards Premier to the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus, but hadn’t spent any money on the card yet in order to receive an upgrade bonus. They wondered if they could get the SPG Luxury card bonus by applying for that card before getting the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus upgrade bonus.
If we assume that this reader had received the bonus on the Marriott Rewards Premier more than 24 months ago, then there’s a chance that they can qualify for the SPG Luxury card bonus. It all hinges on whether or not the upgrade date is considered the date of acquisition for their card. If so, they would have to make sure to wait 91 days from the upgrade date before applying for the SPG Luxury card.
Estimated chance of success: 30%
Don’t complete welcome bonus spend requirement
This is a variation of the upgrade scenario above. Suppose you want to get both the Marriott Rewards Premier Business card and the SPG Luxury Card. The question is whether you can sign up now for the business card, but wait until after getting the SPG Luxury card to meet minimum spend on either.
This one would be extremely tricky to pull off. Once you open the business card, you have 3 months to complete the spend, but you also have to wait 91 days to be eligible to open the SPG Luxury card. This seems to make this approach impossible. In practice, according to Doctor of Credit, Chase is known to give people up to 115 days to complete spend requirements, so it is theoretically possible to get this done. I think the trick would be to wait until the Luxury card is available, then sign up for the Chase business card, and then secure message Chase to ask when is the last day you can complete the spend requirements for the welcome bonus. If the last day is more than 90 days away, you could theoretically go ahead and sign up for the SPG Luxury card on the 91st day after opening the Chase business card and before completing minimum spend.
Estimated chance of success: 5%
Upgrade instead
If you don’t qualify for the SPG Luxury card due to other cards you have, you could get rid of those other cards and wait out the 1 month, 90 days, and 24 month restrictions. Alternatively, if you have the SPG consumer card, you could wait to receive an upgrade offer from Amex. My guess is that an upgrade offer would be something like 50K points. That’s a far cry from the expected 125K welcome bonus, but some bonus is better than none.
My card situation
I’d like to get the SPG Luxury Card, but I can’t qualify for the bonus without getting rid of my Ritz card and then waiting 31 days. I’m not ready to do that yet. It’s been well over 24 months since I’ve received welcome bonuses on any Marriott or SPG cards, so I’d be good to go on that front. The main issue for me is that I want to upgrade my Marriott Premier to the Premier Plus. If I accept the 20K upgrade offer, though, the 24 month clock would reset to make me ineligible for the SPG Luxury Card bonus. That’s not good.
My wife is in a better position to get the SPG Luxury Card. She doesn’t have the Ritz card, and it has been over 24 months since she received welcome bonuses for her Marriott and SPG cards. She just need to avoid accepting the Marriott Premier Plus upgrade offer until after she gets the SPG Luxury Card.
Next, I’ll have to decide whether I want to keep the Ritz card long term (or at least until the card is sunset). A good option for me may be to cancel the card at some point in the future, wait 31 days, and then apply for the SPG Luxury card. This, though, is still contingent on me not accepting the Marriott Premier Plus upgrade beforehand. And that upgrade offer expires at the end of this year. Should I give up an easy 20K points for the upgrade in order to qualify for the likely 125K SPG Lux offer? Yeah, probably.
Another option would be for me to wait to see if a SPG consumer refer-a-friend offers return. If so, even though I can’t get a signup bonus for the card (since I’ve had it before), my wife could refer me to the SPG consumer card (she still has the card open) in order to pull down maybe 20K or so referral points. Then I’d wait for an upgrade offer to the SPG Luxury card. This option requires several pieces to fall into place, though, so I’m not betting on this approach.
I’m pretty sure that I’ll end up cancelling my Ritz card and getting the SPG Luxury card 31 days later.
What will you do?
Please comment below.
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[…] read this article regarding the rules of applying for any Marriott/SPG Card if you already have […]
this remains the most concise summary of the rules i’ve found anywhere. a belated thanks for such a helpful post.
Luckily I looked at this before applying for the luxury card. it looks like I have to wait another year since i just got the marriott biz last july 2017
Yep. Wait 24 months from the date when your Marriott Biz signup bonus posted to your Marriott account.
[…] Keep in mind the restrictions that are outlined here by Frequent Miler for the SPG/Marriott Cards: […]
[…] rules that begin 8/26 are complicated, so check out this post for full details: Navigating Marriott’s Byzantine Credit Card Rules. The basic idea is that you may not be eligible for a Chase Marriott welcome bonus if you have […]
greg. appreciate ur new chart, but its way more confusing. maybe its just me, but you really need different icons and a better legend. not talking shit, but im just saying the marriott table with words make a lot of sense vs ur chart.
for example, getting the lux card if you have the RC, u currently note a Hand Sign with 30 days. thats way more confusing. you can NOT currently hold the Ritz OR have cancelled the RC within the last 30 days, BUT its OK if u got the RC bonus within the past 24 months.
now, i dont get the last part. how can getting the RC bonus recently still be OK if its outside of the 30 day window? that must be a mistake. i expected RC bonus makes Lux bonus not eligible. or maybe i didnt read a recent update somewhere.
furthermore, the chart should talk about the potential 3 day window, but make it clear that its just a best guess. that optimistic view doesnt sit well with me because the bonus will come AFTER the 3 day window and after the CC approval which would make u ineligible for the bonus anyway. one could argue the CC was applied for and approved w/ old TC before aug 26th, but the reality is that all CC holders have the new rules apply on the 26th. nobody is grandfathered in. therefore, i dont understand that 3 day window bonus logic.
meaning, if u have the RC then app the Lux before aug 26th then meet spend ASAP, the RAT will see u already have the RC after the 26th. so no bonus. thats my thought.
anyway, i just wanted to mention that because ur chart is really useful but it needs some adjustment.
I appreciate the feedback. It’s likely that some people will find Marriott text descriptions easier to read, and others will find my chart easier to read. There’s nothing wrong with that.
The key explains what the hand 30 means. If you have RC, then cancel and wait 30 days before applying for Lux.
I don’t want to clutter the chart with the 3 day window. That wasn’t a known thing when I created the chart. The chart is supposed to be for the long run to explain which card bonuses you are eligible based on your history with other cards.
makes sense. appreciate the response greg and all that you publish. thank you.
[…] I published “Navigating Marriott’s Byzantine Credit Card Rules,” a week ago, I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to get the new […]
I have a SPG business card since March and have no Marriott cards. Reading off your chart, you are saying I have to wait 24 months to get the Marriott business? or are you saying I am eligible to get the Marriott business and may get the bonus if I apply before August 26?
Both of your statements are correct. If you apply before August 26th, you’ll be eligible for the bonus (if approved for the card). Otherwise you’ll have to wait 24 months from when your SPG card bonus posted
Great write up! How does this 30 day language work, on 8/26 will it immediately go back 30 days? I have SPG personal and had SPG biz in the past (over 2 years ago). Is my play to open the Marriott personal and biz now, before the 26th, and then SPG luxury when it comes out? Or will applying to the 2 marriott cards exclude me from the luxury for 24 months, even though I got them before these rules officially went into play?
The 30 day language kicks in on the 26th. If you apply on that day or later, you’ll have to have made sure you have cancelled the other card more than 30 days prior.
Yes, you could open the Marriott cards now (You would have to be under 5/24 to get the Marriott personal card though) and the SPG lux card on the 23rd.
What if you are signed up for these cards before August 26th but minimum spend is fulfilled and signup bonus points are actually issued after August 26th?
That’s fine. Your bonus eligibility will be based on the rules in effect at the time you apply
All totally pointless since it only focussed on the USA. These are international brands, why ignore the rest of the world?
[…] Link to Full Article on Marriott Cards […]
Ar one point or another, a number of years ago, I had an SPG Business card that I cancelled (back in 2014). Any idea if I would be able to get the “new” Welcome Bonus on this “new” card? Is it a product change for Amex, or will they hold it to the old rules (i.e. Not In Your Lifetime)?
I expect that it is not a product change, but you could always try and see if the application tells you that you are not eligible
I have the same question about the personal card. Closed my personal SPG on 2014. Now if I proceed to application, it’s showing me 75k bonus. Does that mean I’m eligible? If so, I’ll definitely try to get it before August 26, as I currently have the Ritz Card. Thanks so much Greg for making this nifty chart.
No I believe you have to complete the application in order to see if Amex warns you that you’re not eligible.
[…] helpful post: Navigating Marriott’s Byzantine Credit Card Rules. If only I had an intern to come up with nifty matrix things like […]
Two ways to go for lux if restricted.
1. Hopefully it comes out on the 18th and one would have a one week window before the restrictions take effect 26 Aug?
2. Get SPG personal now and product change when lux comes out.
Would the community weigh in on the viability of either?
Much appreciated!
I don’t think that #1 is at all likely to happen
Wow! Great job with the chart, Greg. Distills down the complicated dependencies into a nice little look-up table. I won’t be surprised if Marriott makes a copy to give their credit card partners as training material since it is easier to use than their own descriptions 😀
Thanks!
Excellent chart , thank you
I am wondering if I would be eligible to get any of these cards under circumstances saying that I am ineligible if I am willing to forego the sign up bonus.
I am also wondering if having received a sign up bonus for a Canadian credit card, either the spg one or the now defunct American one makes me ineligible in the same way that the similar American credit card would.
Thank you
Yes, you should be able to get each card if you’re not worried about the welcome bonus. I don’t know the answer regarding the Canadian card.
Thanks for the chart! At least I understand what I would need to do to get a new Marriott card.
I can’t see how this complicated of a system works out well for Marriott. Example: If a person was a SPG frequent guest, because of their employer, it would be a natural for them to have a Amex SPG. So after the merger/new program, this person wants the new Chase card. Unwittingly to most guests, they would get denied. Now, how is that good business? Remember Marriott makes money off the points they sell to Amex/Chase.
I just don’t see how this is going to be good for any of the stakeholders. It is too complicated! The only reason I have a legacy SPG card was for the points transfers. I can’t see myself going out of my way to stay at these properties to earn less useful Marriott points. My employer ended their contract with SPG. Now all the discounts are very much property specific. I think Marriott is going to end the mile transfers. I know they say there are more partners, yadda, yadda….but Marriott is a cheapskate organization. After a while, like a year, Marriott will see that this new program is costing them too much. And the cuts will start. This complicated system for getting a credit card is not a good beginning.
Does the 90/24 designation also require that you no longer hold the card like the 24 month designation?
Strangely, no, it doesn’t have that requirement (at least that requirement isn’t listed in Marriott’s charts).
Within the last month I CHANGED my Marriott Reward card to the new Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card. I was wondering if this is considered “getting a new card” and therefore doesn’t allow me to apply for any cards to get new bonuses. I wouldn’t have done the “upgrade” if I would have realized as I didn’t get any bonus for the “lateral move.” I assumed this was “required” as I got a postcard and think an email. Thanks
We don’t know the answer yet. If it did count as a new account, you would only have to wait 91 days before applying for new cards. The real issue is whether you received an upgrade bonus. If so, you have to wait 24 months after receiving the bonus.
Thanks for the response. I did not get any bonus. Does customer service at Marriott Rewards know the answer to my question/concerns as well as other questions I see posted on your site?
In general, no, I wouldn’t expect Marriott customer service to know the answers. Worse, some will act like they know the answers but they’ll be wrong. A Chase customer service agent might know the answer to your specific question. It may be worth asking them
I think I may have a good shot of acquiring the SPG Luxury Card bonus through “don’t complete welcome bonus spend requirement” on my Marriott Premier card.
I opened my Marriott Premier card on June 4, but it got lost in the mail and Chase agreed to extend my bonus spending date until Sept. 27. So theoretically, I should be able to open the SPG Luxury Card after Sept. 5 (90 days after opening the Marriott Premier), and still qualify for the bonus as I hadn’t yet received it, and then complete the spending on my Marriott Premier card? Thoughts?
Sounds right to me
Thanks for the chart and going over everything! You’re the best!
Thanks!
This is just for intro offer right? Got the Ritz for its platinum status in the new program and want SPG lux. Am willing to get it and eat the opportunity of getting the sign up bonus.
Correct
Is the restriction 24 months after you received the bonus? Or 24 months after you applied and were accepted for that card?
24 months after you receive the bonus
All good. Because of all the various Amex and Chase rules before these new Marriott rules I’m not eligible for any other Marriott cards anyway. The only one I can get from the list is the luxury. I already have five Amex ccs and won’t go down to four until next year. By then the sign up bonus might go down. Similarly, Marriott might do their annual category hotel bumping so at least that would give me a fair idea of how useful the card will be for my situation.
There is a typo in the first sentence. The word should be eligible. FYI
Oops! Fixed. Thanks!
I have SPG personal and have had SPG Biz. I really wanted to like the SPG Luxury card, but to me it’s pretty meh. It’s a much worse value prop than the Aspire, for example. 125k for $5k spend is not very exciting. I think I will wait and see if their launch flops and they are forced to up the offer.
Also, I posted elsewhere about possibility of bypassing rules by a) applying without loyalty#, and b) changing your loyalty acct address. Marriott will not have your SSN, so they can only go by name, address, and loyalty #. I don’t see how they could disqualify you on name alone.
I find the 125K offer pretty compelling. With points worth around .75 cents each, that’s almost $1,000 in hotel stays.
Good point about using a new number and address. That might work.
I am printing out your chart – you are THE BEST!! Thank you for simplifying yet more Marriott mayhem.
Thanks!
Got a SM re: 20k referral bonus saying 30 day wait after statement close and am getting the run around on a Prem+ 100k. Do you think Chase or Marriott are purposefully dragging their feet or are they just overwhelmed with activity? Every other bonus I’ve gotten with Marriott/RC has posted 1-7 days after statement close.
I don’t know
I applied for the Marriott Premier Rewards card in March. The offer was 120K points for spending $12,000 within one year. The 120K points don’t come as a lump sum, but every month as I spend. Does it still count as sign up bonus for the purpose of qualifying for SPG Lux?
Probably. Read the exclusions in the chart above.
It does not say that you are excluded if you received a sign up bonus — it says that if you received a Welcome Bonus within the last 24 months.
A Welcome bonus likely refers to any bonus you received when being a new applicant. Chase offered an unprecedented offer of 10 points/$ for spend.
It all likely hinges on whether or not they pay attention to your signing up for the card, or your spend that might identify something as an out of the ordinary lump sum. The former, no dice, the latter, you may slip through.
Obviously, no one will have a clear cut answer for you here.
Sit back and see what develops.
I agree with Hadley. It will probably look like you received a welcome bonus every month. On the other hand, that particular offer was structured more like an enhanced category bonus (10X everywhere), so maybe it won’t look like a welcome bonus at all. What does the activity look like in your Marriott account? If the awarded points look exactly like regular credit card spend points, you’re probably good to go.
Ps #4) Super important: would I still get to keep my new platinum status in the new program bc of the ritz card? I get Plat status bc of this card Aug 1, 18, or 26? Confused now!….is the spg lux card going to morph over as platinum status?
4) I believe you would still get Platinum, but you might want to keep the card open until August 19th to make sure that everything is OK. If there are any issues with them assigning status correctly it might be awkward to have to say “well, I had the Ritz card for a few days…”
5) The SPG Lux card won’t be available until after the 18th, so it doesn’t help to get to Platinum status except with $75K spend.
Thanks for all the replies! Helpful!
I currently have the ritz card, just got it a month or so ago. So, if we cancel the Ritz: 1) What happens to my current category 1-4 certs and club level upgrades? Would I get to keep those? 2) Am I going to get flagged from chase as a churner? 3) How long do you think the spg lux bonus will be available for since I would need to wait my 30 days since cancelling Ritz? I’m most concerned about #1!!!
1) Certs and upgrades that are already in your account should stay in your account even if you cancel (I believe)
2) Not if this is the only one that you cancel soon after signing up, but if you’ve done it a number of times, then yes probably.
3) I don’t know. My hope is that 125K will be the standard offer, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it drop to 100K
Let’s say I have the SPG personal card (which will no longer be as valuable for otherwise unbonused spend) and want the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus. Your very nifty chart says I must/should “wait 30 days after cancelling or product changing.” Assuming I’m under 5/24, it appears this means I have two options: (1) cancel my SPG card, wait 30 days and then apply for the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus – assuming I’m under 5/24 or (2) product change my SPG card, wait 30 days and then apply for the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus card. If I want to go the second route, what should I product change my SPG card to?
I believe that the only product change option from SPG will be SPG Lux. If you product change to that, though, you will never be able to get the welcome bonus for the Lux card. Probably better to cancel SPG in this example.
First paragraph. Illegible? A customer who is unreadable? 😉
Do customers have to wait for Aug. 18th to book SPG hotels with Marriott nights + flights packages?
You can (and should) buy a travel package now, but you can’t redeem the stay certificate for SPG properties until August 18th (practically, I wouldn’t try on the 18th or 19th. Wait for things to settle). Also note that we have no idea which category package you should buy now to be able to get the SPG property you want. It’s a gamble since we don’t know how current categories will get mapped to new categories.
Thanks Greg for the reply. Any update to Nick’s 60% chance of getting a full point conversion on old (current) style certificates? Seems like a mighty generous proposition. Marriott will prob balk at that and just throw in free breakfast or a room upgrades to smooth over non-elites. Elites will prob get the corresponding category value of where the preponderance hotels within the old category cert lines up with the new chart. The Domes of Elouda strategy is wishful thinking.
No news. If we learn anything more we’ll post it. For the record, I posted 60% and Nick, via comments, promised something like 68%.
Are we confident that Marriott can tell the difference between a retention offer and an upgrade/sign-ups bonus on the SPG cards? With retention offer amounts so variable, I would expect at least some retention offers would appear as upgrade/sign-ups bonuses and disqualify people despite not being included in the terms.
I’m sure that the banks can tell the difference so I’d expect them to share that info with Marriott. In other words, I wouldn’t expect a retention offer to reset any clocks
I just looked up how SPG coded retention vs new member bonus for the AmEx cards and it looks like they are distinct descriptions, so should be recognizable in a data pull by Marriott (believe Marriott/SPG will be doing the verifying, not the banks):
SPG AX LOYAL BNS (OTHER) CNSMR
SPG AX NEW MBR SPEND BONUS-CSR
So, looks like they should be able to tell the difference!
I can’t get any more Chase cards right now, and have gotten a welcome bonus on the SPG consumer, SPG business, and Marriott business cards within the last 24 months so I’m not eligible for the SPG Lux. My wife doesn’t have any Marriott or SPG cards, so I’ll probably have her apply for the SPG Lux when it becomes available. After that, I’m moving on. I’m not loyal enough to any one hotel brand to deal with navigating all of these rules. I’ll try Hyatt if Chase will approve me for it, or Hilton.
I ran through a lot of these options myself as you have done, and about midway through I had this thought…why am I wasting my time with this because these cards all kind of stink now anyway because of the gutting of the earning rate. So ultimately for me it is just boiling down to a sign up bonus and an annual limited category free night for roughly a hundred bucks a yr, which hardly feels worth expending any more of my energy on.
LOL, good point. On the other hand, a 125K bonus is especially appealing this year since it could be used to book two nights anywhere until Marriott introduces category 8 and peak pricing in early 2019
Completely agree about ditching the Marriott cards for non-bonus spend. Marriott is figuring a lot of people won’t use their cards as much since the earnings rate went down & will instead rely on the big new-card bonuses – they are, of course, trying to tighten that up as the main vehicle for award stays.
I don’t like all the new restrictions & issuing bank collusion, either, Marriott is, however, now the world’s largest hotel operator (& owner of wonderful Starwood properties), so I think it’s important to still maintain a cache of MRs. I guess that now involves keeping a flowchart at hand to implememt best practices!
Great post! That chart is so helpful. Thank you!
I canceled my ritz card a few months ago, when the annual fee hit, so I am looking at the SPG Luxury card… but have to wait till October, since I received a bonus on my Marriott biz card almost 2 years ago.
I could qualify for the SPG Lux card but currently have the regular SPG and Marriott cards. I think I’ll take a wait and see approach but if I had to pull the trigger I’d apply for the LUX card in August and hold the others to wait for upgrade offers. Even with these rules in place they may send out upgrade offers which you could document through the process. They’ve also made it so complicated many may just wait them out and see how these rules hurt marketing. They may relent later. I’d look to the Amex side to cave first as Chase seems worse for rules. Although I don’t trust either bank much. The new account scenario above won’t work as they will likely track this by SS number, email address and physical address.
I don’t think that it’s likely that anyone will relent. The rules are probably baked into a complicated three-way agreement between Chase, Marriott, and Amex. Also, I don’t think that the banks can legally share your SSN with Marriott, but maybe they’ll share a one-way hash of it (which would have the same result)
You don’t think there will be occasional offers similar to Amex mailers with no lifetime language?
Sure. One-off offers are possible.