Originally Posted by
am1996
Wouldn't you be a lot better off with a Marriott Rewards CC then? If you aren't going to use the RC Club upgrades, paying $400/year (plus the foregone cashback on the $10,000/year that you'd have to spend to maintain the Gold status) for the Marriott status seems like a lot of money to spend for it, particularly when the Marriott Rewards card give you a 15 night/year credit towards the next elite status.
If you'll use the $200/year airline fee reimbursement and Priority Pass, the value of the RC card starts to make a little more sense but would it still be more advantageous for you than the Marriott Rewards card?
No, not if you are not that frequent a traveler.
If the above, is applicable to the person, then the 15 nights from the MR card is not much as it would not get them over the hump of 50 nights. Second, if you use $200 in airline credits from the RC card, then the card is $200/year, and spending $10,000 per year on the card is not all that hard.
The way to maximize your stays at Marriott family properties is to rarely if ever stay at Ritzs when paying on your own dime, but also possessing the MR credit card with the free night cert. If then you stay at Marriott and Renaissance properties, your Gold status from the RC card will get you lounge access and if you pay for your stays at such properties with your MR card, you will get the multiplier effect.
The Ritz card is, therefore, a bootstrap to MR Gold status, no more, no less.
Not sure if you can sell/trade the RC upgrade certs, but if you can, then you can further defray the cost of the RC card.