Marriott Restricts Access to Welcome Bonuses
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It’s about to get a lot harder to earn multiple bonuses on credit cards associated with the Marriott International hotel network.
Marriott announced that starting Aug. 26, 2018, new credit card applicants may not be eligible for a new-cardholder bonus if they have or have had an existing credit card relationship or have recently received a bonus on a card associated with one of Marriott’s three programs. Those programs are:
Marriott Rewards
Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Starwood Preferred Guest
Before that, on Aug. 18, these three programs will become one.
What it means for you
If you've already earned a bonus on a card associated with one of these three loyalty programs, it will soon be harder to qualify for another one. These new restrictions are in addition to the limitations on bonuses that Chase and American Express have in place. For example, according to Chase’s terms, you can’t qualify for a Marriott bonus if you already have a Marriott consumer card or have received a welcome bonus for one of the Marriott consumer cards in the past 24 months.
Likewise, AmEx generally only allows you to earn a new-cardholder bonus once on each card.
These new policies take those restrictions a step further, making it more difficult to earn multiple bonuses within the Marriott hotel program even with different issuers.
You can still earn multiple bonuses on select cards for now. Keep in mind, these restrictions don’t take effect until Aug. 26. Until then, it’s still possible to qualify for multiple credit cards and bonuses in the Marriott program, as long as you qualify under the existing restrictions.
Each card will come with specific restrictions. Find out which bonuses you’ll be ineligible for starting Aug. 26 by using the guide below.
Information about The Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card, the Ritz-Carlton® Rewards Credit Card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card, and Marriott Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of these cards.
on Chase's website
1x-26x
Points140,000
Pointson Chase's website
1x-9x
PointsUp to 90,000 Points
Pointson Chase's website
2x-17x
Points125,000
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