Marriott credit card or other travel card

[flygirl]

I’m trying to decide if being a Marriott credit card holder will be of benefit to me.  I travel 3-4x a year where I stay in Marriotts.  Does it get any special benefits or help get free nights?

Is there a better card that has travel benefits?  I have a Delta & United card since they are the best airlines for where I live and have a 2% cash back on everything card.  Should I just leave it alone at that?  I don’t want a card that has more than $100 annual fee unless there are really good benefits to offset it.

[chpmnk1015]

I have had a united card for a while because i used it a lot for work years ago. Its ok.
About a year ago i got a chase sapphire card and i have really been liking that. We got a tons of points already and have used some towards an AIRbnb. i havent yet looked at everything yet, but i know there is more i can do with it.
The united card i used for my global entry fee which was nice since they cover that every few years.

If you need a referral for the Sapphire let me know.. help get us both some points

[janegold]

We have the Marriott Chase Visa. I think they usually run promotions where you get a big sign-up bonus of points that could translate into free nights.

You also earn points by credit card spend; the higher Marriott status you have, the more points you earn. My husband is Ambassador, the highest level, so we actually earn a ton of points off our credit card and it's been worthwhile for us.

I'm not sure it would be the best choice for someone with a lower tier (gold or lower) status, though - I would probably go with something like the Chase Sapphire in that case.

[orval]

I have the Chase Marriott Boundless card. It has a $95 annual fee, but you get a free night certificate (for a lower tier hotel) every year. So it basically is a wash for the fee. You also get like 15 nights a year to your status. I am titanium with Marriott and it definitely helps to get the extra points. We also own Marriott Vacation club weeks and charge the dues to the card so I get a lot of points with that. It is definitely good for us. I think if you stay with Marriott at least 20+ nights a year, it is worth it. The points add up!

[keweenawlove]

We have the version that's $95 and keep it because of the free night certificate. We've always used it to make the card worthwhile. I think it credits 10 nights toward your status nothing major.

I think Chase Sapphire either reserve or preferred are the best bang for your buck travel cards depending on what you're willing to spend.

[goldengirlz]

How many nights in those trips?

As someone else said, their card gives you 15 nights toward status. I believe for gold status you need 25 nights (so 10 additional) and platinum is 50. Platinum is when you start getting the good stuff, like suite nights, free upgrades and lounge access.

I agree the card is most worth it if it gets you to platinum but gold does have a couple of perks (a 2pm late checkout can be valuable to some people.)

You also earn points on stays, which of course can translate to free nights, but if you’re not banking a lot of stays, then you’re not really earning. The other thing to keep in mind is that it incentivizes travel-related purchases. And you already have two airline cards for that.

Personally, I’d look for a card where you get high points for those everyday non-travel, non-dining purchases — even if it’s just cash back.

[sent]

I have one just because it rolled over from the SPG days. It's my least favorite card, but I've kept it because I've been able to get a higher value out of the 1 free night that comes with it compared to the annual fee. I think the version I have gets 4x on restaurants and gas but since I put the least amount of spend on it (around $1K per month or less) and I usually get gas at Sam's Club which doesn't count for the 4x, I don't earn too many points from it.