December 10, 2016

Ritz-Carlton Rewards $300 Annual Airline Credit

While I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I'm quickly falling for the Chase Ritz-Carlton Rewards card as well.  If you're just joining us:

Read my complete review of the Chase Ritz-Carlton Rewards card and my review of the $100 off airfare benefit.

Like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum, Citi Prestige, and Amex Gold, the Ritz-Carlton card comes with a $300 annual airline credit.  By getting the card before the end of the year, you can actually receive the credit twice for one annual fee.  Once in 2016 and once in 2017.

My $450 annual fee has hit and I'm trying to get as much out of that fee as possible.  While some of the other cards offer more flexible credits, this one is a bit more restrictive.  You have to actually call/write into Chase to have a purchase credited (other credits are automatically reimbursed).  This means that purchasing gift cards is a challenge.  You can find the complete terms on Chase's website but my primary use is going to be for checked bag fees (dropping to zero airline status next year) and seat upgrades to economy plus and first class.


I decided to see what it would cost to upgrade our flight to San Diego one-way.  After completing the booking through Ritz-Carlton card portal (saving us $100) I checked the reservation on United.com.  Sure enough, there was a $149 upgrade offer.


I put the upgrade on my Ritz-Carlton card and after the transaction settled, sent Chase the following secure message.


I heard back the same business day.


 The following day, I had the credit.


While it would be great if the credit was automatic, this process was pretty painless and took less than 5 minutes.  I'm still "paying" for the first class upgrade given the annual fee but I am confident that I am going to get more than $450 out of the card for the next year.  Keep in mind the sign-up bonus is 3 free nights at a Ritz-Carlton (Tier 1-4) which is easily worth $1200+.  So everything else on top of that is gravy.

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