The Ritz-Carlton Card by Chase

Probably my favorite credit card in my wallet currently is my Ritz-Carlton Card.  Since the card is a (retail) personal card, the card is issued by Chase, but the card itself is branded as being a JPMorgan card, likely for the prestige.  The Ritz-Carlton card is a legacy card from before Marriott and Starwood Hotels merged in 2016.  Pre-2016, Ritz-Carlton maintained an awards program separate from Marriott, but after the merger, the three programs were merged into Marriott Bonvoy.  Pre-merger, Marriott partnered with Chase and Starwood partnered with Amex for their respective credit cards.  Post-merger, the combined group partners with both, and my understanding is that there’s an agreement that Chase issues the lower cost cards: the Marriott Bonvoy Bold ($0 annual fee) and Boundless ($95 annual fee).  Amex issues the more expensive (luxury) credit cards: the Brilliant ($450 annual fee) and the Business ($125 annual fee).  In practice, this division actually only affects new accounts because the Ritz-Carlton card can be gotten by product change from another Chase-issued Marriott credit card. 

The Ritz-Carlton card takes a bit more effort to acquire, but I think the perks outweigh the extra effort (and $450 annual fee).

I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  All information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome offer

The Ritz-Carlton card is not available to new accounts, which means that there is no welcome offer available.  In my experience, Chase is substantially less aggressive with pushing product upgrades compared to Amex.  Because of consumer protection regulations in the United States, customers cannot be charged a higher annual fee during their first year of card membership.  As a result, a product change from the Bold/Boundless to the Ritz-Carlton card cannot be done until the account has been open for at least a year. 

Earnings

The Ritz-Carlton card has a three-tiered earning structure and earns Marriott Bonvoy award points.  Marriott Bonvoy points are worth around 0.8 ¢/point on average, but Marriott has recently transitioned to dynamic pricing, so this redemption rate average may decrease in the medium term.  The card earns 6 points/$ on Marriott hotel stays (4.8%); 3 points/$ at restaurants (2.4%), on rental cars, and on airfare, as well as 2 points/$ (1.6%) on everything else.  These earning rates are decent but have room for improvement if the card were still actively marketed.  Marriott points can also be transferred to >40 airline partners, which is quite impressive.  The points transfer, in most cases, at a rate of 3 Marriott points to 1 airline mile.  Marriott also gives a 5 000-mile bonus if 60 000 Marriott points are transferred (for a rate of 2.4:1), which can make sense in certain scenarios.  The potential flexibility of Marriott points is one of the reasons I actively collect Marriott Points.  Ironically, with Marriott having recently removed their award chart and switching to dynamic pricing, transferring points to miles may become a more attractive option in some scenarios.

Benefits

The main reason for getting this card over the Boundless card is for the non-points-related benefits.  The first benefit is a $300 airline fee credit.  According to the documentation, this credit is meant to cover airfare incidentals.  In practice, I was told when I product changed to the card that it covers any airfare expense, and I’ve found (with n = 1 data point) this to be the case.  This flexibility mirrors the flexibility of the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s travel credit.  The only downside is that you have to call Chase to apply this card’s credit.  Chase’s Ritz-Carlton card customer service is excellent, and applying the credit only took a couple minutes from start to finish.  As such, I’d say the credit can be taken at face value.  The second benefit is a free night certificate for a hotel night that costs up to 50 000 points (worth around $400).  If you stop reading here, this free night certificate means you’re basically prepaying $150 for one night at 50 000-point hotel (which generally means $400+).  For me, these two perks more than cover the annual fee. 

Like all Marriott credit cards, the card provides 15 elite night credits, which count towards earning both yearly and lifetime status.  Holding The Ritz-Carlton Card guarantees you Marriott Gold status, which can also be gotten with the Amex Platinum or Bonvoy Brilliant or by having United Gold Status.  With Gold status, you’d actually earn a total of 18.5 points/$ on the Marriott room rate between the card and the Gold status bonus. You can also upgrade to Platinum status by spending $75 000 on this card in a calendar year.  Assuming you use the free night certificate every year (and have no other stays), you’d achieve lifetime Gold just by simply holding onto the card for 25 years, if you really wanted to.

Like many luxury credit cards, this card comes with a Priority Pass membership, and it’s a one of the most powerful memberships offered by a credit card.  The membership includes restaurants and offers unlimited visits and unlimited guests (one guest at a restaurant) at each visit.  In addition, each authorized user can get a free Priority Pass membership, and adding authorized users is free. 

This card provides two major benefits (beyond elite status) when staying at Ritz-Carlton (and St. Regis) properties.  First, you get three upgrades (up to 7 nights each) per year to Club level, which provides free breakfast and lounge access at Ritz-Carlton hotels. Having this credit card also opens the ‘luxury credit card rate’ at Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis hotels that provides a $100 statement credit for incidentals (e.g. spa, golf, or restaurant charges).

The card comes with some additional travel perks, such as one of the best primary rental car insurance coverages on the credit card market and trip/purchase protection. 

Examples of using the card

Spend per month

These examples exclude any credits that come with the card.  For example, the Airfare budget excludes the $300 airfare credit offered by The Ritz-Carlton card to help offset the annual fee.

	Example A		Example B		Example C		Example D
Groceries (2x)	$300	600	$200	400	$600	1200	$400	800
Gas (2x)	$0	0	$100	200	$200	400	$100	200
Airfare (3x)	$700	2 100	$200	1 200	$0	0	$400	1 200
Hotels (6x or 2x)	$1 000	6 000	$200	400	$0	0	$300	600
Gen Travel (3x or 2x)	$400	800	$0	0	$300	600	$100	200
Dining (3x)	$600	1 800	$300	900	$300	900	$0	0
General (2x)	$1 000	2 000	$500	1 000	$500	1 000	$400	800
Total	$4 000	13 300	$1 500	4 100	$1 700	4 100	$1 700	3 800
Average points/$		3.33		2.73		2.41		2.24

The Ritz-Carlton’s bonus categories are relatively specific, which means that the best points values come from spending at Marriott Hotels, which is to be expected from a co-branded Marriott credit card.  As a result, the average points earned is quite broad, compared to a simpler and more general card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, with a range of 2.24 – 3.33 points/$, which is worth 1.8 – 2.6 ¢/$, given the average valuation of 0.8 ¢/point for Marriott Bonvoy points.

Specific examples

Card	World Traveller ($750)  (% return)	Marriott Hotel night ($230/night)	Points values (WT/Hotel)
No rewards card	2 728 (4.9%)	2 000 MP (7.3%)	$37.10 / $16.00
General 1% cashback card	2 728 + $7.50 (5.9%)	2 000 MP + $2.30 (8.3%)	$44.60 / $18.30
Chase Sapphire Preferred	2 728 Avios + 1 500 UR (7.9%)	2 000 MP + 460 UR (9.3%)	$59.60 / $22.90
The Ritz-Carlton Card	2 728 Avios + 2 250 MP (7.3%)	3 880 MP (13.5%)	$55.10 / $31.04
UK Marriott Amex card	2 728 Avios + 1 112 MP (6.1%)	3 220 MP (11.2%)	$46.18 / $25.76

These examples include the fact that The Ritz-Carlton Card gives free Marriott Gold Status and the UK Marriott Amex card gives free Marriott Silver Status.

Is this credit card right for you?

This card is best for people that value the free night certificate and the other benefits that come with it.  Unlike other Chase cards, such as the Sapphire Preferred or Freedom Unlimited, this card is less about the points earnings and more about getting access to the card’s benefit list.  If you don’t stay at Marriott hotels, it’s unlikely you will get substantial value out of the card’s benefit list.  However, if you spend $300 on airfare and stay 1 night at a hotel that costs at least $150, you can at least break even, which is not a particularly difficult bar to reach.