Originally Posted by rubey419

Personally I went with the new Amex Brilliant for the current 150k offer (spend $5k in 3mo) which comes with Platinum and 25 annual nights. This can be stacked with 15 nights from the Amex Bonvoy Business, to equate to 40 total annual nights which goes towards lifetime status. No other combo allows for this from Chase.

Since I’m chasing after lifetime Platinum with just a few years away, and I’ll be soon losing my Ambassador status as I no longer travel for work, then Brilliant + Bonvoy Biz is my best bet. I can effectively gain lifetime Platinum without ever having to actually step foot in a Marriot hotel again.

Of course I still travel for pleasure and the Platinum benefits are worth it for me. I also find the $300 credit and annual 85k reward from Brilliant to help me justify the nearly $700 cost.

However I am a Marriot loyalist. For the everyday person who won’t care to chase after lifetime benefits then Brilliant won’t matter as much.

In which case I would go with the Chase Bonvoy Bold which has zero annual fees, 15 night annual nights. Then after a full year you can product switch to the Ritz Carlton card which arguably has the best value for your dollar. The RC is no longer offered to new applicants but you can still product switch from any Chase card.

The $450 RC has far better value from benefits than any other Bonvoy card (do a Google search there’s lots of articles that explain further). If it’s still being offered once I finish my lifetime Platinum run then I’ll definitely drop Brilliant for RC.

In summary, Chase RC is the best card unless you’re going for lifetime status.