Marriott Rewards Visa Signature Card

Marriott Rewards Visa Signature Card

Features

Annual fee: $30, waived the first year

Intro Bonus: 30,000 bonus points after your first purchase + 2 free nighs upon account approval (category 1-4 hotels)

Earning: 3 points per $1 spent at Marriott locations, 1 point per $1 spent elsewhere

Foreign transaction fee: 3%

Other Benefits:

• Silver elite status complimentary
• 10 nights credit toward further Elite status
• Elite Night for every $3,000 spent on your card
• 15,000 Bonus Points for 7-night redemption stay at Category 7 or 8 hotels

Our review: Geared for people who stay at Marriott hotels frequently

Marriott’s points program is tilted to disproportionately reward people who actually stay at their hotels on a regular basis. Thus the points required to redeem a hotel night are generally higher than peers. They make up for that with hotel guests by offering higher point earning when you actually stay at the hotel. However earning on the credit card is not racheted up, making it a less attractive program if your primary way of earning points is by credit card spending. You can see the result by using our Mile Credit Card Value Calculator, which factors in the points required for basic rewards.

If you are looking to earn hotel nights primarily by credit card spending, we recommend the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express, which offers free nights for as little as 3,000 points and offers no-dilution transfer of points into over 20 airline miles programs.