Double Marriott Reward Visa Signature Credit Cards in the Mail

Something funny happened yesterday: I got two credit card offers from the Marriott through the mail. Normally, you’d think that they would at least send these out periodically but no, they decided to send me two different offers on the same day. As there is no way anyone would sign up for both, I guess their conversion rate is so high that they want to lower it huh?

Marriott Rewards Visa Signature vs Marriott Rewards Visa Signature
Alright. One of them actually has a “Premier” stuck on it, not to mention that it’s black in color. The other? A gray color that doesn’t have any cool words on it.

Here are the perks that are the same on both cards:

  1. 20,000 Marriott Reward Bonus Points After First Purchase
  2. One Free Night Stay
  3. No Annual Fee for the first year
  4. Cash Advance APR at 19.99 variable
  5. Default APR: Up to 29.99% variable
  6. Overdraft Advance APR: 19.99% variable
  7. Grace period of at least 20 days
  8. Minimum finance charges of $1.00
  9. Transaction fee for balance transfers and cash advances at 3% of the amount with $5.00 minimum ($10.00 for cash advances)
  10. 1 point per $1 spent on other purchases

Other than that though, everything else is different (and thus confusing when you get both of them at the same time). The Visa Signature has:

  1. 15 points per $1 Spent at Marriott (5 points for Premier)
  2. 1 point per $1 spent for eligible dining, airline and car rental (2 points for Premier)
  3. No more free night stay (Recurring free night stay every year for Premier)
  4. APR for purchases at 13.99% (14.99% for Premier)
  5. no extras (2-for-1 golf coupon for Premier)
  6. No bonus nights (15 nights towards Marriott Reward Elite status every year for Premier)
  7. No annual fee forever ($65 for Premier)

So Visa Signature or Premier Visa Signature?
Obviously, the biggest downside for the Premier Visa Signature card is the annual fee of $65. However, you get a free night stay at any category 1-5 hotels a year for it. With hotel rates at $250 or more at some of the category 5 hotels, that one night stay is worth the annual fee in my opinion.

Of course, the advantage goes back to the non-premier card if you already spend lots of money with Marriott because the standard card gives you 15 points for every $1 spent at Marriott hotels (as opposed to 5 for the premier). This means that if you spend a ton of money at the hotels anyway, you will lose out on lots of free nights of hotel stays if you get the premier card because you earn less points.

Tagged as: Credit Cards, Review, Rewards

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