X-ON

My bet is still on a "wag the dog" scenario, i.e. some Genius pushed code into production with insufficient testing then further down the line it turns out that certain double counting is occurring but since IT have poor control of the code with massive amount of hard coded variables. Rolling back the code change becomes almost impossible, resulting in a change of the T&C for certain credit cards. We talking about an IT function that cannot mange to remove erroneous information from the web interface.

Polytonic

To be fair, hotel status is much easier to acquire in NA compared to elsewhere (e.g. Hilton Diamond via credit card).

jtpc

Checked my account a few times yesterday and today to see if this also applies to Canadians who have both cards. Nothing yet, but I'm still hoping it might come through. As someone who doesn't have many stays planned this year, if 5 SNAs were only 20 nights away instead of 35, I would absolutely spend the extra money needed to make sure I had 20 paid nights by the end of the year. No hesitation from me whatsoever.

I'm not sure how likely it is, but given how events are being cancelled into June now, could the 15 additional nights for multi-card holders be something Marriott has decided to do as a one-time thing this year only?

lsquare

Maybe not everyone in the US got the 30 EQNs from Marriott. I'm one of them. I already contacted Marriott and they said they'll look into the issue.

calculus1918

Do you have a personal and a business version of the bonvoy card?

lsquare

Yes.

HPN-HRL

A few weeks ago I decided to apply for the Bonvoy Brilliant card even though I already had 5 Amex credit cards. Application was accepted as pending; the next day I got a call from Amex stating that I would need to cancel one of my current Amex credit cards before they could make a decision on the new card. As soon as I told her which card to cancel she first went through the "lawyer talking points" on the cancelled card and then let me know that I would be approved for the new card.

TL;DR: try applying for the business card before closing another card...

calculus1918

Thanks, I might still cancel my free no annual fee blue card this week and then apply for the business card next week.

LAX

Does anyone here think this move is designed to help decrease the number of people cancelling their cards, specifically those that carry more than one? With recent devaluation of the free night awards, many feel the annual fee is no longer worth the hassle. However, with 15 EQN plus the devalued free night, it may be worthwhile to keep them.

LAX

lsquare

I'll take the extra 15 EQNs over the free certificate any day of the week. It'll make achieving Titanium status much easier.

Already you can see people complaining since this seems to be exclusive to the US. Pretty soon some people here will separate the "real" Platinum members from the "fake" ones.

tzydzy

A few years before the Starwood purchase Chase was actively marketing existing customers who had a Marriott Rewards personal and Chase business (ink) card to also obtain a Marriott Rewards business card as it would enable one to get closer to Gold (now Platinum) with the feature of having 15 nights credited for EACH card. I received mailings and e-mails with the number of nights in my Marriott Rewards account and how the added card would affect status, in addition to the 2nd free night, which the business card provided at Category 5 vs. 4 for the personal card. I applied for the 2nd Marriott card and enjoyed the 30 nights (15 personal + 15 business) credit until the Starwood merger when the "stacking" feature was revoked.

Glad to see that the stacking feature is being restored to what the marketing program pushed and what it once was.

LAX

I think before the conversion to Bonvoy and the associated CC EQN restriction, many people were carrying multiple Marriott CC of different flavors to stack up EQN. I don't even think it needed to be separate personal & business cards.

LAX

ftrichard

I'm still trying to understand why Marriott would do this given that all their efforts since the merger have been to reduce the number of unearned nights (from multiple cards, meetings, multiple rooms) that people can accrue to get to elite tiers quicker.

Anyone know, and I mean *know* rather than just *think*, how the business relationship works between Marriott and the card issuers? Does Marriott share any of the revenue from the card spend? If so, then they may have done a calculation that the cash they will earn from an additional card will outweigh the cost of the free elite nights. But this implies that people with more than one card spend more than they would if they had just one card. Is this true? My monthly spend is what it is irrespective of the payment method but is there evidence that people spend more if they have multiple cards? If it's not about the income from spend, then what is it about?

For people with multiple cards, from Marriott's point of view why does it make sense for you to spread your spend across multiple cards (from your point of view of course you're getting the benefits of each card). I'm trying to understand why they would incentivise anyone to have more than one card in this way.

nexusCFX

If you travel for your business you would want all of those expenses on their own card separate from your personal card for tax purposes.

SPN Lifer

In many instances, use of a business card represents a separate income stream or cash flow from that involved for a personal card.

So there is additional revenue for the bank, not merely division of existing spend.