I signed up for the 100k bonus and later that day I got invited by SPG to apply for a 125k bonus. Seems like I messed up and applied too early. For me I thought it came out to a $0 annual fee.
I exclusively use Marriot now that they have the lower end hotels, I used to do SPG and then hotels on Priceline when hotels were outside a price range that I liked.
Seems like if my math is correct you get the below deal if you get the bonus and don't care about the insurance and/or Priority pass and won't use it for non Marriot stays:
Year 1- $150 cash cost ($300 off the annual fee of $450)
- $900 in points (100k at 0.9 cents per point)
- 16.65% back in rewards (12.5 points per dollar for gold elite and 6 points per dollar for the card at 0.9 cents per point)
- Total (if you just stay for the $300 credit) profit is $499.95 (rewards minus annual fee)
Year 2 onwards- $150 cash cost ($300 off the annual fee of $450)
- 50k annual cert (worth up to $450)
- 16.65% back in rewards (12.5 points per dollar for gold elite and 6 points per dollar for the card at 0.9 cents per point)
- Total (if you just stay for the $300 credit) profit is $49.95 (rewards minus annual fee)
The only reason it is worth it for me is that there are a lot of higher prices Category 2 hotels in Asia that give me a value of 0.9 to 1 cent per point, making the 6 points per dollar worth 5.4% rather than the 4.5% on CSR. Also often with award stays on SPG I didn't have to pay for the taxes which can be steep in some countries. I also drive to further airports and use hotels to get the parking deals.
I often travel to London and the parking deals are amazing, 8 days of parking included in a 1 night stay at $158 works out to 2,698 points (only earn on the taxable portion) so my total cost is $133.72 for parking coming to $16.71 per day for parking including a free hotel stay.