Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Upgrade Offer – Is It Worth It?

56

In addition to the 100,000 signup bonus for the new Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card, Chase is offering targeted upgrade offers for existing cardholders of the Marriott Rewards Premier credit card.

Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Upgrade Offer

The Offer

  • Upgrade your credit card from Marriott Rewards Premier to Marriott Rewards Premier Plus and get 0-50,000 bonus points after your first purchase by December 31, 2018.
  • Direct link to find out your upgrade offer

Quick Thoughts

When entering my details, Chase offered me 20,000 Marriott Rewards points to upgrade. Doctor of Credit is reporting that upgrade offers are ranging from 0 to 50,000 points, so you’ll need to check your own offer if you have the Marriott Rewards Premier credit card.

Is it worth upgrading though? That’ll depend on several factors along with your priorities.

If you get an offer that’s less than 50,000 points, it’s probably not worth it. Chase will hopefully offer higher upgrade offer in the future, although that’s obviously not guaranteed.

The bonus points on offer for the upgrade aren’t the only factor though. The annual fee on the Premier Plus credit card is $10 higher than than the Premier. The Premier Plus does earn 6x on Marriott and SPG stays though versus 5x on the Premier which could be worthwhile if you have a lot of paid stays. If you have one of the SPG credit cards though, you can use that to earn 2 Starpoints per dollar which converts to 6 Marriott Rewards points.

For people looking to earn status with Marriott, it might be best to wait until your 15 Elite night credits from the Premier card post to your account before upgrading. Those nights post to your account around your card anniversary time, rather than based on the calendar year.

If your card anniversary date is coming up, there is something else to consider. The Premier card offers a free night certificate at category 1-5 hotels, whereas the Premier Plus offers a free night certificate good for properties up to 35,000 points which – this year only – equates to categories 1-7. What we don’t know yet is whether you’ll receive the free night certificate on the Premier Plus card if you upgrade before your anniversary date in 2018, or if you’d have to wait until 2019 for it to be awarded for the first time.

Given the confusing way Chase dealt with the IHG credit card free night certificate, you might want to hold off on upgrading until there’s some clarification to ensure you don’t miss out on a free night certificate this year. If they confirm that upgrades to the Premier Plus will earn the free night certificate at account renewal this year, it might be best to upgrade before renewing so that you can redeem it at a wider and better selection of hotels this year.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

56 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments