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Some Marriott Bonvoy members have been reporting this week that they have received a targeted email offer for There is a new fantastic public increased welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card: earn five free night certificates (each valid for a night costing up to 50K points per night) after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. This can be a terrific offer for someone able to maximize the use of the free night certificates.
The Offer & Key Card Details
Click the card name below to go to our dedicated card page for more information and to find a link to apply.
| 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
We have a methodology for determining the value of free night certificates for the purpose of calculating the first-year value of new card offers (which sometimes include free night certificates as is the case with this targeted offer). See Credit card welcome bonus estimation details.
In this case, here’s the math:
- 50K (max value of certificate) x 0.8 (our fudge factor to account for the fact that certificates expire in a year and aren’t as flexible as points since you can split a single certificate to pay for multiple nights, etc) x 0.8 (our Reasonable Redemption Value for Marriott points = $320
In other words, we estimate the value of a 50K free night certificate to be around $320 with an average level of effort to put it to good use. It is sometimes possible to get far more value out of 50K free night certificates (I have often used them on nights that would have otherwise cost more than $500), but if you’ll look for a decent use it shouldn’t be hard to get at least $1,600 in value from the five free nights from this offer. That’s a terrific return on spend.
This is a potentially fantastic offer, but if you are considering applying, you have to keep in mind the downsides of free night certificates: they expire in a year (Marriott has usually been good about extending them for a second year upon request, but that’s never guaranteed) and they are not as flexible as points (for example, a single 50K free night certificate could not be used for two nights that cost 25K points per night each).
Still, with the ability to top off a certificate with up to 15K additional points, it should be possible to get a really nice stay with these certificates. With travel booming and hotel prices skyrocketing, these certs should be able to save you a fair chunk of change.
All that said, keep in mind that Amex and Chase have a complicated matrix whereby having or getting one card will prevent you from getting another card, etc. Still, if you’re eligible, this offer is pretty hard to ignore. And if you were hoping to eventually end up with a Ritz card, this would seem like a great offer to jump on now with an eye to upgrade after a year has passed. If you are eligible for this offer, it’s worth a thought.
H/T: Members of our Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group
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Is this deal dead? I just clicked through to sign up, and I get an error, and I only see 3 nights on the chase page when I seek it out.
[…] seen this offer mentioned on Frequent Miler blog a few days ago and decided it deserves a separate post. So, what’s the deal? The current […]
I wish they would just give the 250,000 points instead.
Is the eligibility for the bonus, or for the card if one has the Brilliant? Not sure if I want to waste a 5/24 slot to get a card to try to then upgrade in a year to the Ritz, but curious
Also crap… got waitlisted for review, forgot to unlock my credit accounts prior to applying so hopefully just another identity confirmation via snail mail.
Hi Frequent Miler team, I heard from my experienced points player friend to better wait a bit to apply, to make sure it’s really a public offer otherwise Chase might claw back the sign up bonus. Is there any validity in that statement? Thanks guys.
Probably not a real thing on this one or they would have pulled it already given that links went out on CNBC mid last week in addition to the usual subjects of travel blogs but just my $.02
That makes sense, thanks for your input.
@NickReyes – Odd question for you. Thinking about getting this and the Bonvoy Brilliant. The chart says this seems like a no go. Is there a way I can’t see?
My first thought was since one is chase and the other Amex if I open them both in quick succession would that be a workaround?
I still find it odd that rules cross banks in the marriott world.
Hi! Thanks for the info! And thanks for being such a reliable source in the points & miles travel blogosphere!
I have a question about something I read elsewhere. IS IT accurate that a person who applied for and was approved for an Amex business version of a Marriott Bonvoy credit card about one year ago would NOT be eligible to apply for and receive the promotional 5 night card opening bonus on this Chase Marriott Bonvoy personal card.
Thanks in advance for answering!
I have Boundless now which is a result of a downgrade from Ritz card. Have not received a bonus on Boundless in > 24 months.
If I upgrade my current Boundless to Ritz, can I turn around and apply for new Boundless and be eligible for SUB? Do I need to wait some time between the upgrade and new application?
Can someone confirm that the certificates are awarded after reaching the $5k spending requirement or is it after the full 3 month period (assuming you already hit the 5k)?
Have two certificates I would need to use in June. Thanks!
I signed up last year for the same offer in July, and got the certificates at the end of August after completing the spend.
So you should be good.
Thanks for the info, much appreciated
Referral links only give 3 certificates, not 5. Has anyone been able to generate the 5-certificate offer via referral? Or get Chase to match to that offer after approval?
Are the 5 free nights eligible for the 15,000 points top up? For example, if I find a property available for 60,000 points can I use one of the free nights with a 10,000 points in my Bonvoy account?
Yes
When does renewal annual cert hit, one year after application or a bit later? Seems important to plan especially with long term plan to upgrade to the valuable Ritz.
Hey Nick, do you know how long is this offer good till? I still have the legacy SPG card from AMEX which the consumer AMEX Bonvoy card. And I know I need to cancel and wait 30days in order to sign up for this to earn the SUB. Do you think I will have enough time?
You can freeze your credit report and that will hold the app in pending for 30ish days. Then call recon. So cancel amex spg, freeze credit reports, wait 3-5 days, then apply, will get auto rejected but the 5 cert offer will be attached to the application in case they pull the offer early, wait for 30 day mark from closing amex spg BUT LESS than 30 days from Chase app, then unfreeze, and call recon. The window you have depends on how long you think the 5 cert offer will stick around.
Thanks for the advice!
Not saying this won’t work, but possible it may not unless you’ve tried this before or there are other DP’s. I would assume that the eligibility check for the bonus happens at the time of the initial application and you may get the “you’re not eligible for the bonus, do you want to proceed with the application anyway” message. While calling recon will have them recheck your credit suitability, do we know that they will also recheck your SUB eligibility from the point that you call as opposed to the time of application? Especially if you’ve acknowledged that you’re not getting the bonus to proceed with the application.
The relevant terms say “The new cardmember bonus is not available to you if (1) you currently have or had any of the following cards within the last 30 days: Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card, The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express”. Therefore I would conclude(again just my understanding, so ymmv) that if you have something from amex that has account CLOSED DATE AND then some from Chase that has your new account OPEN DATE, assuming 30 days in between, I would count both starting and ending so maybe 31-32, you should be fine. If there are any problems, since you’ve clearly documented the open and close dates with 30 days in between and they don’t give you the bonus after hitting MSR, then I’d CFPB/AG them. I don’t say go the CFPB/AG route often, but here I think I’d be a slamdunk case.
Are you eligible for the 5th night free when using the certificates?
No, only when using all points