I love credit cards so much!

[palhockeymomof2]

The welcome bonus posts to the cardholder’s SPG or combined Marriott account. Once you hit MSR, you should see the bonus points reflected on your Amex account dashboard within 2-3 days, and the bonus points will post to your SPG/Marriott account a day or two later. Referral points also post similar to welcome bonus points; they show up on your Amex account within a few days after an approval, and post to your SPG/Marriott account a day or two later. Points from spend will post to your SPG/Marriott account within a few days following close of each monthly statement. You don’t need to keep an SPG (or Marriott) card open to keep the points alive. Once the points are in your SPG/Marriott account, they’re yours to spend. But do not close an Amex card before you’ve held it for at least one year. You’ll almost certainly end up on Amex’s naughty list.

You can’t easily combine Marriott points between P1 and P2 post-merger. Marriott caps transfers to 100k points per calendar year, and charges a $10 transfer fee unless you’re Gold or Platinum+.

Before you dip your toes into SPG cards, do you have or have you had any Chase Marriott cards or received a bonus on a Marriott card in the past, say, 24 months?

I definitely wouldn’t cancel before a year...if the annual fee hit and we hadn’t found a use for any of the Marriott points that would be my reason for canceling....if we had been able to use the points then I’d think the free night certifi would be worth the annual fee.

We haven’t had any Chase Marriott cards....I’ve been working on accumulating URs with Chase ...looked into MRs but don’t see how we would use them right now, so don’t want to pay annual fees up front for points that may sit unused for a while....also want to stay under 5/24....so looking at business cards. I think we would find a use for the Marriott points in the city.
Also open to other business hotel card recommendations

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Agree...very sucky!...This throws a monkey wrench in my plans. I picked up spg pers/biz for both of us and the marriott biz for me hoping to use those 5 free nights. I don't think paying $500 in AF's is the same as 5 free nights. Marriott/SPG just continue to disappoint me...first, the massive increase in points needed for Swolphin, second, how they have handled the N&F certs and lastly, having to pay the AF to get the FN (want to put "free night" in quotes like we do with "free dining" lol).

My opinion of these “free nights” would be different if they worked at Swolphin LOL! I’d be paying that $95 in a heartbeat. When they raised that to 50k it sealed the deal for me to cancel all of our SPG and Marriott cards the next time the AF came around. I kinda knew I was hoping for something that was never going to happen but still tried anyways.

 

[calypso726]

Great information, thanks! Don't tell Marriott - they'll make it 60K.
@calypso726 - can we have a quick hotel review on your stay there?

I will do a review. We are going the weekend of January 19th.

The Courtyard directly underneath the Residence is also 35k. Very nice as well, but rooms look a little smaller, and obviously lower flowers (since the Residence takes the top half of the building).

We are using our Ritz 2FN at the St. Regis in a couple weeks, which is the one and only time we will likely be able to have a stay at such a nice hotel.

Oh I didn’t realize the Courtyard was right there too.

That sounds lovely. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a St. Regis. Enjoy!

I'm going to have to remember this one. We just got the LUX so no free night yet but it does look like a good way to use it! We are booked at a Hyatt about a block away (using up a ton of Hyatt points) and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this Residence Inn and also that area. I haven't stayed around there before.

I will post a review for everyone.

So uhhh does anybody have a DP on the new free night with the SPG biz card?

Here's my experience and info so far:

1) My card opening date is 10/26/2017.

2) On 11/2/2018 I got the following email (truncated for time)...

You’re close to receiving a Free Night Award from SPG...Happy Card anniversary! We wanted to remind you that you will receive one annual Free Night Award from SPG® each year of Card Membership within 8-12 weeks after your Card Account anniversary date...You can redeem...at or under 35,000 points....You will receive an email from SPG to the email address listed on your loyalty member account confirming that the Free Night Award e-certificate has been deposited into your loyalty member account....To qualify...account must be open and not in default at the time of issuance...Thank you for your Card Membership...American Express Customer Care​

3) On 11/25/2018 my statement closes on the SPG Biz and my $95 annual fee is billed

4) My payment of this AF is due by 12/18/2018...

Conveniently for AMEX...8 weeks from my anniversary date is 12/21/2018. It sounds to me like I have to pay the annual fee to get this free night. Has anybody had their free night post yet from the SPG Biz (or even the SPG personal would be a meaningful DP). I was hoping this would work like the Chase Marriott card where I get my free night and then cancel...but I don't think that's going to be the case unfortunately.

I’m pretty sure mine or DH’s posted but don’t recall the particulars as we were keeping the cards anyhow.

I wonder, does the Aspire free night work the same way? Actually 6-8 weeks after AF as well? I assume so.



I know you didn't ask and don't have the free night yet anyway, but definitely don't use it at the RI Central Park (unless you just fall in love with it). The Lux free night is up to 50k, so you have more options. If you wanted the same general area I'd probably pick the W Times Square. The RI Central Park is about 10 blocks further uptown from the W, but it's all roughly Times Square/Theater District - busy, lots of restaurants, and (biggest perk) 2 blocks to Hell's Kitchen.

We prefer not to stay right in the middle of Times Square, so I'd probably pick the Westin Grand Central with a 50k night. But frankly given the options at the 50k level I might use that in another city entirely (the NYC options at that level are not super great).

I got the Aspire on day 1 of its release, and made the MSR within a minute or two of approval. I think that might be the pinnacle of any of my MAR completions. This was last January. The free weekend night that is part of the bonus took several phone calls and several weeks to post. I don’t know how the anniversary night certificate will post yet but can report back sometime after January when my AF hits.

 

[Alexle2007]

Darn, I thought my 3k RR shopping portal bonus had posted but it was just the points from BoostMobile for the 2 iPhones I purchased. With the using the shopping portal DH now has enough points to purchase with his account.

 

[miztressuz]

Argh, Sam's Club got me again. I ordered a couple things on Cyber Monday because they had the same price as other sites but we had AmEx offers for samsclub .com on two cards. I had the 5 off 15 and hubby had a 10 off 50, so it'd make a better gift the same price as the 'just ok' version if we used them. They had a promo if I spent x amount they'd give me a discount so I threw a couple other things in the cart to get them practically for free and off I went... I wasn't thinking how close we are to the end of the month when the AmEx offers expire! After the Gift Card fiasco where they arrived a full week after promised (they didn't even process the order until after they were supposed to arrive ) I was only thinking about delivery dates and not the charge dates. As I check the order again where the gift is sitting in "Ready to Ship" for the 2nd day and the other 2 items are still "Order received" I'm starting to doubt I'll get the charges in by the 30th if they're holding shipping for those. I should have known better but normally ordering something a week before the expiration date isn't even a thought so I didn't put two and two together like I should have.

This may be a $15 lesson learned unless AmEx takes pity and adjusts it for order date.

 

[Judique]

I wonder, does the Aspire free night work the same way? Actually 6-8 weeks after AF as well? I assume so.



I know you didn't ask and don't have the free night yet anyway, but definitely don't use it at the RI Central Park (unless you just fall in love with it). The Lux free night is up to 50k, so you have more options. If you wanted the same general area I'd probably pick the W Times Square. The RI Central Park is about 10 blocks further uptown from the W, but it's all roughly Times Square/Theater District - busy, lots of restaurants, and (biggest perk) 2 blocks to Hell's Kitchen.

We prefer not to stay right in the middle of Times Square, so I'd probably pick the Westin Grand Central with a 50k night. But frankly given the options at the 50k level I might use that in another city entirely (the NYC options at that level are not super great).

Edit: Posted about wrong location.

 

[amalone1013]

Argh, Sam's Club got me again. I ordered a couple things on Cyber Monday because they had the same price as other sites but we had AmEx offers for samsclub .com on two cards. I had the 5 off 15 and hubby had a 10 off 50, so it'd make a better gift the same price as the 'just ok' version if we used them. They had a promo if I spent x amount they'd give me a discount so I threw a couple other things in the cart to get them practically for free and off I went... I wasn't thinking how close we are to the end of the month when the AmEx offers expire! After the Gift Card fiasco where they arrived a full week after promised (they didn't even process the order until after they were supposed to arrive ) I was only thinking about delivery dates and not the charge dates. As I check the order again where the gift is sitting in "Ready to Ship" for the 2nd day and the other 2 items are still "Order received" I'm starting to doubt I'll get the charges in by the 30th if they're holding shipping for those. I should have known better but normally ordering something a week before the expiration date isn't even a thought so I didn't put two and two together like I should have.

This may be a $15 lesson learned unless AmEx takes pity and adjusts it for order date.

Maybe they will automatically... I had something like this in the summer but it was completely my fault. Put in an order the day before AMEX offer expiration for pick up in club 3 or 4 days later, so the charge dropped off then came back with a date after the offer, but after a week or two the AMEX offer credit posted.

 

[miztressuz]

Maybe they will automatically... I had something like this in the summer but it was completely my fault. Put in an order the day before AMEX offer expiration for pick up in club 3 or 4 days later, so the charge dropped off then came back with a date after the offer, but after a week or two the AMEX offer credit posted.

Aw, you give me hope, thanks!!

 

[PolyRob]

My opinion of these “free nights” would be different if they worked at Swolphin LOL! I’d be paying that $95 in a heartbeat. When they raised that to 50k it sealed the deal for me to cancel all of our SPG and Marriott cards the next time the AF came around. I kinda knew I was hoping for something that was never going to happen but still tried anyways.

What about "The Cove" Marriott is building across from Swolphin? Thinking it will be in the same boat?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

What about "The Cove" Marriott is building across from Swolphin? Thinking it will be in the same boat?

I’d be shocked if they are building a new hotel in that area that didn’t fetch 50k (OR MORE) points per night. They’ve stated that this will be a group/event/convention oriented property which to me screams $$$ and mucho points. (And I am bummed about that because a lower cost/point option would be awesome...but super unlikely IMO).

 

[wendow]

My opinion of these “free nights” would be different if they worked at Swolphin LOL! I’d be paying that $95 in a heartbeat. When they raised that to 50k it sealed the deal for me to cancel all of our SPG and Marriott cards the next time the AF came around. I kinda knew I was hoping for something that was never going to happen but still tried anyways.

Exactly! Swolphin is the whole reason I went after the first spg cards we picked up. If these nights were good there, the AF would be a no-brainer. I also still have a cat 1-4 F&N's cert I have no idea where we will use. I think I'll be cancelling the cards and saving $500 instead.

 

[amalone1013]

Okay... trying to add my bank account to pay my CIP and it's telling me they can't verify that I own the checking account... even though this is all under the login with my SW biz which also pays out of that checking account?

 

[Judique]

Exactly! Swolphin is the whole reason I went after the first spg cards we picked up. If these nights were good there, the AF would be a no-brainer. I also still have a cat 1-4 F&N's cert I have no idea where we will use. I think I'll be cancelling the cards and saving $500 instead.

It's all perception of value. When Swan and Dolphin started charging resort fees and parking fees, I wasn't much interested anymore. But then I enjoyed many 'free' nights there using my SPG points prior to DVC. I won't even use my 50K cert there from my Lux.

And, I will happily pay the annual fees because I will get value for them. $450, $99, $85, $95, $95 - I think - or its close to it. Well over $800 in annual fees for the 5 nights, but $300 comes back, so more like over $500. I figure the nights will be worth approximately $1200-$1400 for that $500. It works for me out of my overall vacationing budget, or should I say it makes my vacation budget work better?

 

[wendow]

Okay... trying to add my bank account to pay my CIP and it's telling me they can't verify that I own the checking account... even though this is all under the login with my SW biz which also pays out of that checking account?

We had this same problem when trying to add our checking account to autopay dh's CIC, even though on the same profile, it was already autopaying his CIP. We had to call and make the payment over the phone two times. Chase had no clue why the bank account wouldn't link up. I tried again after a couple of months and it worked and now it autopays.

 

[wendow]

It's all perception of value. When Swan and Dolphin started charging resort fees and parking fees, I wasn't much interested anymore. But then I enjoyed many 'free' nights there using my SPG points prior to DVC. I won't even use my 50K cert there from my Lux.

And, I will happily pay the annual fees because I will get value for them. $450, $99, $85, $95, $95 - I think - or its close to it. Well over $800 in annual fees for the 5 nights, but $300 comes back, so more like over $500. I figure the nights will be worth approximately $1200-$1400 for that $500. It works for me out of my overall vacationing budget, or should I say it makes my vacation budget work better?

That's awesome that your travel destinations work so well with the FN's. In our case, we don't take very many trips so it's hard to use these nights. Maybe in a different stage of life

ETA: if I could find a 35k hotel by DLR, that would be an option. I need to look at that.

 

[amalone1013]

We had this same problem when trying to add our checking account to autopay dh's CIC, even though on the same profile, it was already autopaying his CIP. We had to call and make the payment over the phone two times. Chase had no clue why the bank account wouldn't link up. I tried again after a couple of months and it worked and now it autopays.

ugh maybe i'll actually call in tonight then

 

[mmmears]

I know you didn't ask and don't have the free night yet anyway, but definitely don't use it at the RI Central Park (unless you just fall in love with it). The Lux free night is up to 50k, so you have more options. If you wanted the same general area I'd probably pick the W Times Square. The RI Central Park is about 10 blocks further uptown from the W, but it's all roughly Times Square/Theater District - busy, lots of restaurants, and (biggest perk) 2 blocks to Hell's Kitchen.

We prefer not to stay right in the middle of Times Square, so I'd probably pick the Westin Grand Central with a 50k night. But frankly given the options at the 50k level I might use that in another city entirely (the NYC options at that level are not super great).

Thank you for the info. I forgot the LUX came with a 50K free night (it will be at least a year before we earn it so I kind of forgot about it for now). And yes, for 50K I would hope there would be some other locations where I can enjoy it (like a resort somewhere...). Right now we are planning to stay at the Park Hyatt, which looks really nice when I look at pics online. It's definitely a splurge.

 

[miztressuz]

Target RedCard holders - there's an offer in the RedCard site for a Hotels.com coupon code. Says you have to link through the RedCard site for it to work but you can view the page here for full details and the coupon code: https://www.hotels.com/page/target/

 

[striker1064]

I got the Aspire on day 1 of its release, and made the MSR within a minute or two of approval. I think that might be the pinnacle of any of my MAR completions. This was last January. The free weekend night that is part of the bonus took several phone calls and several weeks to post. I don’t know how the anniversary night certificate will post yet but can report back sometime after January when my AF hits.

Haha whoops, totally forgot the Aspire hasn't been out a year yet.

 

[Calfan]

Anyone know how RMN works when you've ordered something through them and are going to return it. Just got it today decided I don't want it. But last week did get an email from them that the cashback would be pending. I plan to return it at the store this weekend. Just wondering how it will play out if the cashback is posted by then.

My sample size is small, but I had an online order from Macy's trigger a $15 payout from RMN. I returned the merchandise, but no clawback from RMN.