Today we kick off a new monthly feature where we recommend a card to consider applying for right away. How do we pick which card should be highlighted? We'll look at numerous factors however in most cases it will primarily be due to the limited time offer on the highlighted card ending that month or shortly thereafter. In some cases, it may be different factors or a combination of factors and it is the latter, a combination which is the case for this first highlight post.
Disclaimer: This post is guidance provided by us for our readers - you don't have to go out and get this card if it doesn't suit your needs!
The credit card to consider right now - April 2022
The card to consider getting right now in April 2022 is the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express®* Card
Why is this is the card to consider right now?
- The limited time welcome bonus of 65,000 points and a $100 statement credit ends on May 11. With the statement credit you are basically only spending $20 for this card in the first year. We don't know what the bonus will be after that date.
- Marriott's new dynamic pricing is seeing some hotels in Canada (and globally) being offered for less points than they were with the old award chart system. This should be the case for the rest of 2022 and by the getting the card now you can easily have those points ready to use for the second half of 2022
The Welcome Bonus
The current bonus offer on the card provides 65,000 Welcome Bonus points and a $100 Statement Credit after you charge $1,500 in net purchases to your Card in your first 3 months of Cardmembership. If you can spend that $1,500 in the first month you should see those points and statement credit post shortly after your first statement date and then you can start redeeming right away! If you apply by that May 11th deadline it would mean you could have all the points in your Marriott Bonvoy account by the middle of June to use with potentially lower rates for the last half of 2022.
Marriott's Dynamic Pricing - a boon for select hotels in Canada
Some of our readers have told us they have saved anywhere from 2,000 to 50,000 points on bookings they had made prior to Marriott introducing dynamic pricing. On the opposite side of things our readers have also told us about being glad they locked in some award nights as the rates have climbed higher. Ultimately your mileage may vary! However if you can be flexible with where and when you want to stay you should be able to stretch out some great value from points earned with this welcome bonus. For example of the hotels that seeing better pricing right now with Marriott's dynamic pricing is the iconic Ritz-Carlton Toronto. One night in May 2022 can be had here for as little as 54,000 points for a room that costs $839 including taxes and fees. That means you can get that one night of luxury (perhaps celebrating an anniversary) with the bonus off this card and have points left over. This particular redemption gives you a per point value of 1.55 cents which if you could spread across the entire 65,000 points would make the welcome bonus worth over $1,000!
Wrapping it up
I would consider getting this card right as the welcome bonus is very easy to achieve and you have to apply by May 11 to get it. With only $1,500 spend required in the first three months to get 65,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points and a $100 statement credit, it is one of the better offers in the market in terms of spend vs. reward. That reward can be very valuable if you pick the right hotel or hotels to redeem those points at. You'll want to note Marriott's dynamic pricing may take a shift in 2023 as they only guaranteed similar pricing for 2022 so that's why it is good to get the card right now and use up those points in 2022 if you can! Will this card still be worthy from 2023 and beyond? I believe so - I think there will still be decent value with Marriott points (min. value probably around 0.7 to 0.8 cents each instead of 1 cent) and then you have the other benefits from the card, namely the annual free night certificate that can easily be used for hotels that cost $200 to $300 per night thus making the card a keeper as the annual fee is only $120!
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