On the heels of Lazy Travelers and Doctor Of Credit posting about the 140,000 point sign up bonus without the annual fee waiver, Chase and Ritz Carlton rolled out a really, really crappy sign up offer.
They’re offering one night as the sign up bonus. Wait, there’s more! The night can be spent only up to Tier 4 hotel. Last I checked, there were 5 tiers. In essence, this is a 60,000 point sign up bonus.
Noticed the stark differences between the 140k point bonus offer? The offer is for a night stay e-certificate.
Complimentary Nights Stay after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months:
This new cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this consumer credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this consumer credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this consumer credit card within the last 24 months.To qualify and receive your Free Night Stay E-Certificate, you must make Net Purchases totaling $2,000 or more during the first 3 months from account opening. (“Net Purchases” are purchases of goods and services made by you or any authorized user on your account minus any returns or refunds, and do not include balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable.) After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for your Free Night Stay E-Certificate to be automatically deposited into your Ritz-Carlton Rewards account. Free Night Stay E-Certificate is valid for hotels in categories 1-4. For participating category 1-4 locations, log on towww.ritzcarltonrewards.com or call 1-888-696-0394. The E-Certificate must be redeemed within 6 months from date of issue. E-Certificates may not be transferred, extended beyond the expiration date, or re-credited for points. Annual fee applies. For pricing details, please see Pricing & Terms.
To add additional insult, the annual fee is not waived.
Thoughts
This card would be comparable to the 140,000 point sign up offer if it said you can use your certificates for all hotels in the Ritz chain regardless of the Tier like the Chase Hyatt card. It definitely hedges you against point fluctuations when the hotels change categories.
An awesome sign up bonus for 140,000 points should be your sign up because the points give you the extra flexibility to utilize the Marriott Travel Package
The link at FT – https://www.theritzcarltonrewardscard.com/offer140k still seems to work. The new offer pops up only if one directly goes to the ritzcarlton card website and clicks the link there.
Thanks – yep, that offer is still active, just the new default is a really crappy one