The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card
Rewards rate
2X–6XAnnual fee
$450Intro offer
N/ARegular APR
17.74% - 24.74% (V)Recommended Credit Score
Excellent (740 - 850)The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® 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
This content is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate.com. HomeInsurance.com LLC services are only available in states were it is licensed and insurance coverage through HomeInsurance.com may not be available in all states. 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
4.9
Editor’s note: Some of the offers on this page may be expired. Check out our Best Credit Cards page for the most up-to-date offers for our favorite credit cards.
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card overview
If only the Ritz-Carlton properties will do when you’re traveling, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card can be well worth the substantial price of ownership. The key with this card is making sure you maximize all the benefits it offers.
A deeper look into the current card offer
Quick highlights
- Rewards rate: 6 points per $1 spent at participating The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® and SPG® hotels worldwide. 3 points for every $1 on dining, car rentals and airline purchases. 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Annual fee: $450
- Intro offer: N/A
- Regular APR: 17.74% – 24.74% (Variable)
Review
With its $450 price tag, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card may at first glance hardly seem worth it when stacked up against other luxury credit card heavy-hitters like the Chase Sapphire Reserve. But if you stay at a Ritz a few times a year and use all of the perks attached to it, the value can far exceed the price tag.
The Ritz-Carlton assigns its properties various tier designations, with the highest Tier 9 considered the swankiest. The current sign-up bonus with this card offers two free nights at participating Tier 1-4 Ritz-Carton properties if you spend $4,000 within the first three months of opening an account. That alone can be worth hundreds more than the cost of the card.
When Bankrate looked to determine the value of this benefit, we found that the least expensive room at the only Tier 1 Ritz-Carlton in the United States — the Tysons Corner, Virginia location — started at $559 a night. A basic garden view room with a king-sized bed and a balcony at the Tier 4 Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in California is listed at $685 a night.
The sign-up bonus will net you two nights for free at either of those spots and dozens more that qualify.
The sign-up offer also includes an additional 10,000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user and they make their first purchase.
One night free at a Tier 1 property is 20,000 points, and every Tier requires another 10,000 points up to a maximum of 60,000 points for a Tier 6 property.
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card pays 5 points for every $1 spent at participating Ritz-Carlton and SPG properties (that’s Starwood hotels), 2 points per $1 on airfare booked directly through the airline, car rental agencies and restaurants and 1 point per $1 on all other spending.
If you meet the spending requirement and add an authorized user, you could be well on your way to even more free nights.
The card also grants you three Club level upgrade passes each year on paid stays of up to seven nights. Club-level rooms give you access to the club lounge, an area that is always stocked with food and drinks and replenished throughout the day. Prices for these rooms typically range anywhere from $150 to $300 more than the price of a standard room.
You could theoretically fill up on all of your meals in the club lounge without spending a cent in a restaurant. Many of the lounges have full bars and various regional tastings throughout the day. Even if you just use it for coffee and a snack, it could save you from paying for a pricy restaurant breakfast every morning.
Other awesome attributes of this card include an annual $300 airline incidental credit. You’ll have to call the issuer and ask them to give you a statement credit as it’s not an automatic benefit like with some other cards.
You also get a Priority Pass membership for airport lounge access worldwide, a $100 hotel credit on paid stays of two nights or longer and a $100 Global Entry application fee reimbursement every four years.
Did we mention the automatic Gold Elite status you also get the first year of card ownership? This will give you free Wi-Fi, complimentary room upgrades, late check-out privileges and a 25% rewards bonus on your base points earnings.
If it’s flexible rewards you want, this is not the card for you. But if you’re willing to pay for it upfront in ownership cost, no other hotel-branded card gives you so much in return.
Who should get this card
Ritz enthusiasts who can take full advantage of all the benefits and perks that come with this card.
Fees and APR
- The annual fee is $450.
- The variable APR on purchases and balance transfers is 17.24% to 24.24% based on creditworthiness.
- You won’t incur any fees for foreign transactions.
- There’s a balance transfer fee of 5% of the amount being transferred.
- Late payments won’t affect your APR, but you will have to pay a penalty of up to $37.
Extras, perks and using points
As a Visa Infinite card, you can receive a $100 discount on the purchase of between two and five round-trip domestic coach tickets. The Visa Infinite rewards program is an additional way to earn with your card, offering travel and rewards benefits alongside a multitude of other perks. Further details can be found in our comprehensive Visa Infinite program guide.
Points expire if there is no activity on your account within 24 months. Qualifying activity counts as either earning Ritz-Carlton rewards through a qualified stay or using your card to make a purchase.
To redeem your points, log in to your account. Select the property you are interested in and then in the reservations window, select “Use Rewards Points.” You can also choose to use a combination of points and cash toward rooms. If you redeem your points for at least four nights, you’ll get a complimentary fifth night.
You can also redeem your points for stays within the Marriott family of participating hotels.
Share