Marriott Rewards Card 150,000 bonus point offer
Marriott Rewards has a 150,000 bonus point offer for their credit card in market as of this writing. Oh, the places I could go!
This is the latest offer from Marriott Rewards that came out in Nov 2016. I think this offer may be a response to Chase Sapphire Reserve 100K bonus offer from last year (currently no longer being offered online). That was considered by Chase to be very successful. So successful, they closed out the offer in a few months.
Let’s take a closer look at what is being offered by Marriott. There are 2 card offers outstanding – one for 150K and one for 80K. The 150K isn’t on their site, to my knowledge.
Chart of Marriott Rewards versus Chase Sapphire Reserve
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | Marriott Rewards Premier | Marriott Rewards Premier | Difference in Marriott offers | |
| Spend | $4,000 | $30,000 | $3,000 | $27,000 |
| Timeframe (months) | ||||
| Bonus | 100,000 | 150,000 | 80,000 | 70,000 |
| $ per point | $0.0400 | $0.20 | $0.0375 | $0.39 |
| Annual Fee – year 1 | 450 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Travel Statement Credit | 300 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Add a user bonus (pts) | ||||
| Travel/Dining Bonus | 3X | 5X | 5X | – |
| Everyday purchases | 1X | 1X | 1X | – |
| Elite Status bonus | 15 Elite Credits – Silver status | 15 Elite Credits – Silver status | – | |
| Free Night (cat 1-5) Stay | yes | yes | – |
Marriott Rewards – Chart Review
While reviewing this chart, you can see how those extra 70K points are very costly ($0.39 per point) versus the 80K offer ($0.0375 per point). In addition, you must spend an extra $27K on your card to get the bonus. Granted you have an extra 9 months to do so. Even if you add in the authorized user 7,500 bonus, your $ per point drops to $0.19 (from $0.20).
Overall, the Chase Sapphire Reserve 100K offer and Marriott 80K offer are better offers than the Marriott 150K. They require less spend from the customer. The Sapphire Reserve card pays for itself via the travel statement credit. And the value of the 100K bonus points can be transferred to Marriott at a 1:1 rate. Thus, you get 100K Marriott points.
Another option to regard is comparing the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card 25K Starpoints for $3K spend in 3 months. At a Starpoints to Marriott conversion rate of 3 to 1, you could have 75K Marriott points for $3K of spend ($0.04 per point). This is comparable to the 80K Marriott offer at a $ per point of $0.0375.
If you got both cards (Marriott 80K and Starwood 25K), you could net 155K Marriott bonus points for $6K in spend. Not bad for an extra $3K in spend (versus $27K).
Not sure how this offer is performing for Marriott but maybe that’s the point. Maybe it is to determine customer interest. Their customers know a good deal when they see one. And 150K for $30K spend just isn’t cutting it especially in such a competitive category.
I’m excited to see what other card offers pop up in 2017.
