Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card Review (2024.1 Update: The Heaviest Credit Card Has Come Back!)

physixfan      2024-01-17     2024-01-17

2024.1 Update: All Ritz card holders has received this email: due to popular demand, Chase will replace the current version of the card with the all metal version, which previously was the No.1 heaviest credit card. It is surprising that someone is still trying to improve this card, even if it is no longer possible to apply directly for so many years!

2022.9 Update: The Free Night (FN) you get every year is now with a redemption level up to 85k Marriott points! Previously it was 50k. The annual fee is NOT increased! This change makes this already fantastic card even better.

2019.8 Update: This card is still available via product change.

Application Link

• This card is no longer available to apply, but you can get it by converting from Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless or other Chase Marriott co-branded cards.

Benefits

1. Earn two Free Nights (FN) at Tier 1-4 after spending $4000 in 3 months from account opening. Since Ritz are all luxury hotels, you can easily save more than $600+ by redeeming these 2 FN certificates. The best offer is 140k Ritz-Carlton points which only appeared in a short time, and the second best offer is 3 FN.
2. Marriott point is now the most flexible points (after the merger with SPG). We estimate that Marriott points are worth about 0.7 cents/point, see below for a brief introduction.
3. Earn 6x Marriott points at Marriott hotels (including Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and SPG brands). Earn 2x Marriott points on everything else.
4. [New] After account anniversary and paying the annual fee, you will be credited a free night (FN) available for one night stay at any Marriott hotel requiring 85k points or less.
5. $300 air credit every calendar year. You can use it for lounge passes, seat upgrades, baggage fees, but not directly on tickets. Different from other similar cards with air credit, you have to contact a representative to get reimbursed for this card!
6. If you use cash to pay a stay with 2 or more nights at Ritz-Carlton, you can also enjoy $100 hotel credit, which is available to use for breakfast, spa, and entertainment.
7. Visa Infinite benefits, including: Visa Infinite Hotel Collection, Visa Infinite Hotel Privileges, Visa Infinite Car Rental Privileges. But note that the $100 Visa Infinite air discount benefit is removed as of 2020.1.
8. Complimentary Priority Pass Select (PPS) card, which gives you free access to many airport lounges worldwide. You can bring guests with you.
9. Complimentary Marriott Gold status. Earn Marriott Platinum status by spending at least $75k within each membership year.
10. Earn 15 elite nights each calendar year (elite nights are for status, not free nights). You will only receive Elite Night Credits from ONE Marriott co-branded personal credit card even if you have more than one Marriott/SPG/Ritz-Carlton credit cards. You can get 15 more Elite Night Credits if you have a Marriott co-branded business credit card.
11. Up to $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre application fee.
12. It is a metal card, and is really heavy: 28g, rank #1 in the most heavy credit cards list. It can even be used as a weapon if needed.
13. No foreign transaction fee.
14. Free to add authorized users. The $300 annual air credit is shared between cardholder and authorized users. The card for authorized user is also made by metal. Authorized users also have complimentary access to the lounge mentioned in 7, and free to bring guests. Authorized users can also use the Visa Infinite $100 air discount benefit!

Disadvantages

1. Annual fee: $450, not waived for the first year. Note that annual fee does not count towards the minimum spending requirement (and this is true for all credit cards)!

Introduction to Marriott Points

• Marriott points are the most flexible transferable points (After the merging with SPG, Marriott obtained all its airline partners).
• You can earn Marriott points with Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold, AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Business, and the following cards that do not accept new applications but accept product change: Chase Ritz-Carlton, and AmEx Marriott Bonvoy.
• Marriott points are stored in your Marriott account, not in your credit cards, so you won’t lose your points by canceling the credit cards.
• Your Marriott points will expire if you don’t earn or spend any Marriott points in 24 months. As long as you earn make a purchase with the corresponding credit cards or stay in a hotel, or you redeem some points during the time frame, the point expiration date will be postponed accordingly.
• Marriott points can be transferred to a lot of airlines miles (you don’t have to have a Marriott related credit card to make the transfer), and the ratio is 3:1.25 (i.e. 3:1 transfer rate, plus you get 5k bonus miles for every 60k Marriott points you transfer at a time). The good options are: Alaska Airlines (AS) (Non-alliance), Japan Airlines (JL) (Oneworld), United Airlines (UA) (Star Alliance), American Airlines (AA) (Oneworld), All Nippon Airways (ANA, NH) (Star Alliance), Korean Air (KE) (SkyTeam), etc. If you use Marriott points in this way, the value is about 0.7 cents/point.
• Marriott points can also be redeemed for hotel stays obviously. Here’s the redemption chart: Marriott redemption chart. Generally speaking, you can get a better redemption value from lowest categories. If you use Marriott points in this way, the value is about 0.7 cents/point.
• In summary, we estimate that Marriott points are worth about 0.7 cents/point.

Recommended Application Time

1. [5/24 Rule] If you have 5 or more new accounts opened in the past 24 months, Chase will not approve your application on this card, no matter how high your credit score is. The number of new accounts includes all credit card accounts, not only Chase accounts. See this post for details about how to possibly bypass this rule.
2. This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months. Note that what matters here is the time you got the sign-up bonus, not the time you open the account or close the account.
3. Don’t apply for more than 2 Chase credit cards within 30 days, it’s highly likely that you will get rejected.
4. We recommend you to apply for this card after you have a credit history for more than a year.

Summary

The 2 FN offer at Ritz-Carlton is not bad, as Ritz-Carlton hotels are all luxury hotels. But obviously a point offer would be better if there is one. The $100 air discount benefit for Visa Infinite credit cards is a new and really nice feature. If you can make use of the $100 air discount, it will be really easy to set off the annual fee. Make sure you have a specific travel plan and there is indeed a Ritz-Carlton hotel in your destination before you apply for this card!

Related Credit Cards

Recommended Downgrade Options

After Applying

• Call 800-436-7927 to check Chase application status. This is an automated telephone line, and the information has the following meanings: Receive decision in 2 weeks means your application is probably approved; Receive decision in 7-10 days means your application is probably rejected; Receive decision in 30 days simply means your application requires further review and there’s nothing to tell you for now.
• Chase reconsideration backdoor number: 888-270-2127 or 888-609-7805. Call it if you didn’t get approve immediately. Your personal information will be acquired and they will then review it. You seldom answer questions, instead, just enjoy the music and then you get approved or rejected, or further information is needed to be hand in to the branch or faxed.

Historical Offers Chart

This card stopped taking new applications on 2018.07.26.

Application Link

• This card is no longer available to apply, but you can get it by converting from Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless or other Chase Marriott co-branded cards.

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