A hotel rewards business card offering a strong signup bonus and high point earnings.
30-second take
- Get this card if you often stay at Marriott and SPG® hotels.
- Pick something else if you want cash back or a card with an intro APR period on balance transfers and purchases.
- Apply for this card with a good to excellent credit score of 680 or higher.
| Product Name | Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card |
|---|---|
| Card Type | Visa |
| Annual Fee | $0 annual fee for the first year ($99 thereafter) |
| APR (Annual Percentage Rate) for Purchases | 17.74% to 24.74% variable |
| Balance Transfer Fee | 5% or $5 (whichever is greater) |
| Cash Advance Rate | 26.74% variable |
| Cash Advance Fee | $15 or 5% of the cash advance amount, whichever is greater |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | None |
| Interest Free Period | Up to 20 days |
| Minimum Interest | $0 |
| Late Payment Fee | $39 |
| Returned Payment Fee | $39 |
| Additional Cardholder Fee | $0 |
| Minimum Age | 18 years of age |
|---|
The basics
If you’re looking for a hotel card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card is an attractive choice. It comes with an outstanding signup bonus: 75,000 points if you spend $3,000 in the first three months. That’s enough for 10 free stays at Marriott, given that free nights start at 7,500 apiece for Category 1 hotels. You’ll even have enough to book a night at a Category 9 hotel, which starts at 45,000 points.
What is a Marriott hotel category?
Marriott organizes its hotels in Categories 1 through 9. Categories don’t reflect star ratings, quality or service — rather, they indicate how many points you’ll need to earn a free night.
Categories generally represent levels of accommodations, such as a roadside or resort hotel, and vary by city. Which means that a Residence Inn in one neighborhood might be Category 1 — requiring only 7,500 points for a free night — but Category 3 elsewhere, requiring 15,000 points.
If you stay at Marriott often, you’ll earn even more: 1x points at Marriott Rewards® and Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®) hotels. That’s in addition to the 10x points you’ll earn as a Marriott Rewards® member at most Marriott properties. Needless to say, the Marriott Rewards® card is a powerful points machine if you’re a Marriott or SPG® regular.
Your company can benefit from this card for spending in the right categories, even if you don’t stay at Marriott much. You’ll earn 2x points at car rental agencies, restaurants and office supply stores and on airline tickets, Internet, cable and phone service. You’ll earn 5x points on everything else you buy. For many business owners, those earnings are good enough for at least a few free Marriott nights each year.
Additionally, you’ll earn a free night at a Category 1–5 hotel each year you remain a cardholder. You’ll automatically earn enough Elite credits to attain Silver status in the Marriott Rewards® program, with an automatic upgrade to Gold if you spend $50,000 on your card each year. Finally, you’ll get travel and purchase coverage, such as trip cancellation coverage and purchase protection.
Which hotel brands participate in the reward program?
You’ll find more than 5,700 participating locations in the Marriott Rewards®, The Ritz-Carlton® and the Starwood Preferred Guest® programs where you can earn and redeem points with your Marriot Rewards® Premier Business card.
Participating locations belong to the brands:
- Marriott® locations
- The Ritz-Carlton®
- Starwood-branded hotels
- Four Points® by Sheraton
- Sheraton® hotels
- Aloft® Hotels
- W® Hotels
- Le Meridien® hotels
- The Luxury Collection® hotels
- Element® hotels
- Westin® hotels
- St. Regis®hotels
- Tribute Portfolio™
- Design Hotels™
The perks
Signup bonus.
Earn 75,000 points once you spend $3,000 in the first three months. You can redeem your bonus points for 10 free nights in a Category 1 hotel.
Earn reward points.
Until August 25, 2018, earn 1x points at Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest hotels. Earn 2x points at car rental agencies, restaurants and office supply stores and on airline tickets, Internet, cable and phone service. And earn 5x points on everything else you buy. After August 26, 2018, earn 6x points for purchases at participating Marriott and SPG® hotels, 4x points at restaurants, gas stations, shipping, Internet cable and phone services and 2x points on all other purchases.
Free night every year.
Every year after your cardmember anniversary, you’ll earn a free night at a Category 1–5 hotel in the Marriott collection.
Silver Elite Status.
You automatically receive Silver Elite Status when you open your account and then it renews on every card anniversary for the next 12 months. You get benefits such as 20% more points earned at stays, free Wi-Fi, late checkout, exclusive elite offers and more.
Changes coming in August
Marriott Rewards®, the Ritz-Carlton Rewards® and the Starwood Preferred Guest® will join in a single reward program. Individual program names will remain until 2019 when the new program name will be announced.
You’ll also like …
Upgrade to Gold Elite Status.
Spend at least $50,000 with your card in a calendar year or spend 50 nights at participating hotels and earn Gold Elite Status. You get all the benefits of Silver Elite, plus you get free continental breakfast, complimentary room upgrades, 25% more points earned per stays and more.
No foreign transaction fees.
Use your Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card internationally without paying transaction fees. Other cards have foreign transaction fees of up to 3%.
Trip and luggage reimbursement.
Get up to $500 coverage for meals and lodging — per common carrier ticket — in case your trip is delayed more than 12 hours and overnight stay is required. Also, if your luggage is lost or damaged, get up to $3,000 in coverage per passenger and up to $100 per day for delayed luggage up to five days.
Purchase protection.
For purchases made with your card you get coverage for 120 days against theft and damage up to $10,000 per claim.
Visa concierge service.
Use the Visa Signature Concierge to make plans for dining and entertainment or to select the perfect gift. Keep in mind that you’ll pay for any goods or services purchased through the service.
What to watch out for
Annual fee.
For the first year, you won’t pay an annual fee. But starting from the second year, you’ll pay $99 annual fee.
Credit line size.
Based on your company’s creditworthiness, your credit access line will be at least $5,000. For credit line of $25,000 or more, Chase may require additional information from you.
Balance transfer limits.
You can make a balance transfer from a non-Chase account of up to $15,000 or up to the amount of your credit limit, whichever is lower. For each transfer, you’ll pay 5% or $5 (whichever is greater).
Grace period.
The Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card has a grace period of minimum 20 days. Most other cards have 25 days grace period and some, such as the Plum Card® from American Express, have up to 60 days.
Don’t pay late.
Making late or returned payments will result in fees as high as $39. Once you make one late or returned payment, Chase may apply a penalty APR of 29.99% — which you may be stuck with indefinitely.
Points expiration.
Your points expire if you don’t make a purchase on your card at least once every 24 months. Also, you’ll lose all of your points if you fail to make the minimum payment within 60 days of your due date, or if your account becomes delinquent.
Consider other cards if …
You prefer Hilton hotels and resorts.
In that case, the Hilton Honors American Express Business card could be a better choice. You get to earn 12x Hilton Honor points on stays at Hilton hotels, 6x on select business and travel purchases and 3x points on everything else. Redeem points for stays, shopping or exchange them for airline miles.
You want cash back.
Consider the no-annual-fee SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express. It lets you earn a generous 5% cash back on office supplies and wireless telephone services, 3% at a category of your choice up to $50,000 per year. After that, a flat 1% applies for the 5% and 3% categories and for all other purchases. In addition, you get a 0% intro APR on purchases for nine months, a variable 13.99%, 18.99% or 20.99% apply thereafter.
You want intro APR on purchases and balance transfer.
A decent card with one of the longest 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months — a variable 12.99%, 16.99% or 20.99% after that — is the Blue Busines℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express. It has no annual fee and you get to earn 2x membership points on all purchases up to $50,000 per year. After that, you earn 1x point.
Compare other Chase credit cards
What size business is the Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card good for?
Small business owners who often stay at Marriott and SPG® hotels could find this card useful. You’ll be able to redeem the points you earned for free nights at Marriott and SPG® hotels and save money on your travels.
Suppose you spend $20,000 per year on Marriott and SPG® hotels. That’s 100,000 points earned or up to $800 in redeem value. You also get 2x points for an airline, rent a car and restaurant purchases, among other, but if you have a preferred airline, such as Delta or United, you can use their co-branded cards — the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card or the United MileagePlus® Explorer Business Card — and use the Marriot Rewards® Premier only for stays at Marriott and SPG® hotels.
What should I know before I apply?
To apply for the Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card, you must be at least 18 years old (or 19 in Alabama and Nebraska).
You’ll need to provide information such as:
- Business name and address
- Type of business and years in business
- Business tax ID number
- Number of employees and annual revenue
- Your personal name and address
- Your social security number and annual income
What credit score do I need?
You’ll have a better chance of being approved for the Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card if you apply with a good to excellent credit score of 680 or higher.
Always consider your options and your financial situation before you apply for a credit card.
What do customers say about the Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card?
Customers love the generous signup bonus and the annual free night they get. They consider this a good-value card for loyal Marriott and SPG® clients.
The Better Business Bureau has rated Chase with an A+, but they haven’t accredited their credit card department yet. Based on the 24 customer reviews there, Chase got a composite score of 3.71 out of 5 stars.
Most complaints at BBB revolve around poor customer service and their inability to resolve customer issues. One customer complained that Chase had linked their personal credit card with the company where the person is a member of the board of directors without asking for the person’s approval.
How to apply for the Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card?
- Visit Chase’s website.
- From the list of business credit cards, select Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card. Click Apply Now.
- Fill out the form with the required information.
- Review your application and submit it.
How long will it take to get my Marriott Rewards® Premier Business credit card?
You can get a decision within minutes. In some cases, you’ll need to wait for 7– 10 business days or more to get a decision. Once approved, you’ll get your card within 10 days via mail.
I got the card. Now what?
- Set up autopay. Enroll in Chase Online℠ Banking or download the Chase Mobile® Banking app and set up automatic payments to always pay on time.
- Avoid paying interest. Making late payments may attach a penalty APR of 29.99% indefinitely and you may lose your points. Try to make your payments before your grace period expires.
- Avoid fees. Late and returned payments come with fees up to $39. Balance transfers and cash advances also come with fees.
- Customer service. For any questions, call Chase support at 800-432-3117.
Bottom line
With more than 5,700 participating Marriott Rewards® and SPG® hotels, you may find this card useful in your travels. You’ll get to earn points to redeem for free nights and you’ll get a free night annually among the hotel perks this card offers.
In addition to that, you’ll get trip and luggage reimbursements for delays, purchase protection for new items and concierge services — which may come in handy when you want to get tickets for sport or entertainment events, to make dining reservations or to choose a perfect gift.
Before making a decision, always compare your credit card options or apply for this card.
