Tag Archives: Marriott Hotels

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March App-O-Rama: Which 7 Credit Cards am I Considering?

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Good morning everyone, happy Saturday! Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s post regarding which non-5/24 Chase credit cards I should get. I think I have narrowed down my App-O-Rama (AOR) credit card list to these 7 credit cards. I plan on applying for these credit cards sometime next week. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with any of the credit cards on this list. If there are any credit cards that you think are worth applying for, please share them in the comments and I will check them out.

Based on yesterday’s post, I will apply for these 2 Chase credit cards:

  • Chase Marriott Business Credit Card: This is the only non-5/24 Chase business credit card and who couldn’t use more Marriott points? The current sign up bonus is 75,000 Marriott points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. The $99 annual fee is waived the first year. I already have the Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Card, so the annual category 1-5 Marriott free night certificates will pair nicely with each other. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement. As long as I can redeem the Marriott free night certificate for more than an $99 hotel night, this is a decent credit card to hold on to for a long time. *snarky comment alert* If Marriott keeps devaluing their program, by the year 2029, there will not be any Marriott category 1-5 hotels left…
  • Chase Iberia Credit Card: Since you can get 1 personal and 1 business credit card from Chase on the same day, I have decided to go for this personal credit card. The current sign up bonus is 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in 3 months and an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $10,000 in 12 months. The annual fee is $95. I don’t plan on booking any Iberia flights in the near future, so I won’t be able to take advantage of the 10% discount on Iberia flights. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement and will close the credit card when the annual fee comes due the following year.

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Are you Making Any Speculative Marriott or SPG Bookings Before the March 6 Devaluation?

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On March 6, 2018, both Marriott and SPG have many properties going up in cost if you’re using points to book them. When we get advance notices like this, I wonder how many people book stays speculatively, knowing they might cancel them. I took a look at the lists of properties going up and found a few that I’ve enjoyed staying at and would return to, so this made me frown. Some even by 60-70%. That’s a lot! But I don’t have any visits to these locations planned right now. You’d think after all these years using points to stay at hotels, we’d get used to these unfavorable changes. I’m still sorting through properties and deciding if there are any to book now before they go up in price. Are you making any bookings before March 6 knowing they can be canceled at a later date? And at which properties? Has this worked out for you in the past? Let me know in the comments below.

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Review: JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa in Vietnam

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Let me cut straight to the chase: to date, the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa is my favorite resort I’ve ever stayed in. Nearly everything about the resort is perfect, and the few things that aren’t, are really not a big deal (and also could be very easily fixed).

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How to Signup, View & Activate Chase Offers (Currently Only Available for Marriott & Slate Cardholders)

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Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend.  Chase and Visa have created a new program called Chase Offers that is currently available to all Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Cardholders and all Chase Slate Credit Cardholders.  The Chase Offers program was rolled out in mid November, but since I recently converted my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card to the Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Card, I am now eligible to signup, view, and activate Chase Offers.

Chase Offers are very simple.  Sign into your Chase Offers account, link merchant specific offers to your credit card, make a qualifying purchase at that specific merchant, and receive cash back as a statement credit to your credit card. Creating a Chase Offers account is free and easy, just click here to get started.  If you have the Chase Slate Credit Card, the steps will be the same, but you can click here.

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Which Purchases Qualify for JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card Travel Benefits?

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Recently, I had one of those “the devil’s in the details” experiences I want to share with you because as we all know, details are important, especially with credit card benefits! I’ve had the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card for quite a few years already, and for the first time this past year, I just couldn’t use the full $300 worth of travel reimbursement credit. The benefits I receive from other credit cards mean I don’t pay for checked bags. I had no flights where I could pay for a seat upgrade, and how many fruit and cheese plates can one eat? So I only spent about $100 of the $300 travel credit. This made me wonder if maybe it was time to let go of this credit card.

Similar to Grant, I inquired and asked Chase which credit cards I could get to replace my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card. I was still in decision-making mode when I read a comment on Grant’s post. This reader is a huge fan of the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card. He laid out his formula for how he gets so much benefit from the credit card. He feels people are short sighted when it comes to the benefits of the card, and cancel it in haste. Hmm, was I missing something?

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