if you get lucky that’s awesome, but I really wouldn’t count on it. Especially a year from now when you would be eligible for a product change.

I’ve had the RC card since 2012 and agree that it’s superior to the AMEX premium card. The $100 flight booking credit comes in very handy, but the club level upgrades are tough to use. However, when you can get value out of them it usually pays the annual fee many times over. I saved about $4,000 on a stay I recently booked with those certs.

I never saw how the economics of this card work for Chase or Marriott, it titled even more in the customer’s favor with the addition of the free night, which is probably why they pulled the card from the market. I’m glad they didn’t get rid of the card in it’s entirety.