by Daniel | Last Updated October 23rd, 2022
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When it comes to Hotel Reward credit cards there are quite a few options to choose from whether it’s the Hilton Honors Amex Aspire Card or the World of Hyatt Card.
Either way, there is plenty of different cards to choose from.
Now the Ritz-Carlton credit card from Chase is a great hotel reward card that has some unique benefits that are quite valuable.
The only problem is that Chase stopped accepting new applications for this specific card back in 2018.
Now thankfully there is a tricky little workaround that you can do to actually get this card, and I think that it’s defiantly worth considering as the card has a lot of value to offer.
So sit back and enjoy this article and I’ll go through all of the perks and benefits this card has to offer and then I’ll talk you through how to actually get it.
Benefits of the Ritz-Carlton credit card
Priority Pass
So let’s start by going over all of the benefits that are offered with this card the first being a Priority Pass membership, which is worth $429 each year.
Now there are plenty of premium credit cards that offer access to Priority Pass as part of their benefits.
Basically it is possible to bring 2 additional guests with you in to one of the many lounges around the world free of charge.
If you want to bring more than 2 guests, it will cost an extra $32 per guest.
In addition to this benefit, it is also possible to add an unlimited amount of authorized users free of charge, and best of all they will receive the same Priority Pass membership and a credit of $100 that can be used for Global Entry.
Now adding an authorized user to this credit card or any for that matter means that you will be financially responsible for any charges that are made to the card.
So if anything goes wrong you could be up for a large bill, so make sure you are 100% certain you are comfortable with the person you choose to add to your account.
Free Night Award
Each calendar year there is the Free Night Award that is valid for one night stay at a hotel that has a redemption level of up to 85,000 points.
And with this, it is also possible to use up to 15,000 of your own points so you are able to stay at a hotel with a redemption value of 100,000 points.
Now seeing that Marriott Bonvoy points are worth 0.8 cents per point, the free night award is worth around $680.
As an example looking on the Marriott Bonvoy website, If I book 1 night on December 18th in Dana Point California it is possible to get a room for the night at the Ritz-Carlton for 74,500 points, and as you can see on the website this room is worth $793 per night!
So it is possible to receive quite a lot of value from the Free Night Award if you spend some time looking around for a good deal.
Ritz-Carlton Club Level
Each year it is possible to upgrade to the Ritz-Carlton Club Level 3 times, and this allows for a maximum stay of 7 nights per booking.
Basically, you will be given 3 E-certificates each year, and these can then be used for an upgrade to the Ritz-Carlton Club Level for one room and up to 2 guests per room.
Now, this is a really nice benefit to have and can potentially be worth quite a lot of money.
As an example, the room at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point that I mentioned earlier in this video was $793 a night.
Now the cheapest Club level room on the same day will cost $1,209 a night, which is $416 more.
And the Ritz-Carlton club lounges offer a nice comfortable place where you can go and relax and have pretty much any meal throughout the day, whether that be breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
There is also an evening happy hour that offers cocktails.
So if you are able to take advantage of all three of these E-certificates each year it can potentially be worth over $1,000.
$300 Annual Travel Credit
Each year it is possible to receive a $300 Annual Travel Credit.
And to use this benefit you are required to contact J.P. Morgan Priority Services within 4 billing cycles of the purchase date.
Now, this benefit can be used for the following purchases:
- A day pass to an airline lounge, or a yearly lounge membership.
- Airline seat upgrades
- Airline baggage fees
- Inflight entertainment/internet
- Inflight meals
So it’s not as easy to use this $300 travel credit compared to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but it is still a valuable benefit that brings the cost of the annual fee down to a more reasonable $150.
Gold Elite Status
There is then guaranteed Gold Elite Status with Marriott Bonvoy and each year it is possible to receive 15 elite night credits.
With Gold Elite Status It is possible to receive 25% more points for purchases made at Marriott properties.
When you arrive at the hotel, if you ask for a room upgrade it will be given to you if it is available.
And then there is a late check out at 2 pm if it is available.
Now if you can manage to stay 35 nights at a Marriott property or spend $75,000 on the card within a calendar year it is possible to receive Platinum Elite Status.
And this has even better benefits that include:
- 50% more points for purchases made a Marriott properties
- 4 pm late checkout
- Welcome gift upon arrival which can be anything from bonus points to a free breakfast.
Global Entry Credit
Once every four years, it is possible to receive a $100 credit for Global Entry, which is a pretty standard benefit with most premium cards.
Hotel Credit
For bookings of 2 nights or more that are made at either the Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis hotels, it is possible to receive a $100 hotel credit that can be used at the hotel during your stay.
Points Earning Potential
Earning points with the Ritz-Carlton credit card is actually pretty good.
The highest points earning potential is 6x points for purchases made at any hotels that are participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
For car rentals, dining, and airline purchases it is possible to earn 3x points.
And then all other purchases that are made on the card will earn 2x points per dollar spent.
So assuming you stay at Marriott properties quite often throughout the year it will be possible to earn quite a lot of extra points.
Then if you decide to add any authorized user to your account you will earn even more.
Annual Fee
Now considering all of the benefits this card offers the annual fee is currently only $450, which is quite a bit less than the somewhat similar Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card which costs $650 per year.
So I wouldn’t be surprised if this annual fee is increased in the near future as it seems too much of a price difference compared to the Amex Brilliant card.
Insurance Coverage
Now before I talk you through how to get this card It’s worth going over all of the insurance-related coverage that comes with the card as it really is quite valuable.
So everything that is included with this card is as follows:
- An Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that covers up to $75,0000 in case of theft or collision damage to a rental car.
- Roadside Assistance of up to $50, and this can be claimed a maximum of 4 times a year.
- Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance covers up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip.
- Trip Delay Reimbursement of up to $500 per ticket if your travel is delayed by more than 6 hours.
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement of up to $3,000 per passenger if your luggage is lost, damaged, or stolen by the carrier.
- Baggage Delay insurance of up to $100 for 5 days if your luggage is delayed by more than 6 hours.
- Emergency Medical and Dental Coverage of up to $2,500 if something happens when you are more than 100 miles from your home
- Return Protection provides 90 days of coverage and up to $500 per item and $1,000 per year for items that a store won’t take back.
- Purchases Protection provides 120 days of coverage for new purchases against damage or theft for up to $10,000 per claim and a total of $50,000 per year.
- Extended Warranty Protection of one additional year on US warranties that are 3 years or less.
I think it’s a pretty impressive collection of coverage that comes with this card which can end up being quite valuable if you ever need to use it.
How To Get The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card
So now that I’ve gone over all of the benefits this card has to offer I’ll take you through the steps you will need to take to get the Ritz-Carlton credit card.
And seeing that this card is not available to new applicants it is required that you either apply for or already have one of the following Chase cards:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card (Annual Fee $0)
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card (Annual Fee $95)
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card (Card Annual Fee $250)
These must be personal cards not business cards.
If you are actually considering getting one of these cards I would recommend the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card as it has a generous sign-up bonus of 125,000 points that are worth $1,000, which easily makes up for the cost of the $250 annual fee.
There’s also a Free Night Award that is available if you manage to spend $15,000 within in calendar year.
Now one of the most important things to note is that you will need to have one of these cards for a minimum of 12 months before you can actually apply to get the Ritz-Carlton Card.
Once your account has been open for the required minimum of 12 months you will then need to contact Chase and ask them if it’s possible to do a product change to the Ritz-Carlton credit card from your existing Chase Marriot Bonvoy credit card.
Now another thing that needs to be in place before you ask for the product change is that you have at least a $10,000 line of credit on your Chase account.
If you already have other Chase credit cards that are not a Marriott Bonvoy cards it is possible to ask Chase to transfer some of the credit limit from those cards to your Bonvoy Credit card.
And if you don’t have any other Chase credit cards you can request to get a credit limit increase.
A few Things to Know
Just note that this credit card may not be available in the future, but as of writing this article, it is still possible to get it using the steps I mentioned above.
Also, there is no sign-up bonus available if you do a product transfer to the Ritz-Carlton credit card, and there will be a $450 annual fee.
Now seeing that this is a product change it wont have an effect on your Chase 5/24 status.
And it is only possible to do a product trasfer from one of the cards that I mentioned before which are all personal credit cards, not business credit cards.
Final Thoughts
So that’s covers pretty much everything there is to know about the Ritz-Carlton credit card from Chase and how you can actually get it.
And I personally think that it is a great credit card that offers a lot of value.
The Free Night award is potentially worth up to $793 as shown earlier in the video.
Gaining access to the Priority Pass membership is worth $429 each year.
Then the 3 E-certificate to the Ritz-Carlton Club Level is potential worth up to $1,000 each year.
There is the $300 travel credit, a $100 hotel credit and a $100 credit for Global Entry.
Even though there is no sign-up bonus these benefits alone are worth in excess of $2,000 if you take full advantage of them all.
So if your not interested in waiting a full year to try and get the Ritz-Carlton credit card I recommend that you watch this video where I review and compare the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.