See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply
Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card
Rewards rate
2X–6XAnnual fee
$95Intro offer
75,000 pointsRegular APR
18.24% - 25.24% VariableRecommended Credit Score
Excellent (740 - 850)Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card review
Why you can trust Bankrate
At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to:
- Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options.
- Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you\'re well-equipped to make confident decisions.
- Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you.
At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next.
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Insurance Disclosure
Coverage.com, LLC is a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 19966249). Coverage.com services are only available in states where it is licensed. Coverage.com may not offer insurance coverage in all states or scenarios. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way.
ON THIS PAGE
ON THIS PAGE
Snapshot
4.5
Editor’s note: The offer listed on this page is no longer available. The Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card has been relaunched as the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. Check out Bankrate’s review of the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card, or check our best travel credit cards page for other offers.
Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card Overview
Now that the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card has unified the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and Starwood rewards programs to form the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card, the issuer has added even more perks for cardholders.
You can now earn 75,000 bonus points to use for your stays if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
If you stay in a hotel at least a couple of nights a year and you prefer to stay within the Marriott or Starwood’s portfolio each time, the Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card can be a smart addition to your wallet. The rewards rate for stays within their large portfolio of properties can be generous and you’ll earn a free night each year of card ownership. That makes the $95 annual fee well worth it.
That being said, there are cash back credit cards that offer greater cashback returns on everyday spending — this card offers just 2x points for every dollar spent on non-bonus categories. Also, the fact that flight purchases are not included as a bonus cashback category (they would qualify for the standard 2x points per dollar) is a bit of a mark against the card as there are more compelling travel credit card deals.
However, if you’re a fan of the Marriott brand hotels, Marriott, Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton, or Starwood brands, Sheraton, Westin, W, St Regis, this card offers a lot of choices with over 6,700 hotels in 130 countries now under the rewards umbrella. The smart strategy is to really unlock the value by pairing this card with one that provides rewards in the other spending areas where you spend the most.
A deeper look into the current card offer
The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card pays 6 points for every dollar spent at over 6,700 participating Marriott Rewards® and SPG® hotels. That can help you earn free stays fast. Frequent travelers who prefer Marriott-branded hotels will benefit the most from owning this card.
What those points are worth varies, as Marriott assigns each of its properties a category, or ranking on a scale of 1 to 9 with Category 9 requiring the highest number of points (45,000) to redeem for a night and Category 1 requiring the lowest (7,500).
We found, for example, a $118 room at the Residence Inn Anaheim Hills Yorba Linda, that you could stay at for 20,000 points. Your points are worth about $0.006 each in this case. The New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge costs as little as $298 per night or 40,000 points; each point is worth $0.007.
You can wring some more value out of the card using the annual free-night certificate good for any Category 1-5 hotel you receive on your card anniversary. Some Category 5 hotels can go for up to $200 a night, making it well worth the annual $95 fee.
This card also gives you automatic Marriott Silver Elite status, which means you get perks including a 20% bonus on points earned during stays, free standard in-room Wi-Fi, priority late checkout, access to exclusive savings and rewards redemption options and dedicated reservation and guest services phone numbers. And, you’ll get this status matched at SPG properties. After Silver, comes Gold and then Platinum Elite Status, each with increasingly plush perks, so if you’re a frequent traveler, this card gives you a boost toward reaching those.
This card falls short, however, for someone who wants flexible rewards that can be transferred from Marriott’s program to an airline partner or anyone who doesn’t want to be locked in to only using their rewards at Marriott and related properties.
You can only transfer them one-way and not reverse the transfer later. You also can’t use them with airline partners or for cash back. If you’re looking for a hotel credit card with airline or other partners, we ranked the Starwood Preferred Guest card among our best hotel credit cards, giving it a near-perfect score. For a greater range of options, choose a travel rewards card that gives you rewards to use any way you’d like.
Key cardholder benefits
The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card is a Visa Signature card, which provides trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and purchase protection.
This card comes with automatic Marriott Silver Elite status benefits.
Get a free night stay every year in a Category 1 – 5 hotel on your card anniversary.
Earn 15 Elite Night credits each calendar year.
Points can be used for free hotel stays or for room upgrades at Marriott and Starwood properties.
Fees and APR
- There’s an annual fee of $95, waived the first year.
- This card comes with a variable APR of 18.24% – 25.24%.
- There are no foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside the U.S.
- There’s a penalty fee of up to $38 for missed and late payments.
Comparing this card to other credit cards
Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card
See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply
Annual fee
$95Intro offer
75,000 pointsRewards rate
2X–6XRecommended credit
Excellent(740 - 850)
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
Annual fee
$650Intro offer
150,000 pointsRewards rate
2X–6XRecommended credit
Good to Excellent(670 - 850)
The information about Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
Share