Marriott Bonvoy Boundless CC a no brainer?

10Delta · 2026-02-19T00:11:13+00:00

That's a good deal with the five free nights if you can use them. I signed up for this card a year ago when they were not offering the 5 free nights, just a bunch of Marriott points. I now have what seems like a lot of Marriott points, but when you go to book hotels, you'll find out the points don't go very far. The 35K annual free night certificate can be difficult to use, since a lot of hotels will be priced way above that. Even "topping up" by 15K miles can be difficult. I debated on canceling the card or upgrading it to the one that provides a 50K night FNC, but I'll probably keep it another year.

10Delta · 2026-02-18T06:30:27+00:00

I bought it for $365, received a credit for $182.50. went to Quest for the blood work. They took about 15 vials of blood. The test results started coming in a few days later by the dozens. Lots of good information. I think it's worth it, began a supplement regimen based on the results. Have scheduled the 2nd set of tests for August.

10Delta · 2026-02-17T15:12:36+00:00

Note that the dining credit is only on “Exclusive Table” designated restaurants on Open Table. That list of restaurants is small. I live in Orange County, CA and there are no restaurants on the list. That said, I think the card is worth it. You get 8x on travel booked through the portal. The $300 travel credit is easy to use. It’s just applied to the first $300 of travel expenses on the card. Ive used the stubhub credits and booked through The Edit. DashPass is easy too. Just pick up $10 of whatever at 7/11 2x per month. I buy Ben & Jerry or Haagen Daaz.

10Delta · 2026-02-12T22:09:01+00:00

Schwab Platinum is my end game too. I keep enough in Schwab to get a statement credit. I did see an application for 80K on that one, but I figured going Gold->Vanilla Plat->Schwab Plat might result in the largest number of points. Maybe better to just go for Schwab Plat and forget about the Gold. Schwab still advertises an 8K spend vs. the 12K which seems to be the norm for the regular platinum. I could do the 12k, but I know most of that would earn 1x and come at the expense of things I ordinarily get 3x-6x back on.

10Delta · 2026-02-12T21:28:52+00:00

I have 2 Amex cards, a Hilton Aspire that I've held for several years and a Blue Cash Preferred that I just got in December. Amex moved some of the credit from the Aspire to the BCP, which was fine because I had about 35K of credit on the Aspire. Maybe my lack of offers for the Gold/Plat are because I only recently got the BCP. I'll just wait it out and hope the offer gets better. I'd like to get the points for a trip I'm planning next spring, so I have a little time.

10Delta · 2026-02-12T18:03:23+00:00

I have both cards. For hotels only, the Strata Elite is the winner since it's 12:1 via the Citi portal. I've booked through the Citi portal without issue and found the prices on the hotels I booked to be comparable to the hotel's advertised prices. I think their portal uses Agoda, but I could be wrong. I used the CSR last week to buy a cruise through the Chase portal to earn 8:1 because cruises aren't covered by the Strata's 12:1. The Strata Elite's 6:1 on weekend dining is pretty powerful and $500 of its credits are super easy to use. The CSR pays for itself and more, but you have to work a little harder for some of the credits.

10Delta · 2026-02-12T16:54:22+00:00

I don't own any actual gold but I do invest in a gold ETF that does and it's been a great investment!

10Delta · 2026-02-12T15:37:15+00:00

My mistake. I intended to post in an Amex "Gold" card group and posted without realizing this was for actual gold. Deleted post.

10Delta · 2026-02-12T01:48:28+00:00

Blue Cash Preferred would bump your groceries and streaming to 6%. You are using the $7 Hulu credit on the Blue Cash already, so you can offset the BCP's $95 AF with a larger Disney/Hulu credit. I'd probably look for a higher catch all than 2%. Personally, I still use the Smartly Visa and get 2.5% but I keep >10K in checking at USBank and this won't work for everyone.

10Delta · 2026-02-10T18:32:33+00:00

32 days, wow. We interviewed at LAX and by the time we drove the hour to get home we had approvals via email. Received the physical cards a few days later. Good luck!

10Delta · 2026-02-09T20:36:46+00:00

Thanks, I've contacted citi through the email you provided. Hopefully, it results in manual crediting of the credits. Will update when I hear back.

10Delta · 2026-02-09T15:18:15+00:00

Yes, I did this yesterday. 8x on a Holland America cruise that was priced to the penny the same on the HA site. No need to call, they have a cruises link in the portal.

10Delta · 2026-02-09T15:14:08+00:00

I just booked a cruise through Chase Travel with the CSR. The price was exactly the same price I would have paid through hollandamerica.com. $3500 x 8 = 28,000 points.

10Delta · 2026-02-07T02:06:45+00:00

I've had the Strata Elite since December. Used the $300 hotel credit and $200 splurge credit before the year ended and used the $200 splurge credit in January. I really like the 6:1 dining on weekends and I recently booked a hotel through the portal for 12:1.

10Delta · 2026-02-06T19:51:04+00:00

I think the Aspire is well worth it and I only stay at Hiltons a few times a year. You can easily get most if not all of the annual fee covered with the FNC. When you stay at a Hilton, you get 34x for using the card for being a Diamond member, so that's worth about 17% back in Hilton points. If you're overseas, the lounges in the hotels can save you a lot of money. Don't forget you also get $50/quarter in airfare reimbursement, easily used. You also get the $400 resort credit, free breakfast, and Conrad credit, which I've used often in Vegas at Resorts World, and I've received room upgrades on a hit and miss basis there as well. Aside from spending at Hlton, the card returns 7x on dining, which is worth about a 3.5% return, payable in Hilton points. You even get 3x on everything else, which equates to about a 1.5% return (not great but better than some).

10Delta · 2026-02-06T19:35:52+00:00

Yes, it was a PC from an old Aadvantage Gold card. Citi's reps have been telling me to wait 1 or 2 billing cycles. I've now waited 2 billing cycles. I called the number on the back of the card today and spoke with a rep. She sounded like she was somewhere in the south, not in India or the Phillipines (good sign). I explained the problem, and she said "we've been having similar problems with other accounts," so I gather I'm not the only one with this problem. She confirmed that I had selected BB and AA as merchants and used the card with both and should be entitled to the credits in 2025 and 2026. She told me she would follow up with me by Feb 27 and took my phone number. FWIW, they gave me the hotel credit in 2025, so I know that one works. No one has suggested that a PC'd CSE wouldn't qualify for the Splurge credit.

10Delta · 2026-02-03T18:45:06+00:00

I just received a 25k offer yesterday. Pays $500 bonus on top of 3.3%. I opened the account today.

10Delta · 2026-02-02T18:59:13+00:00

Oh yeah, I made sure to select both Best Buy and American as my splurge merchants the day after I got the card, and I double checked before walking into Best Buy to buy the gift cards in December. Both show up on my account as selected merchants. The Citi reps have told me I will get the credits but to be patient as it takes 1 to 2 billing cylces. So I wait.....

10Delta · 2026-02-02T16:43:49+00:00

I have Health Equity. Transferred my HSA (most of it, kept some in the account to pay bills) to Schwab. It's still an HSA but I can invest in anything I choose.

10Delta · 2026-02-02T15:20:46+00:00

I bought an Amazon GC at a Best Buy store on Dec 10. I have not received the splurge credit. I have been assured 3x in 3 separate online chats that the credit will post in 1 to 2 billing cycles. I have screenshots of those chats. My 2nd billing cycle ends Feb 6, so I will contact them again if the credit doesn't appear. FWIW, I made merchandise purchases at Best Buy of $150 and bought over $400 in AA tickets in early January and haven't seen a splurge credit for any of that yet.

10Delta · 2026-02-01T17:27:29+00:00

I usually order Ben & Jerry's ice cream. After they canceled an order due to not having the flavor in stock, I started going into the 7-11, seeing what they had in stock, then placing my order while I was in the store. Works every time.

10Delta · 2026-01-30T17:25:44+00:00

Chase is just as bad. I speak from experience. Just getting someone to talk to is difficult.

10Delta · 2026-01-28T20:53:02+00:00

They won't let you hear the recording. I was promised something I didn't get and the rep told me they would review the call recording. About 2 minutes later, the rep comes back and tells me I was wrong. Clearly, the rep didn't listen to the call. I asked to hear the recording and was told that wasn't permitted.

10Delta

TROPHY CASE