Marriott It is the largest hotel chain, with more than 9,000 properties worldwide, and when I travel, most of the time I am unlocking one of its doors in the hotel room.
Marriott offers six credit cards charged between two issues, American Express and Chase. Although I have the status of Elite Marriott Titanium, you will surprise you to know that my favorite card to pay my Marriott stays is not a brown card at all, it is the CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® card (see rates and rates).
For a limited time, the new preferred sapphire applicants can obtain the highest welcome offer in years of 100,000 bonus points after spending $ 5,000 on purchases in the first three months from the opening of the account. This offer ends on May 15 at 9 am edt. Based on May 2025 of TPG ValuationsThis is worth $ 2,050.
We are going to immerse ourselves why I choose to use my preferred sapphire instead of a brown card with copper for my stays.
Why is Marriott my hotel chain?
I am a frequent international traveler, and Marriott Hotel brands tend to be the most easily available properties in my experience. There have been some cities that I have visited where the only main property of the hotel chain was under Marriott’s wallet. In addition, I have sustained Marriott Bonvoy Titanium elité Elite Since 2022 and striving to maintain that annual. The main advantages of titanium elite status that are useful to me include:
While the last two benefits also come with Platinum elite status, which in my opinion is the best Hotel status for the sweet pointElite United Silver status is only found with the titanium elite status and above. It is incredibly useful for me since it flight to United Airlines a good number of times throughout the year, and in recent years, I have been staggering in the line between winning and not winning the state. Having titanium elite status ensures that I will always have some airline status.
Related: How Marriott and United Elite members can use Rewardsplus to coincide and convert rewards
Why did Zafiro preferred instead of a Marriott card?
You can ask why the Preferred sapphire It is my reference card for Marriott Stays. In a nutshell, it is due to its income rate of 2 points per dollar spent on trips and the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, which TPG in May 2025 Valuations Paste to 2.05 cents per piece. This means that I get a return of 4.1% in my Marriott expense.
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In addition, having the elite status of Titanium means that I get 17.5 additional bonvoy points per dollar spent in most Marriott’s stays (it can be lower if it stays in an extended stay mark or select other properties).
Five of the six Marriott Bonvoy The cards earn 6 points per dollar spent on Marriott Hotels, with the non -annual rate Marriott Bonvoy Bold® credit card (see rates and rates) Win only 3 points per dollar spent on Marriott Stays.
The Marriott Bonvoy points are worth 0.7 cents each agree with the TPG in May 2025 ValuationsTherefore, win 6 points per dollar equals a return of the 4.2%expenditure.
Here is a brief breakdown that compares the preferred Sapphire profits and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® (see rates and rates)
| Chase Sapphire preferred | Marriott Bonvoy unlimited | |
|---|---|---|
| Gain rate at Marriott Stays | 2 final rewards points per dollar (4.1% return)* | 6 points of Bonvoy per dollar (4.2% return)* |
| Titanium Elite status bonus (17.5 points per dollar in most stays) | 17.5 points per dollar (12.25% return)* | 17.5 points per dollar (12.25% return)* |
| Total return on spending* | 19.5 points (16.35% return)* | 23.5 points (16.45% return)* |
*Based on TPG valuations in May 2025
When using the preferred sapphire, I only sacrifice 0.1% in bonus profits, which is worth it. Given its immense flexibility, I would prefer to win Chase Ultimate Rewards Points than Marriott Bonvoy’s points.
I can transfer the points won with my preferred sapphire to CHASE’S 14 HOTEL AND AEROLINE MEXTSincluding Marriott. Perírically, Chase even offers Transfer bonds For Marriott; Last month there was a 50%transfer bonus.
In addition, the preferred chase sapphire gives me a 10% anniversary points bonusGiving me 10% of bonus points in my total expense on the card that year, which encourages me even more to spend on my favorite sapphire.
And if you wonder why I do not opt for the CHASE SAPPHIRE Reserve® (see rates and rates), with its 3 points per dollar spent on trips, it is because I am not eligible for a Sapphire card welcome bonus When I opened my preferred sapphire in 2022.
I don’t want either improvement to the reservation because I would have to pay an annual substantially higher rate and lose the opportunity to win a welcome bonus in the near future.
Related: 11 Reasons to choose the preferred chase sapphire on the most elegant chase sapphire reserve
Why don’t I have a Marriott card?
Since Marriott is my hotel chain and I have the titanium elite status, it may seem surprising that it does not have a Cobranded Marriott card. I have considered obtaining a Marriott credit card in the past, and the one that was always at the top of my list was the unlimited Marriott Bonvoy. This was due to the reasonable annual rate of $ 95 and to the free annual certificate.
These are the reasons why I do not currently have a Marriott credit card:
- I gain the elite status organically, so I do not need bonus nights or the automatic elite state provided by credit cards.
- He Free night certificate It is becoming more difficult to use due to frequent devaluations as the properties increase reimbursement prices.
- The most important thing, I’m currently up 5/24 rule of Chase.
Winning elite status
It is easy for me to win the elite status of Marriott Titanium organically, since I just need to stay 75 nights per year in a Marriott. That may seem a lot, but every year from mid -February to April, Marriott executes a Dos Night Promotion Where for every night of payment you stay, you will get an additional elite night loan.
I stayed 24 nights during this promotion this year and obtained 48 elite night credits. Currently, I am in 51 Nights Elite this year, which has reaped me for the status of Elite Platinum.
I only need 24 more nights to requalify for titanium elite status. Marriott’s credit cards offer five, 15 or 25 Elite night loansDepending on the card, but I already have planned stays for the rest of the year that would easily be reassigned for the titanium elite state, so I don’t need those credits.
The next higher level of elite status is Elite ambassadorAnd that is beyond the reach of me, since I will not organically meet the requirements of 100 nights and $ 23,000 in eligible expenses.
Free night certificates
In addition, the free certificate offered on the Bonvoy Boundless card would be difficult to use for me. It is worth up to 35,000 points per night, or around $ 245 based on May 2025 Valuations. This free night certificate can be exceeded with 15,000 points per total of 50,000 points.
Although this more than covers the annual rate, Recent devaluations For Marriott Bonvoy, it has made these awards more difficult to use.
The problem lies that the redemption value is too low so that I feel that I get the proper value, or the property is just outside the threshold to recharge these free night awards.
I have some free night certificates of 40,000 points that I got as my titanium elite Benefit of annual choice, And I am having difficulty using them, so a free certificate of 35,000 points would be even more difficult to use. In addition, many of the hotels that I keep offer a better value for only Pay effective versus redeeming A free certificate or points.
The infamous 5/24 rule
Finally, I am above 5/24, so they would not approve for any persecution card at this time, making me ineligible for three of the six cards. Potentially I could request an AMEX MARRIOTT card, such as the Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Marriott cardBut I am not particularly interested in any of the benefits provided by the card, since they organically win it or through another credit card.
Related: Why do I keep my marriott bonvoy unlimited in the long term
End
Marriott has a handful of Large card options with collectionsBut they have not won a place in my wallet. Maybe once it is below 5/24, I will reconsider adding a Marriott card.
Even then, you are likely to register on cards that win a transferable currencysince I often have difficulty finding a good value when redeeming Marriott points. For now, I will adhere to the use of my preferred chase sapphire to pay my stays in Marriott.
For more information, read our complete reviews of the Chase Sapphire preferred and Marriott Bonvoy unlimited.
Last opportunity: Chase Sapphire preferred -Bonification of 100,000 points after spending $ 5,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening the account.
