rct12345

I don't know if I can justify the fee of R-C card beyond the first year whereas the anniversary free night of marriott card pays for itself. So, I figured it would be better to product change the R-C card to marriott card after 1st year whereby the 2 marriott cards would get 2 anniversary free nights. If the 15 elite night credits would stack, that would be icing on the cake.

MikeFromTokyo

I see. As I said above, bear in mind that none of these programs will continue to exist as such for more than one membship year to come. So, as long as you will get value out if the R-C card, I would suggest changing your account to be branded as R-C Rewrds and then get the card now.

Nobody yet knows what the new Marriott program with SPG and R-C all folded in will look like. The concomitant credit cards and their benefits are also subject to change in the future. So, it would actually be a smart play to have all of them: SPG amex, Marriott Rewards, and Ritz-Carlton Rewards now. That way, if any of them are keepers or get “grandfathered in” you’re set. You can decide to cancel or product change to any other Chase (or Amex) products (not only Marriott cobranded) if one or two of your cards prove to be redundant or unnecessary in the future.

SQ007

I'm sure you're already aware of this, but in case you aren't, look into the Visa Infiniti Air discount you get with the card. I get tremendous value from this.

Biggie Fries

Totally agree. If you fly as a couple, this can be a tremendous savings, especially on low cost tickets.

Other good things about card:

• Primary auto insurance
• Good trip delay and trip cancellation coverage, which goes well with the $100 off 2nd ticket thingy... Thus for more expensive tickets, Amex Plat 5x is seductive relative to the $100 off on this card, but I also factor in whether something might come up to make the trip go south on us, in which case these benefits help. Amex Plat has its own selling points, but delay and cancellation insurance are not among them
• We're not the Ritz-Carlton types (not for lack of trying, just for lack of dough), but if you look around every now and then you can find some cheap Ritz-Carlton nights. By cheap, I mean $250/night all in. But say you do two nights somewhere, for $500 total (Battery Park in NYC, or one of the Washington places). With this card you can get club/lounge access, where, even without being a total hog, you can do a lot of good eating and drinking; and a $100 credit toward food and drink elsewhere in the place. Which is to say, with this card, you can have a pretty well liquored up, elevator-back-to-your-room weekend at a not exorbitant price. We've used this benefit maybe 2x in 3 years, yet it is still something useful in the travel toolkit.

rct12345

Yes, I'm keeping a close eye on the merger of all those programs. SPG Amex is on my mind too

rct12345

With Chase sapphire reserve (primary car rental and trip delay coverage) and Amex plat (gold status via SPG), most benefits are duplicated. Yes, the $100 airfare credit is lucrative.