Big news surrounding the direction of the Starwood and Marriott credit cards just rolled in this morning!
Today, Marriott announced that new cobranded credit cards are in the pipeline for 2018 (including some brand-new premium products) and they’ll be issued by both American Express and Chase.
In the exciting announcement, Marriott agreed to extend the relationship with both card issuers and cover the Marriott Rewards and Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa credit cards from JPMorgan Chase, and the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) credit cards from American Express.
No Changes to Existing Products
As you already know, presently, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a product issued by Chase, and the Starwood Preferred Guest®Credit Card and Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card are issued by American Express.
There will be no changes to the existing co-branded cards, and you can continue to use them as usual as of now.
New Cards Are Coming in 2018
My favorite takeaway from the announcement is that as part of the agreement, American Express will be working closely with Marriott to offer a new super-premium consumer credit card and enhanced small business credit card. There are also plans for premium consumer co-branded products from JPMorgan Chase as well.
What Benefits Can We Expect?
I can only speculate at this time, but I am envisioning the new  “super-premium” Marriott/Starwood cards to offer benefits similar to the new Hilton Honors American Express Ascend & Aspire cards that were announced last month.
I imagine the new products to come with higher annual fees, but also with a plethora of added-benefits such as annual airline and hotel credits, higher earnings potential, lounge access, premium travel insurance and the possibility to earn and retain top-tier elite status by meeting an annual spend requirement on the cards.
Bottom Line
This is a really exciting announcement that many of us have been waiting for since the merger between Marriott and Starwood closed last September. I think this is good news for consumers, since it gives us more credit card products to choose from.
I also feel that the current products that we see today, may eventually be phased out and replaced with with a new product down the line. If that’s the case, it may not be a bad idea to consider getting the Marriott/Starwood product if you haven’t had them yet.
The Starwood/Marriott credit cards have always been a longtime favorite of mine and I’ve had them for over 5 years.
Additionally, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card just got even more valuable with its new introduction of Chase Visa Offers last month.
What are your thoughts? Are you excited about the specific card announcements that are coming in 2018?
I am hoping that they issue a card similar to the new Hilton card that will give out Platinum status with a $450 annual fee. Combing with my Delta crossover benefits from being a Delta diamond they would get a lot more of my stays.
I’ve been Diamond with Hilton for years and am only 30 nights a way from being lifetime diamond so would be nice to have top tier with another chain and an easy way to do it. It’s frustrating as someone who spends almost a third of his nights a year in Hilton to get the same treatment as someone who has a $450 credit card and I’m sure with all the new Hilton diamonds the benefits will diminish with all the new competition.