Chase Will Now Tell You If You're Ineligible for a Marriott Sign-Up Bonus
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The Marriott-Starwood merger and its implications for the two brands' credit card portfolios have been confusing, to say the least. Things will be a bit easier to follow once Amex and Chase switch their respective SPG and Marriott lineups to Bonvoy branding in February, but we'll still have some pretty gnarly application restrictions to contend with.
The restrictions vary from card to card, so your best bet is to check a specific card's terms and conditions to see if you're eligible for the welcome bonus before applying. Easy enough, but sometimes the language isn't exactly clear.
Luckily, as Doctor of Credit reports, Chase has rolled out a tool to help simplify matters. If you apply for a Marriott card that you're not eligible to earn a welcome bonus on, the issuer will display a pop-up saying as much, and asking if you want to continue the application even though you're not eligible for the bonus.
This is similar to what Amex has been offering since mid-2018, though that issuer's qualification tool isn't limited to SPG (soon to be Marriott Bonvoy) cards.
With both Chase and Amex, you'll receive an alert that you're ineligible for a given card's welcome bonus before a hard credit inquiry is initiated. This means you have the chance to pull the breaks and cancel the application. Frankly, it's a much-needed feature given how the eligibility requirements vary so much from card to card, so we're happy to see this.
H/T: Doctor of Credit