aaupgrade

You mentioned earlier that "Even the "club upgrades" posted in the MR account". Are the "club upgrades" electronic certs, similar in nature to the free night certs, which are found at the Unused Certificates section down at the bottom of the Upcoming Reservations page?

swf83

Innerloop-

How are cardmembers advised to make hotel reservations in prefer to take advantag of the upgrade, $100 credit,etc?

What is the transfer rate of point to Delta, for example?

Additionally, does an additional cardholder get Priority Pass membership as well?

Innerloop

Exactly. They all posted at one time (before first purchase) and were numbered 1, 2 and 3 all with a 1-year expiration.

Innerloop

1) The materials state "Call Ritz-Carlton reservations at (toll free #) and request the $100 Hotel Credit offer for RCRCC, or visit ritzcarlton.com".

2) No mention, I assume that its the same as standard Marriot Rewards point, no special benefit there.

3) Not really able to figure this out from the materials, sorry. It doesn't specifically say anything yes or no about additional cardholders. It does specify that the $200 travel reimbursement can apply to any cardholder, but only the primary cardholder can request a credit and its max $200 across all cards (obviously!)

Innerloop

From my (non-lawyer) reading of the T&Cs, it appears to be Primary on the auto rental coverage.

swf83

How do you request the upgrade to club level?

NJUPINTHEAIR

That would be a swipe at Diners Club, if it is indeed, primary as opposed to secondary, as most credit cards are.

Innerloop

Here's the exact language - maybe an expert can weigh in:

"What type of coverage is this?

Auto Rental CDW is primary coverage. In other words, you do not have to claim payment from any source of insurance before receiving coverage under the benefit".

Seems pretty clear-cut.

Frankly I think the insurance/warranty/trip protection end of the benefits are pretty over-the-top. I think a lot of this is also on Amex (maybe I never read it) but things like "Emergency Evacuation and Reptariation" seem pretty speculative.

The most amusing thing in the benefits brochure: "In the event of death during the course of a covered trip, expenses incurred up to $1,000 can be covered to return your body to your home country of residence"

I feel so much better now...

Innerloop

They put e-certificates of some sort in your MR/RCR account, so whatever method you would normally use for something like that. Or via phone, according to the materials.

I have never used a MR certificate before, so can't comment on how they work.

swf83

Thanks for the answers.

Another question:

With the Ritz card, if you stay at a Ritz you get 5 points per dollar spent. Additionally, since you are Gold status with the Ritz card, you get an additional 25% of base points per stay. Additionally, just in general with the Marriott program (which includes the Ritz), you get 10 points per dollar spent at the Ritz.

So, let me get this straight, if you stay at the Ritz and have the Ritz Credit card you will get 15 pointsper dollar spent plus the 25% bonus?

aaupgrade

No. You only get the 25% bonus on the base points. So in your case you (Gold) would earn 17.5 pts/$ and Plats would earn 20 pts/$ at RC properties when using the RC Visa.

swf83

Still pretty good!

And if you stayed at a JW Marriott, as a gold member you would get 10 points plus the 25% bonus.

Not bad!!

swf83

What are the terms and conditions for the 2 points earned at dining establishments? Would this include Starbucks, for example?

Innerloop

According to the materials, it applies to any charge that classifies itself as Dining Establishment (or airlines, car rental agencies). It specifies that on-line and catalog are excluded unless the marchant have correctly identified the transactions, and they are not responsible for merchants that don't correctly identify and bill transactions.

I would THINK that a Starbucks would identify their transactions as a dining establishment, but who knows for sure.

hv05

Just wanted to report some very disappointing news about the way the Club Level Upgrade and $100 Credit "benefits" of the card work. First off, there is a huge level of confusion among the telephone reps as to how these benefits work, with one supervisor telling me that I couldn't use the Club Level upgrade unless I stayed a full 7 nights, which clearly is incorrect. Second, and most disappointing, is the fact that both the upgrade benefit and the $100 credit benefit can only be used on "standard" rates, which often means that the benefit is worthless.

For example, using my ABA rate, I can obtain a regular room at the Ritz Carlton Central Park for $415 a night, or a club level room for $515. I had hoped that having the Ritz credit card would allow me to book the $415 rate and get an upgrade to the club level. Instead, the only way I can use the upgrade certificate is to book the "standard" rate of $690 (which, by the way, is higher than the lowest "standard" rate quoted on their website of $625). Since I can book a club room with my ABA rate at $515, the upgrade benefit of the credit card is utterly worthless in this instance.

This is in sharp contrast to my experience with Hyatt, where Diamond Suite upgrades can be used with ANY rate, negotiated or otherwise. I expected better from the Ritz Carlton.

The $100 credit also applies only to standard rates (use code Z34 to check it on the website), and it often is no better than the packages that are available to all customers, regardless of whether they have the credit card or not.

So, other than the Gold Status with Ritz Carlton Rewards (whose value remains to be seen), this card is turning out to be a lot less valuable than it was advertised. If Chase and Ritz Carlton really want to compete with Amex Platinum, they're going to have to do better.