Why the Ritz Carlton Credit Card is my MAIN Luxury Travel Card

[@Thezestypirate]

Just got my Ritz last Thursday. I stayed at an RC this year (amazing experience) and have another one booked early next year (both point redemptions). As a data point, I got my boundless free night the next business day after my 1 year anniversary. Called the same day and was able to product change to ritz. Also, for cardholders and any authorized users, the Priority Pass cards have to be requested over the phone with an agent. Love the card and really excited to use all the benefits. Great video Stan!

[@TheCreditFrog]

Hey that's awesome! Congrats on finally getting the Ritz Carlton card! It was a long wait, but it sounds like you're going to put it to good use. Thanks for sharing that you got the 35k FNA pretty quickly and then you PC'ed to Ritz right away with no issues. Enjoy the new card! 🎉

[@Olafdaschneemann]

You don’t need to call in to receive the airline credit. You can send a secured message

[@TheCreditFrog]

Very cool! Didn't know that, will have to try that out next year!

[@travelingwith_lv9917]

Debating on upgrading to the Ritz Card. But idk if I want an increased annual fee. Lol

[@Gangrenous_Hank]

Love watching your videos! I value your videos very highly. I was curious as to what you think of an Amex platinum, usbar, BBP trio? Love MR but the usbar is too great not to use for domestic travel.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thanks! Yeah, if you need Centurion lounge access and can use the credits on the Platinum, that's a great luxury travel card to have! Then you can use USBAR for most spending through MW, and BBP for everything else that's non-MW. That's how I would run it anyways. Would still use the Platinum for flights.

[@syzygy1776]

Hey Stan, thank you so much for providing this video on Marriott! It’s always informative and easy to understand as usual. If you’re booking a Marriott hotel with cash/card. Am I understanding that you’d rather use the Chase Sapphire reserve which gives you three time points as opposed to using the Bonvoy card, which could potentially give you up to 17 times points since the point redemption on Chase can go much farther than just strictly Marriott hotels right? What points have you valued the most when you’ve had to redeem them for awards? I asked because I’ve been booking Marriott hotels with my boundless card and I’m currently a platinum member. The points are really nice, but I just haven’t really made use of them. It’s like I’m waiting for a big moment to use them like get married. But now you’ve got me wondering whether I should be using a different card to maximize travel points and then use those points instead to help me book award flight. Which I’m always on the lookout for a good deal.

[@TheCreditFrog]

You're welcome. Since the RC card earns 6X points on Marriott, that's the only thing you're missing. You get 10X points back from being a Bonvoy member and then 2.5X from the Gold Elite bonus then 6X from the RC card. If you use a CSR/CIP, then you earn 12.5X Bonvoy points and 3X UR points. Depends on what you're looking for, but I think the UR points is more helpful due to the flexible transfer partners. The points I valued the highest are the ones I used. The Bonvoy program does not get good CPP back, which is why the focus is more on free night awards. The best Bonvoy point is a point used .. hopefully for more than 0.8cpp. I mainly use Marriott Bonvoy points to top off my FNAs so they are 50k and 100k, instead of 35k and 85k. I would prefer URs or Bonvoy points any day!

[@u_taitata652]

Friend of my brother added 16 AU on his Ritz card😅 that is highest number of AU that I know of

[@TheCreditFrog]

That's insane. Insane value!!

[@jonVegas76]

I was able to get the 5/nights bonus with the boundless and we are using those nights for a trip to Waikiki in March. Planning on getting the Ritz after two years of having the Boundless and applying for the Brilliant first to get the sign up bonus.

[@TheCreditFrog]

That's awesome! Enjoy the 5 nights in Waikiki! Great way to use that bonus!

[@SolidLiquidFox]

I see you touched upon a very important fact: much like me, you also dont use this card at all. Only for the $300 incidental fee or if I purposely want to charge taxes and fees for the flight to be covered by the travel insurance. Its a specific benefit card. No organic spend.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Absolutely! It's important to distinguish which cards are used for spending, and which one should be used for benefits. The RC card is a benefits card!

[@drexplordinaire]

If my friend is able to grant me Hyatt globalist status via guest of honor, is there a Hyatt strategy or is it basically chase redemption

[@TheCreditFrog]

I haven't really looked into it, but I would stick with URs. But I'm not the expert on Hyatt so I'd check out other content covering that topic specifically.

[@Ricewater94]

Too bad if i get this next year, i can't get the brilliant welcome offer until 2 years later from now. So difficult to be patient

[@TheCreditFrog]

For sure, I know what you mean, but when you have both, you know you've made it! (at least in the Marriott ecosystem)

[@johnny_ma]

Have other cards that I am planning on getting once I am below 5/24 but this ione is on the radar of eventually getting

[@TheCreditFrog]

It's a good one to keep in mind! Just wait for a good Boundless offer.

[@Tim0tay]

I did the product change when the free night cert posted to my bonvoy account.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Not wasting any time I see 😅

[@andrewbeach1685]

Just scored the Amex business, does that also have family language for welcome offers?

[@TheCreditFrog]

It doesn't have family language within Amex. Just the language that Chase Bonvoy cards are out for 24 months after you get the welcome offer.

[@GEN512X]

I have found Ritz and St regis properties are the best point redemptions depending on when you book. Usually get 1.2 cpp or more at Ritz and almost 3cpp at St Regis

[@TheCreditFrog]

Ooh very nice CPPs there! Those are some top notch properties that I need to stay more at!

[@GEN512X]

@@TheCreditFrog You might know the answer to this question. I'd like to have brilliant? Ritz, business, boundless and amex bonvoy 95 annual fee card. As long as I wait to get my 2nd welcome offer on the boundless in the future; I can then apply for a 2nd brilliant and pc the first brilliant to amex bonvoy 95 fee card with no issues holding all 5 right?

[@TheCreditFrog]

@@GEN512X You should be good with that sequence! 👍

[@TheZombaslaya]

Does the United travel bank hack people use on the Platinum's incidental credit work on the Ritz Carlton card too?

[@Lifeissorich.]

Yes, but people lie and say it was a seat upgrade.

[@TheCreditFrog]

👀👀

[@tango123t]

Hey Stan ! Does this card come with any Marriott status.. else that can be a bummer to many people for owning a hotel card with no hotel status benefits ..

[@TheCreditFrog]

It comes with Marriott Gold, but Marriott Gold Elite is kind of terrible - that's why Bonvoy Brilliant is important too for that automatic Platinum Elite satus!

[@syzygy1776]

@@TheCreditFrog something to add to this too is that if you do own the Marriott business AMEX card and then also a visa Marriott card. You can stack both those up to get gold status, but you’re a few nights closer to getting platinum. Which you’ve explained in a different video. I’m coming up on year one of owning the boundless, I’m going to wait until year two to apply for the AMEX ones and then product changed to Ritz. I’m really excited to have four FNA

[@TheCreditFrog]

@@syzygy1776 That's awesome! It's my goal as well!

[@nubianpwr]

Stan, you've just made the best case for the RC card I've heard to date👏🏾👍🏾 You never told me U were a lawyer😄I have been musing over the Amex BB vs the Chase RC. The Amex BB $25/mth restaurant credit has always felt awkward, as do most Amex credits... like I'm forced to spend for my own $$ rebate, in the way they want me to😎 I dislike this and cancelled the Gold because of it. The Chase RC $300/yr travel credit just feels right - even with the personal phone call😀 Since I do stay at RC a cpl times/yr it makes sense, and I luv the RC lounge (another bene). I'm in Bro!

[@TheCreditFrog]

Haha, I am certainly not a lawyer! Yeah, the Bonvoy Brilliant dining credit led me to cancel my Amex Gold because the statement credits were getting just too much! I'm really happy that the airline credit for the Ritz card is still annual. It makes it so much easier to use! I need to one day pony up and experience the Club lounges at the Ritz, but so far they've been so costly that I've shyed away from it. Maybe one day!

[@nubianpwr]

@@TheCreditFrog It's worth a try, especially during off-season booking. Imagine Michelin quality cuisine the entire day morning, noon, and eve with a great ambience (which I'm thinking u'd appreciate). I have had no addt'l food costs when booking club lounge stays. The RC cc would get me this with reg booking. The food quality (& service) is generally 4.5-5 star.

[@TheCreditFrog]

@@nubianpwr Nice! One of my life goals is to stay on a Ritz Carlton Yacht collection boat. It looks super nice.

[@jameelharris8834]

Valuable content as always.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thanks!

[@DaIton-]

1st

[@TheCreditFrog]

Congrats Dalton! You are FIRST! 🏆🥇

[@DaIton-]

@@TheCreditFrog the timing of the video is perfect, I just hit the necessary spend for my SUB on the Bold card yesterday and the points are already pending for my account Something you didn’t cover in the video when product changing after the product change is approved can you have part of your credit limit moved back to your other Chase cards or do you have to always maintain a minimum 10K limit on the card at all times

[@TheCreditFrog]

@@DaIton- You only need 10k limit on the Chase Bonvoy card at the time of the product change. Other than that, it can be whatever you want.

[@DaIton-]

@@TheCreditFrog that’s good to know, like you after I year passes I could definitely consider product changing to the Ritz card but not putting much spend on it so having a 10k limit on it wouldn’t really make since for me, I’d rather spread it out to more frequently used cards like my Freedom Unlimited

[@Doriginal5]

So we can’t use the $300 airline fee credit towards Southwest tickets

[@TheCreditFrog]

You may be able to. I cannot confirm or deny.

[@Doriginal5]

Any strategies for extracting the full $300 credit? I usually don’t travel with that many bags or purchase that many meals on flights? We also have PP and Centurion lounge access through AmEX Plat

[@Doriginal5]

9:57 I wonder if this means we have to create a new priority pass account I order to have the access updated when getting the RZC card

[@Olafdaschneemann]

@@Doriginal5 incidentals, seat upgrades, baggage fees, etc. There are plenty of ways to extract value (even if you fly infrequently). Google -> Reddit should give you plenty of options

[@TheCreditFrog]

@@Doriginal5 The strategies that you use for the Amex Platinum may or may not be helpful when using the airline credit on the RC card.

[@zyzzuschrist3410]

W

[@TheCreditFrog]

👍

[@davidmui1944]

Great video, Stan! I love how you're a huge supporter of the Ritz Carlton Card. I have a question about Free Night Rewards (FNR). Can they be used for consecutive nights at the same hotel? I typically stay for weekends (two nights) only. If this is possible, would you recommend opening Marriott credit cards on the same anniversary date to maximize FNR benefits?

[@TheCreditFrog]

Hi David! So yes, you can stack free night awards back to back, and you can do this by booking online as well as over the phone if you'd like! This is one of the main reasons why my Marriott strategy has 2 85k and 2 35k FNAs so that I can take book a weekend stay only on certs if I want!

[@Leoprieto74]

Brother Stan, I ❤ the beautiful Chase Ritz Carlton,.. the savings that I get with the Three Club Level Upgrade Certificates is close to $2,000 for my first year with this beautiful card. Even the Ritz Carlton Customer service professionals are unbelievable amazing. And about the free night award certificate from the Boundless card it appears in my Marriott account two days after I called to product change to the beautiful Ritz Carlton. I called exactly the day after my Boundless anniversary. Cheers 🥂

[@Olafdaschneemann]

@@Leoprieto74 I’d love to know how you arrived at $2K for club room upgrades considering there’s a slightly inflated price on the accompanying room over the non-club variant. You must have consumed a lot of alcohol/food 😂

[@Leoprieto74]

@@Olafdaschneemann 😂, one booking alone at the Ritz Carlton South Beach saved me over $1k when comparing the room I booked with the club level room I got upgraded. I also have two additional Ritz Carlton bookings where I got upgraded to club level where the rate difference from club level was over $250 per night. And these savings don’t include the 🍺🥃🍷 at the Ritz Lounge 😄

[@TheCreditFrog]

Congrats on the new Ritz Carlton card Leo! You've waited for a whole year for this card, and I'm so happy you have it, and you're making good use of those Club level certificates! I need to figure out a way to use mine, but having to book a paid stay with RC is so hard for me to do when there are so many other cheaper Marriott properties in the same area! I guess it's what you're looking for though!

[@Leoprieto74]

@@TheCreditFrog 👍. I understand you. Those Ritz Carlton are expensive.