Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - MR Premier Visa: Annual Fee $85 or $65?

What is up!? My annual fee in Nov 2011 was $85. My wife just got her June 2012 statement and her annual fee was $65. What the heck!?

We both received certs good for CAT1-5. And both have the MR Premier Card.

Any ideas? Was she just lucky?

It's always good to get lucky.

I believe that the annual fee was increased to $85 last summer.

It went up right after I got the card! The fee on my first statement was $85, but a quick call to Chase took care of that!! ^

My fee is $85 but it is still a great deal at that price for me.
I got 70k points after 1st use, and the annual certificate, and 15 qualifying nights annually, the ability to earn more qualifying nights just through card usage.
The 50% bonus on MR points when you use the card at a Marriott (100% at Residence Inn and Townplace) is also a nice bennie.
Well worth $85 a year.

My fee is $85 but it is still a great deal at that price for me.
I got 70k points after 1st use, and the annual certificate, and 15 qualifying nights annually, the ability to earn more qualifying nights just through card usage.
The 50% bonus on MR points when you use the card at a Marriott (100% at Residence Inn and Townplace) is also a nice bennie.
Well worth $85 a year.I didn't know there was a 100% bonus on MR points. I thought the highest one can get is 50% and that's as a Platinum member. Is it some promotion for just the Residence Inn and TownPlace properties?

Definitely agree that the $85 annual fee is well worth it for those that are booking with Marriott frequently throughout the year. The free night alone makes up for the annual fee :D

I guess valor155 refers to the 5MR points/$ as compared to the base earning rate (10 or 5 MR points/$ depending on the brand) for Marriott Reward members! :)


My fee is $85 but it is still a great deal at that price for me.
I got 70k points after 1st use, and the annual certificate, and 15 qualifying nights annually, the ability to earn more qualifying nights just through card usage.
The 50% bonus on MR points when you use the card at a Marriott (100% at Residence Inn and Townplace) is also a nice bennie.
Well worth $85 a year.I didn't know there was a 100% bonus on MR points. I thought the highest one can get is 50% and that's as a Platinum member. Is it some promotion for just the Residence Inn and TownPlace properties?

Definitely agree that the $85 annual fee is well worth it for those that are booking with Marriott frequently throughout the year. The free night alone makes up for the annual fee :D

My fee is $85 but it is still a great deal at that price for me.
I got 70k points after 1st use, and the annual certificate, and 15 qualifying nights annually, the ability to earn more qualifying nights just through card usage.
The 50% bonus on MR points when you use the card at a Marriott (100% at Residence Inn and Townplace) is also a nice bennie.
Well worth $85 a year.
I don't understand why things you only got once (like the 70k points) are reasons to keep the card and pay the annual fee on subsequent years. You get those whether you keep the card or cancel! (And the 70k offer waived the annual fee for the first year, so an annual fee can only be due on subsequent years.)

Now, there are many reasons to keep the card year after year, but I don't understand why the 70k signup bonus would be one of them (unless only because of an emotional attachment you formed to the card because of it?). :confused:

THere are signup bonuses for lots of cards out there. But not that many cards (only 3 that I know) give you an annual fee night to (probably more than) offset the cost of the annual fee and have 0% forex and help you with hotel program status. (The other two are Priority Club and Hyatt, both also from Chase.)

I got the card in April 2011 and at that time paid the $65 annual fee. Fast forward to this April and to my surprise the $65 fee got charged again (instead of the $85). I am certainly not going to complain but my thinking is that it could be connected to the fact that I paid the first year and didn't have it waved. Thoughts?

I guess valor155 refers to the 5MR points/$ as compared to the base earning rate (10 or 5 MR points/$ depending on the brand) for Marriott Reward members! :)

Bingo! ^ It's a substantial bonus either way.

I don't understand why things you only got once (like the 70k points) are reasons to keep the card and pay the annual fee on subsequent years. You get those whether you keep the card or cancel! (And the 70k offer waived the annual fee for the first year, so an annual fee can only be due on subsequent years.)

Now, there are many reasons to keep the card year after year, but I don't understand why the 70k signup bonus would be one of them (unless only because of an emotional attachment you formed to the card because of it?). :confused:

THere are signup bonuses for lots of cards out there. But not that many cards (only 3 that I know) give you an annual fee night to (probably more than) offset the cost of the annual fee and have 0% forex and help you with hotel program status. (The other two are Priority Club and Hyatt, both also from Chase.)

Yeah, I'm not going to split hairs here but the 70k is a nice bennie to get the card. Doesn't matter in your renewal decision, of course.

The 15 qualifying nights, bonus points for Marriott stays, and the certificate are reasons to keep renewing. I think for $85, it's a great deal for my Marriott stay activity.

I just got my charge for the year and it is $65. My husband was charged $85 for his. We both have the Premier Visa.

This is wierd! Mine posted in early June and it was $85. Maybe I need to call Chase and make some noise.

BTW are there any sort of retention bonuses for keeping the card? I dont really plan to cancel since I use it almost exclusively for my Marriott stays every week and it gets me ~10K pts/month + the usual benefits. But an extra bone is always nice :P