Update: This card is no longer available to new users. Check out our list of travel rewards credit cards available that earn Marriott Bonvoy points.
This is both news and a correction to last week’s Devil’s Advocate column about the new Ritz-Carlton Visa.
There have been mixed reports as to whether the new Ritz-Carlton Visa includes the same 3 annual Club upgrades as the old Ritz-Carlton card did. Our friends at Doctor of Credit, as well as a number of their readers, had reported that it didn’t, while my arch nemesis fellow Boarding Area blogger Gary at View From The Wing noted in a comment that Chase PR had told him it did. In addition, two commenters on my own Devil’s Advocate column wrote to say they believed the benefit was included on the new card.
What’s going on here?
The confusion appears to stem from the fact that while the landing page for the old version of the card specifically notes the club upgrade benefit, the landing page at chase.com for the new card currently does not, despite listing all the other perks.
However, if you look at the landing page built specifically for the new card at www.ritzcarltonrewardscard.com, the language about the club upgrades is definitely there.
And if you click all the way through to the actual application, you’ll find the benefit listed there as well.
It appears Chase has simply forgotten to include the club upgrades on their own landing page. Since the application page lists the Club upgrades as a benefit, you can feel confident that you’ll get them if you apply for the new card.
Official word from Marriott.
But just for the sake of completeness, the inclusion of the Club upgrade benefit on the new card has also now been confirmed to me directly by Marriott. In fact, after my Devil’s Advocate post appeared, I received the following e-mail from Sara, a representative of Consumer Public Relations for Marriott:
Fair enough! I have updated my Devil’s Advocate post from last week to reflect this new information, and hopefully this additional post will serve to get the word out as well.
Thanks very much to Sara and Marriott/Ritz Carlton for letting us know about the status of the club upgrades. I have no doubt that folks considering the new Ritz Carlton Visa will be very happy to know they’ll still have access to one of the best benefits of the old card.
