Mitesh Amin

I purchased a 50 dollar gift cert from alaska air website today. I then sent a secure message asking to apply my $200 incidental credit towards that charge. They replied saying the message was forwarded to the correct department and will get response in 3-5 biz days. The description on the transaction was "ALASKA AIR GIFT CERT". I am concerned because on the amex thread, people started getting mixed results after oct 2012 because the description changed to include "gift cert". I am also worried about calling and getting shut down immediately because the description clearly stating gift cert... with a secure message I have some false sense of hope :/

Did you have success again in 2013? What was the description on your statement? Did you do buy all four the same day? Separate or one transaction?

EagleSoars

The Gold status with Marriott (free the first year, requires $10K spend to retain after that) has been very valuable. In the first month of membership, a European Ritz Carlton where I had reservations was overbooked and my Gold status rewarded me to one night FREE at Swissotel (for both me and a companion who was booked under my name in a separate room) and about $1500 of perks (private guide, massage, club level, breakfast in the restaurant) for each of us. I always get club level (using corp or senior rate) at my airport Renaissance and have enjoyed club level upgrades at an Atlanta Ritz-Carlton on a $229 weekend rate. I've also been refunded $200 worth of airline incidentals (with no questions asked) and even gotten a "price guarantee" refund of $50 (when an item purchased on the card went on sale). Although I have not used it, I believe the travel insurance is also a valuable benefit.

2tall4economy

I got both. Marriott card I've owned for about a year, got the Ritz recently. Jury is still out on it; if I don't use the bennies (had planned a trip which had a stay at the Ritz but plans changed) I'm dropping the card when the annual fee comes up.

I do love the concierge though. I'd almost rather go with the Paladium just for that (and UR vs MR pts).

No Clue

When you say "full rack rate", are you referring to the artificially high published rate or the rate you see during online registration?

I have had the card for almost two years and haven't had any issue getting the internet rate with the club upgrade. If you are referring to the online RC reservation rate, please educate me how I can do better. I have looked into several discount codes but none really did much for me.

I have also maintained my Marriott visa signature card this whole time and didn't have any issues getting the points. If that changed, I would be sort of ticked as well.

I agree with many of your points. The airline lounge benefit has been fairly worthless. The rules for club level upgrades could be relaxed a bit to at least include suites. So far though, I haven't had too many issues getting the property to upgrade me once I get there.

airswim

Was hoping this card would become available to Canadian residents...anyone know of any news or possibility of this happening?

Thanks

2tall4economy

I too am perplexed by this. I do have my company discount in many hotels, but high end places, such as Ritz, aren't something my company wants us to stay at so of course there are no discount rates for my company.

Would be curious where people are getting these rates. I find websites like Kayak etc... not nearly as helpful with hotels as they are with flights.

binsbts

Does anyone know if I can "upgrade" my marriott premier rewards credit card to ritz carlton? Or do I have to cancel it and then get RCCC? If the 5x point is true, I would gladly get the RCCC...

rookie10

You can have both cards and do not need to cancel the Marriott. The Ritz card will not give you 5x at Marriott properties.

binsbts

Thanks for the reply. I am hearing a rumor that they just changed the policy to include Marriott for 5x in another thread...If true, I would just rather have RCCC...

KyleMac

As of April 19 (and maybe earlier) the Ritz Card earns 5x points at Marriott properties. That was enough for me to sign up after thinking about it for over a year.

LarkSFO

This appears new too:

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Reward...ds/Default.htm

Hotel Stays
Earn 10 Ritz-Carlton Rewards points or 2 airline miles per US dollar spent on room rate at The Ritz-Carlton locations worldwide, where we set the gold standard in luxury hospitality worldwide. You’ll enjoy opportunities to connect with extraordinary experiences as you accumulate points towards even greater rewards.

I my letter from RCR,they first let me know I will be receiving a new card with 'embedded chip and signature technology'.

Then:
5 points / $1 at:
JW Marriott
Edition
Autograph
Renaissance
Marriott Hotels and Resorts

Interesting, though the web site above says 10 points / $1 at Ritz properties, the letter I received says 5 RCR points / $1 spent at Ritz.

Last, they also mention in the letter that they will be sending me an envelope to return my old card in - similar to Sapphire vs Shredder, the RCR card is indestructible...

KyleMac

The 10 points per dollar spent seems to be independent of the RCR credit card. Rather, if you sign up for a basic RCR account - it seems you automatically get 10 points per dollar spent. And then if you have the Ritz card on top of that, it would equate to 15 points per dollar spent. Not sure if this would work with the Marriott Premier Rewards card since it appears that you need a Ritz Carlton Reward account rather than a Marriott rewards account. That being said, it looks like Marriott and Ritz are merging all of their benefits, so it may just be a matter of time before everything crosses over. It would eventually make sense that, for a $395 annual fee, RCR credit card holders would get some kind of additional benefit at Marriotts beyond simple Gold status (concierge level upgrades perhaps).

LarkSFO

That makes sense...

Lounge access (ok, not great), $200 flight credit, Gold status, Club upgrades (ok, not that easy to use)... I think you get a fair amount for the $395 annual fee.

hailstorm

Was finally able to use the flight credit. From buying insurance, to restaurants, to wireless internet, to magazines at the news stand, they gave me credit for everything. ^

EDIT: I think the Lounge Pass card I received is also a benefit of this card? It came in very handy at LAX, from free meals at the Alaska Board Room to a free shower at the KAL Lounge.

No Clue

could you elaborate on the restaurants and magazine credits? How did they appear on the statement?