Is This United Airlines & Marriott Promotion a Good Deal?

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The new Double Stay, Double Go promotion will double your miles at Marriott and double your points with United Airlines when you pay with certain cards.

From November 1, 2015, to November 30, 2015, you’ll earn double United Airlines miles when you use your Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card at participating Marriott hotels.  And double Marriott points when you use your Chase Marriott Premier Rewards card with United Airlines.

Is This United Airlines Marriott Promotion A Good Deal
With the Double Stay, Double Go Promotion, You Can Double Your Points or Double Your Miles

But you’re likely better off paying with your Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Plus, or Citi Prestige card.  I’ll show you why!

How to Earn Double United Airlines Miles or Marriott Points

Link:   Double Stay, Double Go Promotion

During the entire month of November 2015, you can use your Chase United Airlines card at participating Marriott hotels to earn double United Airlines miles.  Or use your Chase Marriott Rewards Premier card at United Airlines to earn double Marriott points.

Is This United Airlines Marriott Promotion A Good Deal
Double United Airlines or Double Marriott Points, the Choice Is Yours

To get the bonus, you have to book your flight or stay directly with United Airlines or Marriott.  There’s NO registration required.

Here’s a look at how many miles or points you can earn:

Credit CardPoints or Miles Earned at United AirlinesPoints or Miles Earned at Marriott
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier (Personal) Card

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier (Small Business) Card
4 Marriott points per $1 spent5 Marriott points per $1 spent
Chase United MileagePlus Explorer (Personal) Card

Chase United MileagePlus Explorer (Small Business) Card
2 United Airlines miles per $1 spent2 United Airlines miles per $1 spent
Chase United MileagePlus Club Card2 United Airlines miles per $1 spent3 United Airlines miles per $1 spent

So Which Card Should You Use?

This is a nice additional category bonus for folks who only have 1 of either the Chase United Airlines MileagePlus or a Chase Marriott Rewards Premier personal or small business card.

But if you have a choice, which card should you use?

Marriott Hotel Stays

If you spend $100 at Marriott and pay with your Chase Marriott Rewards Premier card, you earn 500 Marriott points.  I value Marriott points at ~0.5 cents each, so that’s like getting ~$3 towards your next stay (500 Marriott points x ~0.5 cents per point).

And if you paid with your Chase United MileagePlus Club card, you’d earn 300 United Airlines miles.  I value United Airlines miles at ~1.6 cents per mile, so that’s like earning ~$5 towards a future United Airlines flight (300 United Airlines miles x ~1.6 cents per point).

United Airlines Flights

And what if you spend $100 with United Airlines?

With your Chase Marriott Rewards Premier card, you’ll earn 4X Marriott points for a total of 400 Marriott points.  That’s worth ~$2 (400 Marriott points x .05 cents per point).

And if you paid with your Chase United Mileage Plus card, you’d earn 2X United Airlines miles for a total of 200 United Airlines miles.  That’s like saving ~$3 on your next United Airlines flight (200 United Airlines miles x 1.6 cents per point).

Plus, keep in mind that if you decide to pay for United Airlines flights with your Chase Marriott Rewards Premier personal or small business card, you’ll miss out on the free checked bag benefit you get with the Chase United Airlines MileagePlus personal, small business, and Club card.  This could cost you $25 per person each way!

Is This United Airlines Marriott Promotion A Good Deal
You’ll Have to Pay for Your 1st Checked Bag If You Don’t Purchase Your Ticket With Your Chase United MileagePlus Card

So for this promotion, you’re better off paying for your Marriott stay with the Chase United MileagePlus Club card and paying for your United Airlines flight with any of the 3 Chase United Airlines cards.

That is, unless United Airlines doesn’t fit in your travel plans.

But otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way for this promotion.  Especially, because there are other cards that will give you more value.

There Are Better Cards to Use

You can earn 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on airlines and hotels any time with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  And with the Chase Ink Plus, you’ll earn 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on hotels.

Earning 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on flights and hotels is typically a much better option, depending on how you redeem them.

So again, if you spent $100, you’d earn 200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you used your Chase Sapphire Preferred at United Airlines or Marriott.  ($100 x 2 points per $1 spent) You can get AT LEAST $2 in cash back with 200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points x 1 cent per point).  Or you’ll get $2.50 (200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points x 1.25 cents per point) in flights or hotels through the Chase travel portal.

But you can get Big Travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards when you transfer them to certain travel partners like British Airways, Hyatt, Southwest, and United Airlines!

Is This United Airlines Marriott Promotion A Good Deal
You Could Transfer 160,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to United Airlines for a First Class Flight to Barcelona or Anywhere Else in Europe (Worth ~$9,000!)

That’s a value of over 5 cents per Chase Ultimate Rewards point!

You may also consider paying for your Marriott stay or United Airlines flights with the Citi Prestige card, if you want to earn points you can use for paid airline tickets.  You can earn 3X Citi ThankYou points at hotels like Marriott with this card.

So for that same $100 stay, you’ll earn 300 Citi ThankYou points, which you can redeem for ~$4 on any airline including United Airlines (300 Citi ThankYou points x 1.33 cents per point) with NO blackout dates through the Citi Travel Center.

So by using these cards instead you get points that are worth more with the flexibility of a variety of airline and hotel transfer partners or the ability to book paid tickets with points.

Bottom Line

You can earn double United Airlines miles at Marriott with your Chase United MileagePlus card.  And double Marriott points at United Airlines with your Chase Marriott Rewards Premier card.

This offer is good from November 1, 2015, to November 30, 2015.  You don’t need to register, just pay with your card to earn the bonus.

But most folk are better off using the following cards instead:

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred to earn 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points at Marriott & United Airlines
  • Chase Ink Plus to earn 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards at Marriott
  • Citi Prestige to earn 3X Citi ThankYou points at Marriott or United Airlines to use for paid flights on almost any airline

Using these cards instead will give you more valuable points with more flexibility!

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