The hubbub today in the community is that the Chase Marriott Visa is no longer available in Canada. Pointshogger first broke this story yesterday. From his post:
Effective September 5th, 2017, no new customer applications are being accepted into the credit card program.
Existing cardholders are not affected and the card will work and earn points like it has before. If you applied before September 5th and received a pending status, you can call Customer Service at 1-866-705-6755 to get a decision.
I might be the odd one out saying this, but this doesn’t affect me the slightest bit. In my opinion, this card was never that great to begin with. I’ve had the card twice, and the only thing I found useful was the signup bonus points and maybe the elite stays credits.
Chase Marriott Visa
Yes, you do get a Category 1-5 Free Night Certificate when renewing the card, but the certificate isn’t the easiest to use. Furthermore, I never felt that paying the $120 annual fee for that certificate was worth it.
In terms of earning points, the SPG American Express is a much better choice for all everyday spend, earning 3 Marriott Points (1 SPG) per dollar. For foreign transactions, there are credit cards with no annual and foreign transaction fees, such as the HomeTrust Preferred Visa. Finally, those cards earn even better rewards with 1% cashback compared to 1 Marriott point, which I value at less than 1 cent.
Furthermore, the new HSBC Premier World Elite MasterCard is also a better card for foreign transaction purchases earning points that can be converted to BA Avios or Singapore Krisflyer, which are worth much more.
Additional Reading: A New Interesting Premium Credit Card
I am sure everyone loved to churn the card, but eventually you have to face the fact that issuers will modify and enforce their policies to restrict giving away bonuses too often. You always have to stay ahead of the game.
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Darn – this is the only card I was ever planning to churn – next month-sigh. Just got the SPG Amex through your portal
Appreciate the support 🙂
It was though one of the only no forex fee cards offered in Canada. There is now to my knowledge a very limited amount of other no forex fee cards.
If you read my post, there are two others still available.
The card itself might not have been the best card out there, but the general trend of Canada losing airline and hotel affiliated credit cards is just sad.
AmEx is the only remaining hope in Canada now…Canada seriously needs a good Visa and Mastercard travel credit card.
You’re right: Delta, IHG, Marriott… maybe others as well that I didn’t think of.
No United card either. Sad….
The SPG Amex can work well for United: 18,667 SPG = 56,000 Marriott = 25,000 UA
Everyone’s situation is different. I disagree with your assessment, even though I almost never stay at Marriotts. I would never use the card for any CAD purchases but I do use it for all of my foreign currency transactions and get more value than I would from the Home Trust 1% card. I don’t think the HSBC card is a valid comparison for general purposes due to the requirement to be a HSBC Premier customer (including min. $100K invested with them). My reasons:
1. Annual free night. I agree that it isn’t always easy to find the right place to use this, but I have had the card for 5 years and each year have made a “profit” on the annual fee. This year I used it in a situation where I would otherwise have had to pay something like US$150-170 plus tax (so say at least $200 CAD) to stay at another hotel.
2. Points per dollar. I agree that 1 MR point per dollar isn’t great, but you get 2 points for travel-related purchases and 5 points for Marriott (and now SPG). Everyone’s spending patterns will produce different results. In my case, my personal average over 5 years has been 1.7 points per dollar (not including the signup bonus). In the past 12 months, my average is almost 2.2 points per dollar, mainly due to SPG now qualifying for the 5 points per dollar rate.
3. Value per point. I agree that the average value is probably less than a cent, but it is possible to get more value than that (and I have). The key is holding out and only redeeming when you can achieve the higher value.
I applied many weeks ago. I have neither received the card nor been rejected. I’ve phoned three times, and received polite but odd responses such as “we just need to confirm your postal code”.
I have never had anything like this happen – they appear either under-resourced or disorganized.
Chase is also cancelling existing Marriott Visa cardholders in Canada. I received a letter telling me that my Marriott Visa card was being cancelled after 30 days. I called and was told they could not give me a reason. I escalated my complaint to the “Executive Office” and they also refused to give me any reason. I have a flawless credit record and always pay my monthly invoices in full and on time. What is more, 2 weeks before receiving this letter, Marriott Visa increased my credit limit by 50%!
A ludicrous and frustrating situation!
I shall be boycotting Marriott from now on.
Not entirely surprised. I don’t think they are closing the card, but I know they have shut down people for no reason at all.
http://www.factsgrabber.org/finance/canadian-chase-marriott-visa-discontinued/
Are they returning the annual fee?
I don’t think so.
Well, now it’s dead as of March 15, 2018 just like the Amazon card. Good knowing you Chase Canada, too bad you could not stay!