Should You Close Your Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card?

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I received a question from a reader about wanting to close her Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card after the card’s annual fee of $95 is posted to her account. 

I would like to take the opportunity to address that reader’s questions along with offering a few other options on how to decide whether to keep, product change, or cancel the Marriott Boundless credit card. 
Should You Close Your Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card?
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First of all, it helps to understand that, you will not lose your Marriott Bonvoy points if you cancel your Marriott Bonvoy credit card. 
Once Marriott Bonvoy points are posted to your MARRIOTT account, you can still keep those points even after you decide to close your Marriott Bonvoy credit card later on. 

Do I lose my Marriott Free Night Certificate if I cancel my Chase Marriott Bonvoy credit card?

No. Fortunately, Chase and Marriott issue the anniversary free night certificate fairly quick around the time it takes for the card’s annual fee to be posted to your account. So you can expect to see your card’s anniversary free night certificate posted to your MARRIOTT account within a few days of your card’s anniversary date. You can keep that free night certificate even after you decide to close your Marriott Bonvoy credit card later on. 

Keep the Boundless card and enjoy Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card has an annual fee of $95. One annual benefit that makes this card worth keeping each year is the Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate. The certificate is good for a Marriott property that has a redemption level of 35,000 points per night or less. This means that if you can find a Marriott property that the cash price is more than $95 per night and you can use the certificate to redeem for a free night stay at that property, then the card’s annual fee is well worth it. 
Here are some ideas to use Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate:
However, it’s also important to note the following:
  • In my honest opinion, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card does not really provide any other values other than the above-mentioned annual free night certificate benefit that’s worth paying for the card’s fee each year. 
  • Putting spend on your Marriott Bonvoy credit card allows you to earn Marriott Bonvoy points to keep your Marriott points from expiring, but there are other ways to do that without a Marriott credit card. 
  • By keeping your Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, you will not be eligible for the card’s sign-up bonus again. 

Do not downgrade to Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card has no annual fee but other than just earning Marriott Bonvoy points, I really don’t see the value of that credit card. So do not product change or downgrade your Marriott Boundless card to the Bold card. Plus, by doing so you will also miss out on the Bold card’s sign-up bonus.

Product Change Your Chase Marriott Boundless Credit Card to Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card

The Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card is no longer available for new applicants. Meaning you cannot apply for this credit card anymore. However, it is possible for any Chase Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards such as the Boundless credit card to be converted to the Ritz-Carlton credit card. 
The Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card has a very high annual fee of $450, but it offers travel benefits that make that high annual fee worthwhile. See below:
  • The Ritz-Carlton credit card gives you a $300 annual airline credit so that really lowers the card’s fee to $150 per year. 
  • It also offers you an annual Marriott Free Night 50k Certificate. The certificate is good for a Marriott Bonvoy property that has a redemption level of 50,000 points per night. The annual free night certificate on the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is only good for 35,000 points per night at the Marriott Bonvoy property. 
  • But that’s not all, another good travel benefit of the Ritz-Carlton credit card is the complimentary Priority Pass Airport Lounges membership and unlimited guests access. This is the only travel card that currently allows you to bring unlimited guests with you into the Priority Pass participating airport lounges in the world. You can also add an authorized user (AU) to the card and that AU will get his or her own Priority Pass membership along with the benefit of bringing unlimited guests as well. 
  • TSA-PreCheck and Global Entry (GE) fees reimbursement benefits are also included with the Ritz-Carlton credit card. 
All in all, I truly believe that you can really get a lot of travel benefits out of the Ritz-Carlton credit card to justify its $450 fee each year easily. So in my opinion, product changing your Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card to the Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card really is a great option to consider. Moreover, by doing that you will also be eligible for the Boundless card’s sign-up bonus next time. 
If you are convinced to product change your Marriott Boundless card to the Ritz-Carlton card, here are a few tips and instructions on how to request the change:
  • First make sure your Boundless credit card’s anniversary Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate is issued into your Marriott Bonvoy’s account. Chase issues that annual free night certificate pretty quick after your credit card’s annual fee is posted to your account. See: When Does the Marriott Free Night Award Certificate from Chase Marriott Credit Card Post and How To Use It?
  • After that, you can request the product change by simply calling the phone number on the back of your Boundless credit card and tell the agent that you want to change your Boundless credit card to the Ritz-Carlton credit card. The agent will then go over the details with you about the change, etc. 
It’s worth noting that once the Marriott Bonvoy credit card is successfully converted, you will not earn the Ritz-Carlton credit card’s Marriott Free Night 50k Certificate until your card’s renewal date next year, but you will get to keep your Boundless card’s Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate if you follow the tips that are outlined above. 

Close the Boundless credit card but keep the Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate

If you are still not convinced to keep your Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card or product change it to the Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card, you can cancel your Boundless card. However, you should wait to call in to cancel until the card’s annual fee is posted to your account. Here’s why.
You have 30 days grace period to pay the card’s annual fee. Within that 30 days, the card’s anniversary Marriott Free Night 35k Certificate should be issued in your Marriott Bonvoy’s account already. After you see the free night has been issued, you then can call in to close your Marriott Boundless credit card. You will not have to pay for the card’s annual fee and you get to keep the Marriott anniversary free night certificate as well. Moreover, closing your Boundless credit card will also make you eligible for the card’s sign-up bonus next time. 
Please note also, it’s worth asking for retention offers available to you should you call in to cancel your credit card because from time to time, the agent may waive the card’s annual fee or give you some bonus Marriott Bonvoy points to keep your account open. 

4 thoughts on “Should You Close Your Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card?

  1. Hi Gus, once those 15 elite nights credited to your Marriott account, you won’t lose them.
    However, you won’t get them again next year if you no longer have an eligible personal Marriott card.

  2. Thank you. So If I have Boundless and downgrade to Bold, would downgrading allow for me to apply for a new Boundless and be eligible for SUB, since its been 9 years since I first applied for Boundless and received SUB?

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