Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card review

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. 

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.

Review

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.

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.

Who should get this card

Frequent travelers who prefer Marriott-branded hotels will benefit the most from owning this card.

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.

Extras, perks and using points

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.