So, prefacing this by saying that I stay at Marriott's very occasionally, and mostly have Platinum status as a result of UA Gold. I was actually considering which Marriott card to get, especially since they have the same signup bonuses of 75k points, when I got the following email offer from Chase.
receive 3 Free Night Award E-Certificates you must make purchases totaling $3,000 or more during the first 3 months from account opening. Each Free Night Award E-Certificate is valid for a one night hotel stay at a property with a redemption level up to 35,000 points...Each Anniversary Free Night Award issued will have an expiration of 12 months...
Now... That has a theoretical value of 105k points, 30 more than the standard bonus, and I haven't seen a 100k offer since June, which I missed. Now... obviously, the points are more flexible than these certs, given they are functionally category 5 only, as at a cat 4 or below the points would be equivalent or better... Thoughts from the Marriott experts?
background time - I have been considering a number of hotel cards as of late - the SPG Amex, Marriott Chase Visa, Hilton Amex, Hyatt Chase.... you get the picture. Since my travels are mostly in the Hilton/marriott family, I was planning on applying for the Amex cards - thoughts on overall which is better - the Marriott Chase card, or the Amex? Near as far as I can tell, they are identical.
Best - JSL