The Offer
- Receive 140,000 Ritz-Carlton points (which can be used as Marriott points) when you spend $3,000 or more within three months. If the direct application link doesn’t work, then calling and using the code “FBBF”
Card Benefits
- Lounge club access for you and a guest at no cost
- Gold elite status for you first year and subsequent years if you spend at least $10,000 per year
- Platinum status if you spend $75,000 or more in one year
- J.P. Morgan Premier Concierge
- Primary rental coverage
- Free roadside assistance
- Visa signature benefits (requires you to be approved with a credit limit of $5,000 or above)
- 10% annual points premium on all points earned through card purchases during the year
- 3 upgrades to Ritz-Carlton Club® Level on paid stays of three nights or longer
- $300 annual travel credit
- $100 hotel credit on paid stays of two nights or longer
Our Verdict
You’ll want to receive this card before the end of the year due to the annual travel credit being on a card member year. Chase will expedite shipping of your card and it’ll arrive in 1-2 days, all you need to do is ask.
Last time this was offered the spending requirement was $2,000 instead of $3,000. I procrastinated and couldn’t decide which version of the offer I preferred (there was a 70k version with no annual fee). This time I’m going to pull the trigger and here is why:
- The annual travel credit is given on a calendar basis, meaning I can get at least two of these and pay only one annual fee. I might actually be able to get a third depending on how lenient the customer service representatives are.
- The annual travel credit triggers on some gift card purchases, meaning I can just resell these giftcards and make a profit on the annual fee. Note: United gift cards don’t seem to trigger this bonus
- 140,000 points is a lot and whilst I generally don’t value Ritz-Carlton or Marriott points that highly they’ll come in handy when I can’t find anything else suitable, as long as I can get 0.35¢ value I am looking at a $500 sign up bonus on the points alone. Keep in mind I’ll also be turning a profit on the airline credit and the other benefits such as lounge club access might come in handy (although I have so much lounge club access already I don’t know how useful this will be).
This offer is definitely not for everybody, but it’s the highest this card goes so it’s definitely something that’s worth considering. It’ll be interesting to see if the no annual fee 70,000 point offer also becomes available, which will probably be a better option for most people unless you value the points at 0.564¢ per point or more.
One of the other uses of these points to consider is using them for Marriott Travel Packages. You’d need to get at least two of these cards to successfully do this, but you could score yourself several nights and airline miles as well. The sweet spots in the 280,000 point and under range are:
- 7 nights at category 7 and 77,000 airline miles: 260,000 Marriott Points
- 7 nights at category 6Â and 110,000 Miles: 280,000 Marriott Points
- 7 Nights at category 1-5 and 132,000 Miles: 280,000 Marriott Points
The above is when you redeem for United miles. The other airline partners have different rate tables which you can view here. I’ve personally got way too many airline miles already, so I’m just going to keep them as hotel points for now instead.
I hope to have our full Chase Ritz-Carlton review up sometime this week with more information about this card and my thoughts on all of the benefits and uses of the sign up bonus. I’ll be sure to update this post when that goes live.
Useful posts:
- Chase cards are churnable every 24 months
- Chase will match sign up bonuses if you’ve applied for an inferior offer in the last 90 days
- Chase offers expedited shipping for free
- Chase will combine multiple inquiries
- Check to see if you have a higher pre-approved bonus from Chase first (incredibly doubtful for this offer)
- Asking for a credit limit increase with Chase will result in a hard pull
Hat tip to Lazy Travelers, who incidently also alerted us to the last 140k offer
Hey guys sorry if i sound like a noob but you guy buy airline gift cards as manufactured spending right? to make sure you spend the amount needed to earn the bonus?
Here is the number in case you prefer to call.
1-855-896-2222
http://www.ritzcarltonrewardscard.com/exceptional-service.php
Do you know , if you book a vacation package, do you need to have exact dates and locations in mind? Or do you just get a certificate for the hotel stay. Trying to decide between having my wife sign up for the SW credit cards to get companion pass or have her sign up for her own ritz Carlton card and back door the companion pass through the vacation package. I was already approved for the RC card which will be here tomorrow. I doubt chase would give her both cards at the same time.
I’ve got no idea, any other readers know?
Its a certificate, so no need to lock on a date and a resort/hotel. And you can combine Marriott points with your spouse when you call to get the certificate. Further, folks have reported success upgrading the certificate later as they get more points. Even further, folks have reported success getting them to extend the 1 year deadline.
I’m a huge fan of this. If you have a decent stash of Marriott points, the increment value of these points is incredible. You could even just get a category 5 and the 120k Southwest points. Instant companion pass. Worth it.
Applied, but pending. What number would you call?
I would of course want the card by the end of the year….
nevermind the question, just saw your faq. thanks. the expedited shipping point, still applies though.
fyi, I asked for expedited shipping but apparently they only do it once “the account # has been setup”, which takes about 3 business days, so you need to call back after 3 days have passed to request that the card be expedited at that point.
Quesiton, do you know, does the $300 reimbursement need to take place in 2014, for it to count toward the 2014 credit, or is it enough that the purchase took place in 2014? I think i can get the fee in before 2015, but im not sure that the transaction will actually post until 2015. if it doesnt post I wouldnt think they could give me a credit for it, right?
The cards are automatically expedited after the 3 days have passed, so no real need to call. It needs to show on your 2014 statement, you should still have time. They could give you credit for it in 2015, but since the transaction was from 2014 it should OK. YMMV as always.
One (1) day Admirals Club pass is $50.00. I used the card to buy two (2) $150 AA e-cert gift cards. When seeking reimbursement for $300.00 airline fees, if asked, I will say that I bought three (3) one (1) day passes for my son and daughter as stocking stuffers 🙂
BTW, the odd purchase amounts are meant to mirror the cost of specific expenses [ie a one-day lounge pass]. This would theoretically make it easier for a customer to explain the nature of the expense to a Chase CSR when seeking reimbursement.
$200? I just opened my welcome kit and it says $300 annual travel credit. ??? Beyond that, I too would like to know the specifics around airline gift card purchases.
Yeah the post says three hundred, right??
just got approved for this card, I have some questions regarding the $200 airline reimbursement, your help is greatly appreciated:
1. Where did you buy the e-gift cards so that it would be eligible and count for reimbursement by Chase? (e.g: AA.com, Southwest.com or from any particular store for physical giftcards?).
2. What did you say/write to the Chase agent when calling on phone or secure message to ask for reimbursement? Would you please write down what did you say/write. I am just concerned if I just said “please reimburse my airline purchase dated xx/xx/xx” and then they asked “please specify what kind of airline purchase is it?”…….certainly we cannot say “it’s for gift card” as it would make it ineligible for reimbursement. But if we said “airline fee”, would Chase agent can see the details of the purchase and what we bought in their system?
3. Some mentioned the “double dip” for the airline gift cards and keep the purchase of two gift cards under $95 each or $75 each. What is the purpose of that? can you please explain and elaborate. Why not buy $200 in one go since that’s the maximum amount that eligible for reimbursement in a calendar year.
Sorry for asking a lot of questions, hope you can answer each of my questions as it really means a lot for me and I really appreciate it if you could please help. Thank you so much in advance.
Hi John, check this post out: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/what-triggers-the-ritz-carlton-300-annual-travel-credit/