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Chase has come out with an interesting new offer on the Marriott Boundless Card. New applicants receive a $300 Marriott Gift Card on approval and an additional 75,000 points after spending $3,000 on the card with the first 3 months. This is a step above the current public 100K offer assuming that you can use the $300 gift card (which hopefully you can if you’re thinking about a Marriott card).
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 |
Are You Eligible For A Marriott Card?
| Card You Want | |||||||
| Cards You've Had (Or Recently Applied For) | Chase Bonvoy Bold | Chase Bonvoy Boundless | Chase Bonvoy Bountiful | Amex Bonvoy Business | Amex Bonvoy Brilliant | Amex Bonvoy Bevy | |
| Chase | Ritz Carlton | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠30 | |
| Bonvoy ($45 card) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Bonvoy Premier | ⚠24 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ||
| Bonvoy Bold | ✅ | ⚠90 ⚠24 | ⚠30 ⚠90 ⚠24 | ||||
| Bonvoy Boundless | ✅ | ||||||
| Bonvoy Bountiful | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠24 | ||||
| Bonvoy Business ($45 card) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠30 | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Bonvoy Premier Plus Business | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠90 ⚠24 | ⚠30 | ||
| Amex | Bonvoy | ⚠30 | ⚠30 ⚠90 ⚠24 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | |
| Bonvoy Business | ⚠90 ⚠24 | ⛔ | ✅ | ✅ | |||
| Bonvoy Bevy | ✅ | ✅ | ⛔ | ||||
| Bonvoy Brilliant | ✅ | ⛔ | ⛔ | ||||
| Eligibility Key | |
| ✅ | You are eligible for this card and welcome bonus |
| ⚠30 | Your are not eligible for a welcome bonus if you have had the card on the left within the past 30 days |
| ⚠24 | You will not be approved if you currently have or if you've received a welcome bonus in the past 24 months for the card on the left |
| ⚠90 ⚠24 | You are not eligible for a welcome bonus if you were approved for the card on the left within the past 90 days; or if you've received a welcome or upgrade bonus in the past 24 months. |
| ⚠30 ⚠90 ⚠24 | You are not eligible for a welcome bonus if you've had the card on the left within the past 30 days; or if you were approved for it within the past 90 days; or if you've received a welcome bonus or upgrade bonus for it in the past 24 months. |
| ⛔ | You are not eligible for a welcome bonus if you've ever had this card before (but the system seems to "forget" that you've had the card about 5 to 7 years after you cancel) |
Quick Thoughts
Chase has rolled out an interesting spectrum of welcome offers on the Boundless card over the last few year and this seems like one of the better ones. Comparing it to the widely available 100K offer boils down to whether or not you’d rather have a $300 gift card or 25K additional points. Based on the current RRV for Marriott points of 0.8 cents, 25,000 Marriott Points is worth ~$200 (note that the difference is not quite 25K points, because you would earn at least 3300 points when spending the $300 card at a Marriott). For us, this makes the $300 gift card + 75K the better offer. We’re continuing to list a link to the 100K offer on the best offers page, for those who prefer the flexibility that a higher points balance allows.
Last year, Marriott added a new slate of bonus categories for the Boundless card, including 3x on dining, grocery and gas. This can take away some of the sting of having to put $3K of non-Marriott spend on the card (also sweetened by an additional elite night credit after $5,000 in spend)
There is an odd asterisk in the terms of the gift card portion of the T&C:
- “The value of this offer or program may result in miscellaneous income received from Chase and Chase may be required to send you, and file with the IRS, a Form 1099-MISC (Miscellaneous Income) or Form 1042-S (Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding) for the year in which you participate and are awarded the benefits of the offer/program. You are responsible for any tax liability related to participating in the offer/program.”
This could be worth thinking about if deciding between this and the more widely available 100K offer. Since the gift card is earned on approval, it could be that Chase has decided that they are going to consider it income rather than a spend-based rebate. The language is vague/non-commital, so it’s hard to know whether or not it’s more of a CYA addendum or something they actually plan on sending to everyone. But it’s worth noting and deciding what an additional $300 in income might do to your income tax liability. The 100K offer will almost certainly not be subject to a 1099.
Chase ran this same offer around the same time last year and I haven’t heard any DP’s of folks receiving a 1099, but any DP’s would be appreciated.
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I applied for this and got the bonus (met the spending requirements), but I didn’t get the $300 gift card. How do I get access to it?
So just to make sure I understand this correctly.
I opened the Amex Bonvoy Business and Amex Bonvoy Brilliant on 10/24/21 which means I would not qualify for this Chase offer right?
nvm. I thought Chase rule was based on only Chase cards but I guess its every card.
Post is late to the game on this offer and ignores the referral offer for 3 free 50K nights — see Monkey Miles.
Would you mind posting a link to your great post about the complicated “which marriott cards can you get” chart? I can’t find it anywhere. Thanks.
I assume that since I have the Ritz card I can’t get this one, but wanted to be sure.
Absolutely. I just added it to the post and you can find it here as well.
Thanks so much! It appears that my Ritz and Amex Biz (fka SPG biz) are not deal breakers, since I’ve had the latter for many years. That is great news. I’m at that nice, rare under 5/24 sweet spot and looking around for the best use of that slot. This one bears looking at.
Any recommendations on how to use the gift card? It can’t book stays so what is the usage?
Where did you see that it can’t be used to book stays?
At the gift cards terms, very clear and upfront. Only can be used to pay while staying at the property.
The Marriott® eGiftCard may be redeemed at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® globally, except for Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts, Design Hotels™, Homes & Villas by Marriott International™, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club®, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. The Marriott® eGiftCard cannot be used to secure a reservation.
It doesn’t say that you can’t use it for stays. It just says you can’t use it to secure a reservation (ie, instead of a credit card in case of no-show). You just use it to pay when you check out for anything, including room charges.
You can find the full Marriott GC terms here. It states:
is the egiftcard tied to the cardholder, or just generic?
egiftcard not tied. I received a 1099 for the $300 — I think the only reason Chase sent me 1099s was because I also received 35K UR points in referral bonuses last year (valued at $350) which exceeded $600. Not sure if I would have gotten any 1099s if my combined “money” was under $600. @Tim Steinke
Terms p.2 said:
“Card may NOT be used for deposit, advance purchase or to secure or confirm a reservation.”
So effectively you need to prepay/reserve your stay with a credit card, and MAYBE, MAYBE at the end of your stay the property will let you use a gift card to cover incidentals/food.
That’s a bad deal in my book – if I can’t use brand gift card for booking brand hotels.
Plus certain hotels don’t accept gift cards per terms too.
Did anyone get a 1099 for this $300 eGift card?
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I can’t find the expiration date on the $300 gift card. Is there one ?
No, there isn’t an expiration for Marriott GC.
Marriott is really not worth it. Go for the Hilton card.
The 35,000 or 50,000 free night is difficult to use. It seems all the hotels free nights are either 40,000 or 60,000. Just out of reach or the free night.
If you’re going to focus on one program, I don’t disagree with you, especially with dynamic pricing on the horizon for Marriott. In regards to those certs you have already, shortly you’ll be able to add up to 15,000 points to top up the value of each cert…so a 35,000 pt certificate will be redeemable for anything up to 50,000 pts by topping up the additonal points from your account. Should make it drastically easier to burn ’em.