The Marriott Rewards Credit Card card is a hotel rewards card from Chase that has a good rewards program and lets you earn you a free hotel stay as soon as you sign up for the card. Marriott points can be used at over 3,100 worldwide locations, so wherever you are traveling you can be earning hotel rewards with Marriott. I think this is a good card for the frequent traveler who enjoys Marriott hotels, which may surprise you a little.

I’ve talked multiple times before about the potential disadvantages of earning all your points with one airline or hotel chain and said some good things about cards that let you earn and use rewards independently, like the Blue Sky and Discover Miles cards.

While all the potential negatives I’ve covered in the past still exist, if the rewards program is good enough then it can makeup for those shortfalls.  I think that’s the case with this card, if you’re already a Marriott fan then the points you can earn through their rewards program make this a decent option.

Marriott Rewards Free Night Promotion
I suppose I could be a little bias because the Marriott Rewards card was my very first hotel rewards card –- and I signed up for it because it gave me one free nights stay at Marriott. Well times have changed… for the better!

Now the Marriott rewards free night offer has actually turned into four free nights, plus one. After you sign up for the card, you get an e-certificate for a free night stay, just like before. However, now after you make your first purchase on the card you earn 22,500 Marriott points, which is enough for another four free nights stay. That’s a nice little vacation break at a Marriott hotel that you can get as soon as you’ve made your first purchase on the card.

Marriott Rewards Program
Your Marriott Rewards card earns you 3 points for every $1 you spend staying at a Marriott and 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases. There’s a big list of the types of hotels where you can use your Marriott points, I’ve stayed in a few of them.

For example, we spent our honeymoon in a Renaissance hotel in the Virgin Islands and I stayed at another nice Renaissance in San Francisco when I was there for a conference.  We’ve stayed at a nice Marriott on vacation in Boston and St. Louis and I spent another week at a Residence in near Sacremento for a work trip.  We’ve also stayed at various Courtyard by Marriott and FairField Inn & Suites locations on family trips around the MidWest.

Some of the hotels where I haven’t stayed but you can earn and use points are JW Marriott Hotels, the SpringHill Suites, and the TownePlace Suites.  There are a few Ritz-Carlton hotels and Marriott Conference Centers where you can’t use your points so if you’re looking to stay at one of those call ahead and ask first.

Marriott Points
The points you earn on your Marriott Rewards card can be used for vacations, hotel stays, or airline miles but the majority of people I know with this card use them for free nights and vacations. A good friend of ours travels a lot for his sales job and he takes his family on two or three trips each year paid for with Marriott points. One cool thing about redeeming your points is that anytime you use them to book a stay of at least 7 nights, you earn another 15,000 Marriott points. I don’t know of any other hotel rewards program where you can earn points for redeeming points.

Frequent Traveler Bonuses
Each time that you stay at a Marriott Hotel using this credit card you will earn credits towards Elite Membership. With 15 nights of stays you’ll get silver level elite status, 50 nights pushes you to gold level and 75 nights gets you up to platinum level. At each level you receive additional bonuses at no extra cost to you as a cardholder. These benefits include discounts, room up grades and even additional opportunities to earn even more bonus points on the card. Plus for every $3000 you spend on the card, you get an extra night towards your Elite status.

APR and Fees
This credit card does have an annual fee, it’s not outrageous, only $30. Additionally, that fee is waived for the first year. The APR is competitive for a rewards credit card; see the chart below for specifics. The card is designed for people with excellent credit.

Marriott Rewards vs Premier Rewards

You can actually choose between two different rewards cards from Marriott, the regular card or the Premier card.  The downside of the Premier version is that you’ll pay a higher annual fee, the question is are the features of the Premeir card worth it?

With the Marriott Premier card you earn 2 extra points per dollar spent at Marriott hotels than you would with the base version.  You also earn double the points for travel purchases of airline tickets, dining, or car rentals.  For all non travel related expenses you earn the same as the regular rewards card, 1 point per dollar.

You also earn more bonus points when you first sign up for the Premier card.  You get the bonus points after your first purchase and the Premier version gives you an extra 7500.  It can also help you get to bonuses that come with Elite status faster, after 10 nights instead of 15.

Probably the best feature of the Premeir Rewards version is that every year you get free night at a category 1–5 Marriott hotel if you’re a cardholder.  Once a year, about a 6 weeks after your anniversarry month you get a certificate in your rewards account that you can use to book a free night.  While the free night basically pays for the annual fee, you do have to make sure you use the certificate and not lose it because its not redeemable after 6 months.

From what I can tell if you stay at Marriott hotels frequently, or even just a few times a year, the benefits of the Premier card will outweigh the higher annual fee.

Conclusion
The Marriott Hotel rewards card by Chase gives you several different ways to earn a good amount of Marriott rewards. The more you use it, the more rewards you get. The annual fee is low so it’s an appealing credit card for the people with excellent credit who can qualify for it. Like I said, if you’re a fan of Marriott hotels then this could be the hotel rewards card for you.

While the biggest difference between the two is probably how rewards are earned, remember there are more things to consider than just the rewards when researching cash back cards.

How Rewards Are Earned

The main difference between the Discover® More Card and the Chase Freedom® Visa is in the way that standard cash back rewards are earned. The Freedom card offers unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases with 5% cash back options on certain spending categories that rotate quarterly – also  an additional 10% back when you shop online with select merchants.

Discover More also offers a 5% cash back deal on rotating categories. However, the card only offers .25% cash back on the first $3000 in purchases each year before increasing to 1% cash back after that. Discover More offers 5% – 20% cash back when shopping online with select merchants.

Neither of these is necessarily a better deal than the other; it just depends on what type of shopper you are. If you prefer straightforward cash back rewards then Chase Freedom will be more appealing but if you do a significant amount of shopping online then you may find that you get more cash back with the Discover More card.

Rotating Spending Categories

One way to determine which of these two cards is the better one for you is to look at where they offer the most cash back – in their rotating spending categories. The 2011 spending categories for each card is as follows:

Chase Freedom

• April – June: Home Improvement, Home Furnishings and Lawn and Garden
• July – September: Gas, Airlines, and Hotels
• October – December: Dining, Department Stores, Movies and Charities

Discover More

• April – June: Home and Fashion
• July – September: Gas, Hotels, Movies and Theme Parks
• October – December: Restaurants and Fashion

As you can see, the cards have some similarities (like offering travel-related bonuses during the busy vacation months of summer) but also have their differences. For example, if you are more likely to spend money on fashion than charity then you would find the Discover More card more appealing.

Redeeming Rewards

Cash Back

Redeeming rewards with both the Freedom and More cards is pretty simple, but don’t forget to do it.  Both Chase and Discover have websites that members log into and request their rewards.  Unlike some rewards cards that automatically credit your card, you have to remember to request these periodically.

If you’re after cash back rewards, Chase does make it a little easier to get your money sooner.  With the Freedom card you can request to be paid your cash back once you’ve accumulated $20 worth. 

Discover More only sends you cash once you’ve hit the $50 mark, although they will send a Discover gift card for $20.  Discover does offer more payment options, they can send the money electronically to your bank account or credit your account. 

Chase is a little more limited, just offering check redemption.  They have a section in their Ultimate Rewards site where you can request a check be mailed out once you have at least $20.

Gift Cards 

Both Chase Freedom and Discover More let you redeem your rewards for gift cards but Discover has the upper hand in terms of the number of places you can get gift cards from and the savings you can get with the cards.  They both label the available merchants as partners but Discover’s options make them seem more like partners.  You can actually buy a gift card worth more than the amount of cash back you have on your More credit card.

For example, we like to eat at Chipotle one of the Discover partner merchants.  If you have $45 of cash back earned on your More card, you can buy a Chipotle gift card worth $50 – a nice boost to your rewards.  In addition to this bonus, Discover also has more merchant partners in most every category than Chase.  In our case, since Chipotle isn’t a partner for the Chase Freedom rewards, we’d have to settle for a restaurant that’s right across the street – Panera.

However, Chase does offer more redemption levels than Discover.  So if we wanted to eat at Panera, we could get a $10 gift card in return for 1,500 points.  You can see in the graphic some example levels, they can differ across merchants.  So you can get a bonus if you wait longer to get the gift card with Discover but Chase allows you to use your points for gift cards sooner.

Other Rewards

Although Discover More really does offer “more” in terms of gift card choices and bonuses, the Chase Freedom card actually gives you access to more rewards.  The points you earn with the Freedom card can be used in the Ultimate Rewards program, which has a lot of options.

Of course if you’re looking for a cash back card, like these two, then you might not care as much about the rewards options other than cash.

Card Payments

Neither one of these cards will let you earn cash back on your purchases if you haven’t paid your credit card bill.  Not only do you not earn rewards for periods when you don’t pay, you also can’t redeem rewards earned in the past when your account is delinquent.

The good thing is that your existing rewards don’t expire with either card so even if it takes a while for you to get back on track the rewards will still be there to claim.  Although the points don’t expire, if you request a redemption check and don’t cash it in time the check can expire.

One thing to consider in terms of payments is that the Freedom card participates in the Chase Blueprint program which can give you a variety of options when it comes to paying down and paying off your card balance. 

Promotional Deals

Both of these credit cards have offered promotional deals for new card members – ranging from a $25 bonus up to a $100 bonus. The criteria usually say that you have to use the card for a certain dollar amount in the first few months to be eligible for the bonus.  For example, they might give you $100 cash back if you spend $500 on purchases in the first month.

APR and Annual Fee

Both cards offer a 0% intro APR for balance transfers and purchases; see the table below for the length of the zero interest offers. Another bonus is that neither card has an annual fee. The balance transfer and cash advance fees tend to be higher on the Discover More card than the Chase Freedom card. However, Discover does occasionally run promotions where there is no balance transfer fee, for example, the Discover More – No Balance Transfer Fee card.

Conclusion

As you can see, these two cards are comparable in some areas to one another. Chase Freedom offers a more straightforward cash back policy and generally has a lower rate on balance transfers and cash advances. However, Discover More may offer more cash back on purchases made online and has better gift card redemption options. Either of these cards would make a solid cash back card for the discerning customer.  Be sure look carefully at their rotating spending categories and redemption options to help you make a final decision. 

The Chase Freedom Visa - $100 Bonus Cash Back is one of the better rewards credit cards available. While most rewards cards offer one or two percent in cash back rewards, the Freedom card offers 5% cash back or 5 points per dollar on gas, home improvement, groceries, airlines, department stores, and other things that make up your seasonal purchases. This is what makes the Chase Freedom card especially good for cardholders: you earn back more on those purchases you make.

5% Cash Back Schedule

The way that this rewards program works is that you receive the 5% cash back rewards in rotating categories that change every three months. Here’s the cash back schedule for the Chase Freedom rewards card for the rest of 2011:

• April – June: Home Improvement, Home Furnishings and Lawn and Garden 
• July – September: Gas, Airlines, and Hotels 
• October – December: Dining, Department Stores, Movies and Charities

One thing to note about this schedule is that Chase Freedom tries to offer you the most cash back on the items that you are especially likely to buy in a particular season. For example, there are travel rewards in the summer when people tend to travel most and shopping rewards as well as charity giving during the winter holidays.

Some people actually use this card in conjunction with other rewards cards, and only put purchases on the Freedom card that are earning the bonus.  Of course, the downside of this approach is that you have to keep track of the categories and juggle mutiple cards. 

This approach can help to maximize the amount you get back but to me it’s more work than it’s worth.  It really depends on how much you spend on your card and how easy it is for you to keep track of the bonus categories.  You also have to keep in mind that if you open too many cards it can negatively impact your credit score.

Chase Cash Back

You will earn 1% cash back rewards on all purchases you make that don’t fall into one of the seasonal categories, which means you get a 1% rebate for each $1 of purchases.

Also, as part of the Ultimate Rewards program, Chase has a trip planner where you can search for flights, hotels, and rental cars. The functionality is okay, they let you filter by price, schedule, city, etc – like most major travel sites. If you book and pay for travel using the site you earn an extra point for every dollar you spend.

You won’t earn cash back for transactions on your card that aren’t purchases. For example if you do a balance transfer or something like a cash advance don’t expect to be earn any rewards since Chase doesn’t credit them on that type of activity.

Bonus Cash Back for Online Shopping

Chase has an online shopping tool that allows you to search for even better cash back deals when making online purchases with select retailers. It is possible to earn up to an additional 10% cash back on the purchases that are made through this online shopping tool.

Cash Back Bonus Offers

Chase Freedom somtimes offers the opportunity to earn an additional cash back when you first start using the card. You just need to spend a certain amount within the first three months of opening the card and then that money is available for you to redeem. For example, for their $100 bonus offer, if you put $500 on the card during the first 3 billing cycles then they put a credit on your card for $100.

Redeeming Cash Back Rewards

It is possible to start redeeming your rewards for cash as soon as you’ve earned the low amount of just $20 (and you can then continue redeeming in $20 increments). However, there are also other ways that you can redeem these rewards:

• Pay yourself back using the cash back that you’ve earned to pay for a recent purchase on the card
• Get gift cards with your cash back rewards
• Redeem for travel rewards with no blackout dates or restrictions
• Exchange the cash for points and redeem the points for merchandise

Flexible Repayment with Chase Blueprint

Chase Freedom is one of the cards that is part of the Chase Blueprint program, a program designed to allow you many different repayment options for your spending. Those repayment options include:

• Full payment each month in specific spending categories that you select so that you never pay interest on items purchased in those categories
• Set a goal date for when you want to pay off a large purchase and split the payments evenly until that date
• Set a monthly amount that you wish to pay on a large purchase until the item is paid off
• Set a target date and create a plan for paying off an entire balance

The Chase Blueprint program is free and is linked to your online Chase account. You can make changes to your payment plan at any time.

Chase Freedom Fees

There is no annual fee for the card and a relatively low APR compared to other cash back cards. Chase Freedom does occasionally offer introductory 0% APR on balance transfers as well as purchases; see the chart below for more details.  

Card Fees and Bonuses

The main purpose of both cards is to earn cash back on your purchases.  Neither the Freedom or the Blue Cash Everyday has an annual fee, which is good since you get to keep more of the cash back that you earn.  There is a Blue Cash Preferred card that charges a fee but in return you earn higher cash back rates at supermarkets and gas.

Both the Blue Cash and Chase Freedom have offered signup bonuses in the past – with the Freedom card historically having higher bonuses.  For example, the Blue cash sometimes offers $25 to new customers, which is paid as a statement credit.  The Freedom card has offered $50 and even $100 as a bonus to new members, their come in the form of rewards points.  You can use the points as part of the Ultimate Rewards program or redeem them for cash.

Most rewards cards won’t pay you the rewards you earn during a period in which you don’t pay your bill.  This is the case with both of these cards, if you’re in default on your payment then you aren’t credited your cash back for any money spent during that billing cycle.

Earning Cash Back

Both the Blue Cash and Chase Freedom can earn you cash back on your purchases but they go about it in diffrent ways. 

Chase Freedom

The Freedom card pays 1% cash back on all purchases, then has certain bonus categories that can earn you an additional 4%.  The categories rotate each quarter, here’s the cash back calendar for this year:

• January – March : grocery stores and drug stores
• April – June : home improvement, home furnishings, lawn and garden
• July – September : gas, airlines, hotels
• October – December : dining, department stores, movies, charities

So the nice thing about the Freedom card is that you can start earning 5% right away if your purchases fall into one of the bonus categories. The categories are typically based around the areas that people tend to spend the most in during those months.

One other thing to note is that the Freedom card does have a cap each quarter on the amount of spending that’s eligible for the 4% bonus.  You may not reach that cap, but if you do then the remainder of purchases go back to earning 1%.

Blue Cash

The Blue Cash also has a form of bonus categories that they call “Everyday Purchases” – grocery stores, department stores, and gas stations.  Unlike the Freedom card, these categories are the same all year round.

You earn 3% back at supermarkets and 2% on gas and in department stores – 1% back on everything else.  If you go with the Blue Cash Preferred, you earn 6% back at supermarkets and 3% on gas and in department stores.

Redeeming Cash Back

As I mentioned earlier, the Chase Freedom card earns you rewards points for your purchases.  You can either use them in the Ultimate Rewards program or you can convert the points to cash.  The conversion rate is 1 point equals $0.01 cash – so 10,000 points could be turned in for a $100 check.

With the Blue Cash card, your cash back is paid in the form of a statement credit.  It used to be that you could only redeem your cash back once a year but American Express has changed the rewards program so you can request the credit anytime you’ve accumulated $25 or more in cash back.

Card Programs

The Freedom card is eligible to participate in a program called Chase Blueprint that’s designed to help you pay off your balances and reduce the amount of interest you pay.  Of course, if you’re paying interest on your charges those will wipeout any cash back you earn so in that case the Freedom card may not be the best for you.  There is a card called Slate from Chase that’s designed to work inside the Blueprint program and focus on paying down your balance.

If you use the Blue Cash card, you’re eligible for the Blue Savings program.  It’s actually available for any of the cards in the “Blue” family, like Amex Blue, Blue Sky, and Blue Sky Preferred card.  The program gives you discounts on hotels, car rental, dining – anywhere from 5–20% off your purchases.

There are a few other perks you get with the Blue Cash, like a free credit score and report from Experian once a year.  They also feature occassional deals – for example they offered free iTunes songs for a while and 35% off of tax software through TurboTax.

Hopefully, this look at the two cards has helped compare the features and give you an idea which might work best for you.

The Continental Airlines OnePass is a travel rewards credit card issues by Chase that is designed to offer travel miles as well as hotel and auto rental rewards – a good fit if you travel frequently. The OnePass Plus card has a variety of perks as well as many opportunities to earn additional bonus miles for using the card. Although this credit card does have an annual fee, the fee is waived for the first year as is commonly seen with travel rewards credit cards in the market today. This gives you ample opportunity to test out the card to see if it’s right for you before you commit to that fee.

Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card Rewards
This is a rewards credit card that offers you one mile for every $1 purchased on the card, a standard rate for rewards cards. However, it also offers numerous opportunities to earn additional rewards points including:

• 25,000 bonus miles earned after your first purchased made on the card
• 10,000 bonus miles annually for spending $25,000+ on the card each year
• 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user
• Double miles for every $1 spent on Continental Airlines tickets
• Double miles for all ShopOnePass purchases made on the card

The especially appealing part on this card is that ability to earn annual bonus miles if you spend more than $25,000 annually on the card. That’s a nice reward for spending that you’re already doing.

Redeeming Rewards
These miles can be redeemed for flights on Continental Airlines as well as the two dozen or more member airlines that are part of the Star Alliance Network.

The US based airlines in this alliance are US Airways, Continental, and United. If you fly internationally it gives you access to flights with major airlines like Air Canada, BMI, and Lufthansa.  The alliance also includes airlines from the following countries (Croatia, Egypt, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, China, New Zealand, Japan, Slovenia, Brussels, Greece, and Brazil).

You can also redeem rewards you earn with the OnePass for car rental and hotel stays. That is a nice perk since some other airline rewards cards only offer the option to redeem for miles. Unfortunately you can’t redeem for non-travel rewards such as gift cards or cash back.

Other Perks of the Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card
This credit card offers travel perks in addition to the rewards miles that are earned for using the card.

Travel Perks

For example, checked baggage fees may be waived on many flights, saving you as much as $50 per round trip. On each anniversary of your card membership, you will receive two Presidents Club passes and two travel discount certificates.

If you have a OnePass card you can also take advantage of concierge service to help you with a variety of services while traveling.  All of these perks can add up to a convenient travel experience when using this card to book your trips. 

Travel Protection

The Continental Airlines OnePass also offers numerous protections as a perk of being a cardholder. Travel protection features include a car rental collision damage waiver, reimbursement for lost luggage, trip cancellation reimbursement and expanded emergency roadside assistance. Additional protections include price protection, purchase protection and return protection on all purchases, zero liability fraud protection and extended warranty coverage.

APR and Fees
This credit card has an annual membership fee of $95. However, the company is currently offering to waive the first year’s membership for new card applications. The APR on the OnePass Plus card for purchases and balance transfers is based on the market Prime Rate and is slightly below average in the current market. The chart below can provide you with more specific details about current rates.

Conclusion
Continental Airlines OnePass is a good option for people who travel regularly especially those who are fond of traveling on Continental Airlines. It is particularly ideal for people who spend at least $25,000 annually on their credit cards thanks to the large sum of bonus points that are awarded each year for doing so.

In order to qualify for this credit card, you do have to have good credit. However, if you apply for the Continental Airlines OnePass card and your credit score doesn’t qualify you then you can also be considered for a Platinum MasterCard.