Yes, the Ritz card is now the best value Marriott card

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In Tim’s post on Thursday, he covered the changes to the lineup of Marriott credit cards. Buried deep within that detailed post, some readers may have missed the golden nugget: the no-longer-available-to-new-applicants (but likely still-available-via-product-change) Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite Card is without a doubt the best value in the Marriott credit card lineup (some will no doubt find the Brilliant card worthwhile, but in my opinion the Ritz card offers the most objectively strong value proposition). I think Ritz cardholders made out very well with the current changes — and those with other Marriott cards might want to consider product changing at the right time. I have two separate opinions as to when that time is that I’ll cover within this post.

a close up of a credit card

Ritz card gets the new 85K free night cert, keeps the old annual fee

The exciting news for the Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite card is that the Ritz card’s annual free night certificate is getting an upgrade: moving forward, the card will get an annual 85K free night certificate rather than the previous 50K free night certificate (to be clear, this will only apply to newly-issued certificates moving forward, not retroactively to already-issued certificates). What makes that all the more exciting is that the annual fee will not increase on the Ritz card.

As a reminder, the annual fee on the Ritz card is $450 (some cardholders who opened the card years ago when it was still available for new applicants may pay even less; my Ritz card was grandfathered into a $395 annual fee). The card comes with a $300 annual travel credit that can be used for a pretty wide array of travel charges. I’ve used mine for baggage and seating fees on many low-cost carriers (both in the US and Europe) among other things. See this post for other things that have been credited, but keep in mind that it is very agent-dependent since you do need to call or send a secure message to apply your credits to qualifying charges.

Ritz cardholders will not get the additional elite nights being offered on the newly-enhanced Brilliant card, nor will Ritz cardholders get other benefits afforded to Brilliant cardholders like automatic Platinum Elite status or the annual choice award with big spend. Those things certainly may be worthwhile for some folks.

Still, for someone who stays enough nights each year to already reach Platinum status (and therefore not need it granted by virtue of holding the Brilliant card), the Ritz card will likely have a more compelling value proposition. Even if you only value the annual travel credits at 80% of their face value, you’re getting an 85K annual free night certificate for a net “cost” of $210 after you factor in the value of the travel credits.

To product change to the Ritz card, you would need a Chase Marriott card that has been open for at least a year (Chase typically won’t let you product change before you’ve had your card open for a year). Given the ability to product change to the Ritz card, I’m not sure why one would want to pay $250 per year for the mid-tier Marriott Bountiful card over product changing to the Ritz card (whether that means product changing your existing Marriott card or opening a new Bountiful card and product changing a year from opening). The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful requires $15,000 per year in spend to get a 50K free night certificate whereas the Ritz card offers an annual 85K free night certificate at less net cost (after travel credits) and without the required spend. When you additionally consider the excellent travel protections and Priority Pass offered on the Ritz card, it is clearly a better value proposition long-term.

The $250 cards are a confusing disappointment

a hotel entrance with a street and a building

While Tim covered this, it’s worth reiterating that the $250 cards just aren’t nearly as good a value long-term as either the $95 cards or the Ritz card. I am almost completely befuddled by the new Bonvoy Bevy and Bonvoy Bountiful cards. Not only is this naming convention impossible for anyone but a full-time blogger to follow (and even then I have to keep triple checking my work because I am confused), but the benefits here make little sense from a consumer standpoint.

I fully understand why Chase and Marriott are trying the free night certificate on the $250 card to annual spend. Clearly, they want to give you a reason to use the card rather than get it and put it in a sock drawer.

But I have to wonder what they were thinking here. The target market on the $250 card has to be people who were already willing to pay $95 per year but who were not previously willing to pay $450 (the old annual fee on the premium card, now $650). I have a hard time imagining who among that group that wasn’t willing to shell out $450 wants to shell out an additional $155 over the cost of a $95 credit card and not get an automatic annual free night certificate like they would with the $95 card? I just don’t see where the selling point is for that group. Sure, the mid-tier card has some 4x categories, but 4x Marriott points isn’t a leading return even within those categories, so committing $15K spend each year even if entirely within the 4x categories comes at some cost versus the best alternatives.

And for new cardholders who have never had a Marriott card — for example, the business traveler who stays in Marriott hotels because the company reimburses their stays but who probably isn’t fluent in rewards credit cards — imagine the prospect when someone says “You can get Card A for $95 and get a free night every year that’s very easy to use for more than $95 in value or you can pay $250 for one of these other cards and you also need to spend $15,000 every year on the card in order to get a free night that should probably be more valuable than the $250 annual fee”. I just don’t find it intuitive or simple enough for the target market to realize the value (and indeed it require some effort even for advanced credit card enthusiasts to get better value out of the $250 cards than the $95 card).

To be clear, I do think that a 50K free night certificate can be worth much more than $250, but you’ll need to work a bit to find situations where it’s worth more. Conversely, a 35K free night certificate (like the annual free night certificate that comes with the $95 Bonvoy Boundless card) is very easy to use for more than $95 value. Even if you burn that certificate at a fairly suboptimal airport hotel for a quick overnight before or after a flight, there’s a good chance you can get better than $95 in value without trying very hard. Using the 50K certificate to better-than-$250-value certainly isn’t impossible, but it requires more effort at maximization.

Again, I think the problem they are trying to solve is people who get a card and sock drawer it for the free night. Obviously Chase moved away from that model with the World of Hyatt business card and clearly they are going for a continuation of the spend-for-a-free-night model, but it just seems backwards to introduce that model on the mid-tier card. The Bountiful doesn’t feel more premium than the Boundless (nor does it sound more premium now that I type that sentence out).

When to product change

a close up of a calendar

The big question for current Boundless or Bold cardholders who want the Ritz card is when to product change your from your Marriott Boundless or Bold card to a Ritz card. My understanding (as Tim noted the other day) is that your anniversary year will change upon product change and your first annual free night certificate will come a year from the date you product change.

That means that if you just recently received your most recent free night certificate on your Bonvoy Boundless card, now is a great time to product change if you determine that you want the Ritz card (keeping in mind Marriott’s really complicated rules in terms of how Ritz card acquisition will affect your ability to earn welcome bonuses on other Marriott card(s) you might want).

On the other hand, if you are due to soon receive your next annual 35K free night certificate on your Boundless card, you probably want to wait until after that certificate is issued before changing to the Ritz card. If you change to the Ritz card now (before your next 35K cert), you’ll end up missing out on that certificate and waiting for a year from today to receive your first Ritz cert. Better to get your 35K cert first and then product change to the Ritz so that next year’s cert is an 85K cert.

But what about everybody else who is somewhere in the middle of the cycle? The answer here is not so clear.

Chase has a long history of keeping alive cards that are no longer available to new applicants. Many of us still have Chase Ink Plus cards or various old United Presidential-type cards or IHG cards, all of which haven’t been available to new applicants for years. However, a common thread on a number of those no-longer-available cards is that, in many cases, they are no longer available for product changes, either. In other words, if you still have your Chase Ink Plus card (as I do), Chase has allowed you to keep your card and its benefits. However, you can’t product change a Chase Ink Cash or Ink Business Preferred to an Ink Plus — that hasn’t been possible for years.

Could the same thing happen to the Ritz card where it still exists for those who have the card, but it stops being available as a product change option? I don’t know. Part of me thinks that both Chase and Amex must have insisted on keeping product changes possible in order to keep alive their respective card portfolios on cards they can no longer issue new (in Amex’s case, the old $95 SPG card became an Amex Marriott Bonvoy card that is still a product change option from the Brilliant and on the Chase side you have the Ritz as a product change option from the lower-tier consumer cards). But on the other hand, if the Ritz card cannibalizes the market for the $250 Bountiful card, I wonder if and when Chase and/or Marriott might pull the plug on product changes. I really don’t know which way it will go.

The third option is that the Ritz card’s annual fee could increase. I can’t think of a precedent for that on a no-longer-available Chase card, but neither would it shock me if the Ritz card hangs around long-term as a product change option.

Mathematically, you’re better off waiting for your next free night certificate before product changing, but since the availability of the Ritz upgrade will never be guaranteed, I could see some jumping the gun and upgrading to the Ritz in the here and now for the long-term prospect of an 85K free night certificate for a great value considering the card’s $300 in travel credits against its $450 annual fee (and other benefits). To be clear, that might turn out to be a poor decision if the Ritz card’s annual fee is increased, but assuming it stays the same as it has so far, it could make sense.

In my case, I’m split on what to do. I currently have a Ritz card and both my wife and I have other Chase Marriott cards that could be upgraded to a Ritz card. I’m somewhat tempted to try an upgrade to a second Ritz card for the purpose of having two annual 85K free night certificates in my household, enabling us to get a two-night stay each year at a high-end Marriott property (which I find much more useful than a single free night). My wife’s anniversary free night is several weeks away from posting and old Marriott card is in the middle of the cardmember year. I’m not sure which we’ll upgrade, but I think it’s fairly likely that we’ll upgrade one of them to a Ritz card to have two high-end certs in the household. Whether I wait that out until November on her card or I upgrade mine mid-year remains to be seen.

Bottom line

The Ritz card got a lot more valuable this week with no increase in its annual fee. Moving forward, the card is scheduled to keep the same annual fee ($450 for most cardholders, including those who product change now) but receive an annual 85K free night certificate rather than the 50K certificate previously awarded on that card. Given the card has $300 in annual travel credits, the 85K certificate is quite a win before even considering the best-in-class travel protections and Priority Pass that exist on the Ritz card. While the Ritz card is no longer available to new applicants, it is still available as a product change option as far as I know and while you need to carefully consider how a product change will affect your eligibility for other card bonuses if you want other Marriott credit cards, I think a product change will definitely make sense for people who highly covet the 85K free night certificate.

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84 Comments
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Harry

Hey I got the ritz carlton card back in 2016 but didn’t see the value of it so I closed it. But now looking back, I wish I didn’t close it, will it still have the 2016 membership like the AF of 395 or 450?

I have 6 personal chase cards, across my account is in the low $20K. How do I get chase to extend more credit to me? Thanks!

Last edited 2 months ago by Harry
Barry

Does Ritz still get you and a guest access to Chase Sapphire lounges?

Jt1

Yes

[…] Frequent Miler – Yes, the Ritz card is now the best value Marriott card […]

Mike

Just got my ritz card! The chase Marriott $250 I thought was worth it as they gave me 1000 points for every stay as a bonus… I stayed 52 nights my first year with the card…

john

On the timing of upgrade and getting free certs… My Boundless anniversary is March, and had the card for a few years. I upgraded to Ritz October 2022 on the news of the 85k cert. 6 months later in March 2023 I received my old 35k cert, and the new 85k cert on the same day. This was a pleasant surprise in that I received both certs, but also that I received the 85k cert based off my original anniversary date, not the October date when I upgraded.

Cal

Hi, when did they charge you the RC 450 annual fee? I upgraded in late March 2023 and it’s July. No annual fee charged. Not the 450 RC or the 95 Boundless.

john

Looks like I was charged the annual fee in Feb 2023 (which was probably my actual Boundless anniversary date). On my October 2022 statement I received a pro-rated refund on the Boundless $95 annual fee.

john

So in summary, my experience shows that you may get lucky if you upgrade to the Ritz if you’re within 6 months of your old Marriott card anniversary date. Since mine spanned calendar years, I also got the benefit of using the $300 travel credit in the first calendar year before the annual fee posted in the next calendar year.

Ric

After the initial year in which Chase won’t let you product change, are you free to product change more frequently?

I got the Boundless less than a year ago and was waiting for the 24 months before I will be eligible for the Amex sign up bonus. Considering changing to the RC card as soon as I can, then downgrading 30 days before I’m ready to apply for an Amex.

Cal

Only thing is if this card came with Platinum rather than Gold status, then I would consider it. Even the Aspire with the same annual fee of 450 gives their top status, plus a free night certificate with no ceiling even on the first opening of the card.

Mary Jane

I signed up for the Boundless in July. Anybody have success product changing to the Ritz a month before the anniversary date (or a day or two before the actual anniversary date) and receiving an 85K certificate on the actual anniversary date (instead of the 35K ngt)? I don’t see any data points on this. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Mike

No I had to wait for the full year and actually about 3 weeks so 55 weeks … of the previous card. They said I was eligible but they system wouldn’t let me do it… after 3 weeks they got it to go!

Lochquel

Should be a year and a day. PC’d to Ritz myself from Bold that way in 2023 here.

Bret

The article above notes the following: “If you change to the Ritz card now (before your next 35K cert), you’ll end up missing out on that certificate and waiting for a year from today to receive your first Ritz cert. Better to get your 35K cert first and then product change to the Ritz so that next year’s cert is an 85K cert.” I had a fairly good feeling when I read this comment that it was incorrect based on my previous experiences, but no recent datapoint to point to. So I decided to test my theory and updated my Marriott card to the Ritz in December knowing that my anniversary is in March annually. Being that is now march, I can now confirm I received my 85K certificate

JsnCCme

I want this card I have chase but I have no Marriott chase cards. So my question is What if I’m an authorize user for this card.
Can I then ask to get this same card since I’m already an authorized user on one!

FL Mom

No

FLN

I’ve had the Chase RITZ card since the 140000 point offer way back and also grandfathered into the $395 annual fee. What a value! But… I was actually a tiny bit disappointed when I got my new cards – no longer the HEAVY METAL that set this card apart.

Of course, my travel wallet will appreciate the downgrade from the slab of metal to the standard, thin titanium like the Sapphire Reserve, but it was always fun to drop it on the counter and have it clank…

Chad

Yes, I to miss the old heavy Ritz card….heavier than any other card on the market. It was always a great conversation starter. I still actually have a brand new one in the box that I ordered for an authorized user, but I changed my my and never gave it to that person. Maybe someday I can sell it as a collectible item 🙂

miles

unlucky for me, I just passed my anniversary of my bold card and called today. too bad they said the only option for me to product change is the 250 dollar bevy card — not even the 95$ boundless!! Idk if it’s just a particular representative who are not good with their IT system or it is indeed what chase is planning for…

O.S.

Does anyone know whether this is Chase policy, that Bold cannot product change to Ritz-Carlton?

Bret

I product changed from the Bold card today to the Ritz card. I had originally had the old $95 Marriott card before downgrading

Lochquel

Works as theorized in 2023. PC from Bold to Bountiful on 1 year + 1 day of opening. Then PC 3 days later from Bountiful to Ritz (probably could have did it 1 day after 1st PC, but waited the weekend.

Mike

Does bold have no annual fee?

Lochquel

Correct

Daniel

Here’s how the product change timing has worked for me so far. Approved for the Boundless card on 9/30/2020. The Boundless 35K free night was added to my Marriott account on 9/30/2021. The Boundless annual fee of $95 posted to my account on 10/1/2021. I called Chase on 10/4/2021 and product changed to the Ritz. The Boundless annual fee was refunded when the October 2021 billing statement cut.

I used up the $300 Ritz travel credit by the end of 2021. I used most of the 2022 Ritz travel credit in January 2022 (have about $90 still unused)). The $450 Ritz annual fee posted on 2/1/2022 (after I had already gotten over $500 in travel expenses reimbursed). The 85K free night award posted today on 9/30/2022.

Dave Hanson

Well done Daniel! A useful data point.

Nikki

My husband and I both have the Marriott Bonvoy boundless cards and got them February 2020 and April 2020. I want to upgrade both of us to the Ritz and it seems like waiting until our anniversary date would be best. I swear I read somewhere that we should get the mariott amex’s first because we won’t ever be able to get them after that. Is that correct? Would that make the most sense. This $650 card seems to be the only amex offer and honestly I am not even sure it makes sense to do for one year and then cancel.

When would be able to re-apply to the Marriott bonvoy cards?

Last edited 2 years ago by Nikki
Ronnie

You likely read that about the Amex cards because according to the T&C, you are unable to receive the welcome offer if you currently hold or have held the Ritz card in the last 30 days.

Sam

For using the $300 yearly credit – I haven’t tried this but I believe this trick will work for Southwest. I’ve seen a similar trick used for other airlines (confirmed for American Airlines)

Steps:

  1. Book a ticket in Wanna get away class (This part will not be refunded to your statement, but Southwest credits now do not expire)
  2. After booking the ticket, go back to your trips and upgrade the flight, using the Ritz Carlton Card as your method of payment
  3. (Can do this before or after you request credit refund from Southwest) Contact the Chase agent for credit when the statement posts
  4. Go back to the flight and request a refund for Southwest credits

Note: If you do this multiple times, you can also try purchasing your Southwest flight with travel funds, then upgrading using the Ritz Carlton card, so that you don’t have to buy a ticket with cash each time

Last edited 2 years ago by Sam
V L

Great idea! And it is totally within Terms and Conditions – getting reimbursed for the actual upgrade. The only addition I would make to your suggestion – buy not a WGA fare, but WGA plus. This way your credit is ALSO transferable one time.

Another note: if you have a LUV voucher, you can start with that vs cash as well.

One question.. after you cancel your Business Select or Anytime fare… can you get the travel credit vs actual refund (because those fares are refundable)? I would advise against getting the refund to the card after the Travel Credit is posted.

Question #2: If you re-use the credit multiple times, does it remain transferable?

Sam

I actually did try it this weekend and worked like a charm. From what I can tell, it is transferable and remains transferable whatever base fare you start with, even if a previous travel fund was used to purchase the ticket.