The Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite has been unavailable for new sign-ups since 2018. You can, however, contact Chase to upgrade an existing Marriott Bonvoy card. Unfortunately, there isn’t any sign-up bonus available for the Ritz-Carlton card, but its strong suite of benefits may still be of interest. AwardWallet calls it “Bonvoy’s best-kept secret.”
FEATURES AT A GLANCE
- $450 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
- 6x points at the Ritz-Carlton & other Marriott hotels (4.8%) (not including points earned as a Bonvoy member; Chase’s site says you can earn up to 18.5x points on hotel stays as a Gold Elite member)
- 3x points for airline tickets, car rentals, and restaurants (2.4%)
- 2x points on everything else (equivalent to 1.6% cash back)
SIGN UP BONUS
There isn’t a sign-up bonus for this card, since it’s only available as an upgrade.
You must first open one of Chase’s Marriott Bonvoy Visa Signature cards, which do have sign-up bonuses:
- Bold (no annual fee)
- Boundless ($95 annual fee, Silver Elite status, plus an annual free night certificate worth up to 35k points)
- Bountiful ($250 annual fee, Gold Elite status, plus an annual free night certificate worth up to 50k points if you spend at least $15k a year on the card)
Most people will want to open the Boundless card. Marriott has two cards issued by American Express, but you can’t use those to upgrade into the Ritz-Carlton card. Only Chase cards are valid in this case. We haven’t independently confirmed yet if the Bold card is valid for upgrades (not all banks will allow no-fee cards to be upgraded into cards with annual fees). We recommend starting with the Boundless card since it’s the most bang for your buck.
OTHER BENEFITS OF THE RITZ-CARLTON CARD
- Visa Infinite benefits, including:
- Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance ($20k/trip)
- Trip Delay Reimbursement ($500/person)
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement ($3k)
- Baggage Delay Insurance (up to $500/trip)
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (Primary)
- Emergency Evacuation & Transportation ($100k)
- Travel and Emergency Assistance Services
- Roadside Assistance (up to $200/yr in reimbursements)
- Travel Accident Insurance ($1m)
- $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (every 4 years)
- Priority Pass Select (with unlimited guest access)
- Car rental perks with Avis, National, and Silvercar (Audi on Demand)
- $300 travel credit (airline incidentals – but you must message or call Chase to get the credit applied; it isn’t automatic)
- $100 hotel credit (Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis hotels only, 2 night minimum stay)
- Annual free night certificate (up to 85,000 points, which is worth about $680 if redeemed for the full amount)
- Annual Club Level Upgrade certificates (up to 3 stays per year, max 7-day stay each time)
- Bonvoy Gold Elite status (automatic, then stay 35 nights or spend $75k/yr to get Platinum Elite status)
- Metal card (28g)
- Event access
- J.P. Morgan Premier Concierge
RESTRICTIONS AND CREDIT SCORE
Recommended credit score: 750+
In order to get the Ritz-Carlton card, you must have a Marriott Bonvoy Bold or Boundless card with a credit line of at least $10,000, and the card needs to be open for at least 12 full months. (Credit card issuers aren’t allowed to increase annual fees in year one of having a card.) To get a Bold or Boundless card to begin with, you can’t have opened more than 4 cards in the past 24 months (see: the Chase 5/24 rule). Otherwise, there aren’t any known restrictions on upgrading your Chase Bonvoy card to the Ritz-Carlton.
MAXIMIZING REWARDS WITH THE RITZ-CARLTON CARD
The $450 annual fee is easily covered by the card’s many benefits. Even just the annual free night certificate, plus the $300 annual airline credit, are worth $400-1000 depending on how they’re used. Not to mention Global Entry, Priority Pass, Gold Elite status, Club upgrades, points-earning potential, and the $100 annual hotel credit (although the hotel credit may be tough to use). If you travel at least once a year, the Ritz-Carlton card should be profitable for you.
While staying at Marriott hotels is pretty easy since they have so many locations, options are more limited if you look at their luxury brands first. The Ritz-Carlton has 115 locations around the world, including 43 in the United States. St. Regis has 62 locations around the world (as of January 2024). If you’re interested in the Ritz-Carlton card but have never stayed at a Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis location, keep in mind that there are more limitations and much higher expenses. Top-tier hotels often go for at least $500 to $1,000 per night, which is outside the budget of average travelers.
Bonvoy points don’t expire as long as you earn points within every 24-month period. Credit cards are among the easiest ways to reset this clock, especially since most banks automatically cancel any card that shows zero activity for 12-18 months. Points are generally worth $0.008 (0.8 Cents Per Point, CPP) each when redeemed for Marriott stays. Values vary.
Note that Elite Night credits can’t be combined between cards. There’s effectively an annual cap on how many Elite Night credits you can earn. Cardholders get up to 15 credits each year, unless they have a personal card and a business card, which brings the cap up to 30 credits. For 95% of people, there isn’t any need to hold multiple Marriott Bonvoy cards.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE RITZ-CARLTON CARD
The Ritz-Carlton Visa is generally better than other Marriott cards, including the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. The Brilliant card has a higher annual fee ($650) and fewer benefits to offset that fee. Brilliant does however automatically award cardholders Platinum Elite status. This may be of interest to some people.
While the Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite perks are good, including travel insurance at high levels, there aren’t any retail benefits such as Purchase Protection or Extended Warranty. The Chase Sapphire Reserve has better perks overall. Other metal cards and Visa Infinite cards may be better depending on your personal situation. If you’re only using the Ritz-Carlton card as a travel card though, and you use a different card for everyday purchases, this can still work in your favor.
Other high-fee travel cards include the American Express Platinum, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, and Capital One Venture X.
The best no-fee travel card is typically the Penfed Pathfinder. Then any of the best everyday cards will work as a general-use option. You’ll want to earn at least 2% cash back on all purchases.
CONCLUSION
The Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite can be an excellent credit card for even infrequent travelers. It has a lot of features and benefits to offset the annual fee. However, if you won’t use the annual certificates each year and/or use the full incidental airline credit each year, another travel-based card might be better. You have to stay at Marriott hotels at least once a year to get any value here.
We rate the Ritz-Carlton card 4 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Note: This review was last updated in March 2024. Details may have changed since then. Please do your own research where applicable, to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Or contact us directly to benefit from our personalized consulting services!