I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[GZanta77]

Hi all! My sincere apologies if this has been asked and answered. I have a Bonvoy Boundless question - I just got approved. My question is about the “path to gold” with 35,000 spend. We pay tuition that, if we used the card, would get us there between September 2022 and June 2023. When it says you need to spend 35,000 in a year, does that mean account year (like June-June if I just opened the account) or calendar year? Do I lose my progress on Jan 1? If I do, it would take until Dec 2023 to spend the money (spring tuition and the following fall). If I qualify for gold in December 2023, how long do I keep that status? Paying tuition by card comes with a fee, so I don’t want to do it if the benefit isn’t worth it. Sorry if my question is convoluted.

Well, in your first year, the answer is either calendar year or Opening Date anniversary.....see the following from the offer Terms.....

Path to Gold Status: You have two ways to earn Gold Elite Status through December 31, 2023: (1) by spending $35,000 in purchases between your 2021 and 2022 account open anniversary dates or (2) by spending $35,000 in purchases between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. On January 1, 2023 your spend total will reset to $0, and the time period for you to spend $35,000 to earn Gold Elite Status will run from January 1 through December 31 of each calendar year thereafter

BUT.......in my opinion, Marriott Gold is not worth chasing. If you happen to get it, then great, but do not go out of your way to obtain it when you could be earning far greater rewards with that spend on other cards......and No, the benefit is certainly not worth incurring credit card fees to get to gold status. Again, IMHO.

 

[Judique]

Hi all! My sincere apologies if this has been asked and answered. I have a Bonvoy Boundless question - I just got approved. My question is about the “path to gold” with 35,000 spend. We pay tuition that, if we used the card, would get us there between September 2022 and June 2023. When it says you need to spend 35,000 in a year, does that mean account year (like June-June if I just opened the account) or calendar year? Do I lose my progress on Jan 1? If I do, it would take until Dec 2023 to spend the money (spring tuition and the following fall). If I qualify for gold in December 2023, how long do I keep that status? Paying tuition by card comes with a fee, so I don’t want to do it if the benefit isn’t worth it. Sorry if my question is convoluted.

The benefit is NOT worth it for that much spend.

I have Gold by Marriott.
1. Old SPG card now Marriott Bonvoy (Amex)
2. Marriott Brilliant (Amex)
3. 15 credits from Chase Marriott Biz and 15 credits from either of my Amex Bonvoy cards.
And, I thought I had it a 4th way but, oh well.

Not worth it with Marriott.

I'm platinum and that gets very little.

 

[IFlossU]

I emailed. It is $150 per night for 3-4 people, $300 per night for 5-6 people.

I am also looking at Los Altos for March. When I search in the Hyatt app for 2A 2K occupancy it’s 25k per night for my dates. I want to make sure I’m understanding your post correctly, would I have to pay an additional $150/night on top of the 25k points?

 

[platamama]

Hi all! My sincere apologies if this has been asked and answered. I have a Bonvoy Boundless question - I just got approved. My question is about the “path to gold” with 35,000 spend. We pay tuition that, if we used the card, would get us there between September 2022 and June 2023. When it says you need to spend 35,000 in a year, does that mean account year (like June-June if I just opened the account) or calendar year? Do I lose my progress on Jan 1? If I do, it would take until Dec 2023 to spend the money (spring tuition and the following fall). If I qualify for gold in December 2023, how long do I keep that status? Paying tuition by card comes with a fee, so I don’t want to do it if the benefit isn’t worth it. Sorry if my question is convoluted.

I'll echo everyone else about Marriott Gold not being worth it. It doesn't even get you free breakfast (Marriott's rules about where you can expect breakfast and what kind of breakfast are not intuitive anyway).

Assuming a low 2% fee to use the credit card, $35000 of spend would cost you $700 extra. If you're going to spend that kind of money on a card, you might as well get an Amex Platinum card that automatically comes with Marriott Gold status (and Hilton Gold status that does get you free breakfast!) as well as all the other benefits ($200 airline incidental credit, $200 of Uber/Uber Eats credit divvied up through the year, $200 FHR credit, $240 entertainment credit at specified merchants, $100 Saks credit + other benefits that you may or may not find useful) as well as any SUB you can find on it - the best right now is a 150K MRs SUB on the Platinum for $6K spend in 6 months.

 

[Eeyore1220]

The benefit is NOT worth it for that much spend.

I have Gold by Marriott.
1. Old SPG card now Marriott Bonvoy (Amex)
2. Marriott Brilliant (Amex)
3. 15 credits from Chase Marriott Biz and 15 credits from either of my Amex Bonvoy cards.
And, I thought I had it a 4th way but, oh well.

Not worth it with Marriott.

I'm platinum and that gets very little.

BUT.......in my opinion, Marriott Gold is not worth chasing. If you happen to get it, then great, but do not go out of your way to obtain it when you could be earning far greater rewards with that spend on other cards......and No, the benefit is certainly not worth incurring credit card fees to get to gold status. Again, IMHO.

This is great advice, thank you to both of you. I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred/Freedom Unlimited combo, so I thought about doing the 1.5 points on the Freedom Unlimited and then transferring them to CSP for travel at 1.25 points, but with all that I'll end up with about 50,000 points and the fee is 798 total (over the year) to use a CC for tuition. I guess that's not a deal! I always want to find a way to get points for stuff so I'm trying not to make a dumb decision just for that.

 

[DogCat]

Speaking of the Chase Bonvoy Boundless, it seems like a very nice SUB - 5 Free Night Certs at 50,000 with the ability to add points if your hotel is >50,000 points. Do others agree?

I am seriously thinking of applying for this card. I do hold the Amex Bonvoy Biz but I received the SUB in 2018 so, if I read it right, I can keep the Amex Bonvoy Biz and still qualify.

 

[Eeyore1220]

I'll echo everyone else about Marriott Gold not being worth it. It doesn't even get you free breakfast (Marriott's rules about where you can expect breakfast and what kind of breakfast are not intuitive anyway).

Assuming a low 2% fee to use the credit card, $35000 of spend would cost you $700 extra. If you're going to spend that kind of money on a card, you might as well get an Amex Platinum card that automatically comes with Marriott Gold status (and Hilton Gold status that does get you free breakfast!) as well as all the other benefits ($200 airline incidental credit, $200 of Uber/Uber Eats credit divvied up through the year, $200 FHR credit, $240 entertainment credit at specified merchants, $100 Saks credit + other benefits that you may or may not find useful) as well as any SUB you can find on it - the best right now is a 150K MRs SUB on the Platinum for $6K spend in 6 months.

More good advice, thanks! I guess I got excited over something not that great, lol.

 

[Eeyore1220]

Speaking of the Chase Bonvoy Boundless, it seems like a very nice SUB - 5 Free Night Certs at 50,000 with the ability to add points if your hotel is >50,000 points. Do others agree?

I am seriously thinking of applying for this card. I do hold the Amex Bonvoy Biz but I received the SUB in 2018 so, if I read it right, I can keep the Amex Bonvoy Biz and still qualify.

That SUB is why I applied!

 

[reliev]

I emailed. It is $150 per night for 3-4 people, $300 per night for 5-6 people.

I'm also waiting for SW. AA has nonstop ORD to LIR but way too many miles.
Did you know how much the additional charge is for more than 2 people at Tabacon?

Thanks they never replied to me.

 

[elgerber]

That SUB is why I applied!

do the free night certs expire in a year?

 

[GZanta77]

Speaking of the Chase Bonvoy Boundless, it seems like a very nice SUB - 5 Free Night Certs at 50,000 with the ability to add points if your hotel is >50,000 points. Do others agree?

I am seriously thinking of applying for this card. I do hold the Amex Bonvoy Biz but I received the SUB in 2018 so, if I read it right, I can keep the Amex Bonvoy Biz and still qualify.

Yep, been seriously considering it.

This is great advice, thank you to both of you. I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred/Freedom Unlimited combo, so I thought about doing the 1.5 points on the Freedom Unlimited and then transferring them to CSP for travel at 1.25 points, but with all that I'll end up with about 50,000 points and the fee is 798 total (over the year) to use a CC for tuition. I guess that's not a deal! I always want to find a way to get points for stuff so I'm trying not to make a dumb decision just for that.

Yes - the only way to really make this work for you is to open multiple cards over the course of the year to get the SUBs' If the Chase Ink business cards are an option, or maybe Amex MRs you could probably earn a decent return.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Amex Biz Plat 35% back points question:

Just booked a flight to Iceland, business class, through the Amex portal. It included a JetBlue repositioning flight to BOS (same as if I had purchased through Iceland Air directly). Then after 4 days in Iceland, flight to Paris where we'll be spending the New Year.
Now, both the Iceland Air flights are actually business class, but the flight to BOS operated by Jet Blue is not. So I worry that Amex will say this won't count and won't give me my 35% points back. Anyone know?

Just following up: Amex Member Rewards says this is indeed eligible for the 35%.

 

[GZanta77]

Just following up: Amex Member Rewards says this is indeed eligible for the 35%.

Good to know. Please post when the 35% points credit posts - always good to get DPs on how long that is taking.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Good to know. Please post when the 35% points credit posts - always good to get DPs on how long that is taking.

Will do. Was told on the phone up to 10 weeks

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I am also looking at Los Altos for March. When I search in the Hyatt app for 2A 2K occupancy it’s 25k per night for my dates. I want to make sure I’m understanding your post correctly, would I have to pay an additional $150/night on top of the 25k points?

Yes.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thanks they never replied to me.

I feel like I should take an extra person if I'm paying $150 a night extra. $75 pp sounds a lot better than $150 for one

 

[djmeredith]

Speaking of Marriott FNCs, I used my last 2 "Covid" SUB nights this weekend in D.C. before they expired. I do not recommend the Ven Embassy Row if you are looking for a higher end redemption of a 50K FNC. Location is good, very close to Dupont Cir Metro and it has a decent rooftop pool (though it is small and be warned that people were smoking certain substances openly both days - and yes there were also families with children out there at the time). However, it is an old property that has been remodeled. It has small rooms, low ceilings, the bathroom is very tiny, and they have double beds. And maybe the weirdest part of it was that they had "mismatched" toiletries in the bathroom. The shampoo/conditioner were not the same brands and the lotion, body wash and bar soap were all different brands. My friend and I (who both stay in a lot of hotels) literally thought someone had left behind some random toiletries. We asked for more and they brought the same exact hodge podge combo. It's not a terrible place, just not worth 50K pts. There is also no onsite self park and valet is $52 per night, but luckily I knew that ahead of time so it wasn't a surprise. I could have stayed at the JW for the same amt of points, so I was very disappointed.

 

[Haley R]

Does anyone have a Toyota RAV4 hybrid?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Did you know how much the additional charge is for more than 2 people at Tabacon?

So the standard award room is an Orchid King, which sleeps 3, if I recall correctly. The Orchid King and Orchid 2 Queen room go for the same cash price. I emailed them and asked if they could switch our award room to the 2 Queen Room and they said that they could. As far as I am aware, there is no upcharge. One was not disclosed to me. This resort is not all-inclusive, so I don't see a reason why there would be any additional charge. Fingers crossed I am not wrong.