IMPORTANT: New (and Confusing) Marriott & Starwood Application Rules – Read This Before You Apply for a Marriott Points Earning Credit Card!

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As of August 26, 2018, AMEX and Chase have tighter application restrictions on their Marriott and Starwood cards.

These new rules make it MUCH harder for folks to open multiple Marriott and Starwood credit cards.  So if you’ve got your eye on any of these cards.  The rules are a bit complicated, but I’ll give you a reminder of them, and the credit cards they apply to.

A Slew of Application Rules for Marriott and Starwood Cards

Each card has its own unique set of restrictions.  Crazy, I know.  I’ve included some extremely helpful graphics so you can see at a glance what you’re eligible for:

If You’re Applying for Marriott Credit Cards

There are currently 4 cards that earn Marriott points:

• Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
• Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card
• Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

And on August 23, 2018, the new Starwood Preferred Guest® Luxury Card launched.  The welcome offer is 75,000 Marriott points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.

Before applying for any of these cards, keep in mind the following bank rules.

You can only earn the welcome bonus on an AMEX card once per lifetime.  Plus, you can only open 2 cards every 90 days, with 5 days between applications.

Meanwhile, you can only earn the bonus on a Chase Marriott card if it’s been 24 months since you last earned the bonus on that specific card and the card is closed.

The both the Chase Marriott Premier Plus card and the Chase Marriott Premier Business cards are affected by the Chase’s 5/24 rule.  The personal cards on this list will count toward your “5/24” status, while the business cards won’t.

Read this post for more details.

Bottom Line

It’s difficult and a little confusing to open multiple cards that earn Marriott points.  So plan your Marriott and Starwood card applications carefully.

I highly encourage you to read this post to help your strategy along.

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