Marriott Restricts Access to Welcome Bonuses

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.

» MORE: NerdWallet's best hotel credit cards

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.