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Ritz Reserve joins Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott announced that, finally, their uber exclusive Ritz Carlton Reserve properties will become a part of their loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy. I’ve had the good fortune of staying at Mandapa in Ubud, Bali in 2017 for my mom’s surprise trip around the world, and it was truly in a league of its own. At the time I stayed, you couldn’t earn or use points ( although there was a window where you could use Marriott Vacation Club points, but that’s ended ), nor could you get any elite benefits on your stay. That’s all changed with this announcement.
Currently there are just 5 Ritz Carlton Reserve properties in the world:
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve Mandapa In Bali – we use Ritz STARS to book this and ultimately got an upgrade and a 3rd night free
By far the next affordable is Ritz-Carlton Reserve Phulay Bay In Thailand. You’ll often find rates here in the $500 range. Expensive when you compare them to surrounding properties, but much cheaper that you’d find Aman or Six Senses, and significantly cheaper than the 3 other Ritz Reserve properties.
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve Los Cabos located in Mexico
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach in Dorado, Puerto Rico
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve Higashiyama in Hokkaido, Japan
The new benefits extended to Ritz Reserve via Marriott Bonvoy
- No Free Breakfast
- No Suite Upgrades
- 5th night still free on award stays
| Ritz Reserve | Member | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Titanium | Ambassador |
| Comped Internet | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Mobile Check in | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Ultimate Reservation Guarantee | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Points Bonus | 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 75% bonus | |
| Welcome Gift | 500 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 points | ||
| Ambassador Service | x | |||||
| Your 24 ( Ambassador Elite ) | x | |||||
| $150 Resort Credit | x |
How are award rates?
Phulay Bay… as I mentioned is the cheapest in the collection and starts at 80k a night. So…if you were to find a 5 night stretch, you could effectively stay for 320k points.
They go all the way up to 240k per night, which you’ll find in Japan and certainly in Dorado.
Recap
I can’t see myself using points to stay at any of these properties, perhaps the Phulay Bay, but at 80k points per night on a $500 room, I’d probably just pay cash via Stars, Virtuoso, or Amex FHR and get breakfast, etc benefits + earn points. On the other properties that range in the $1k to $2k a night area, if a great rate popped up, special occasion, etc – it would be wonderful to earn points on those redemptions. Odds are, aside from Phulay Bay, I won’t be staying at any of these any time soon.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.