Rumors have been swirling the last few days about this.
It seems to have started on Reddit and it’s been more fully covered by Doctor of Credit here.
The claim is that the annual fee will rise from $450 to $695 and will include a $200 Renowned hotels credit and three Ritz-Carlton bar vouchers.
I was curious about the entire premise, since Chase generally releases annual fee changes WAY before a date just a few weeks in the future and the Renowned credit (available to United cardmembers, currently) seemed odd to me for a Marriott affiliated card.
So I reached out to Chase corporate to see if I could get any information. Now, of course they’ll never comment on what they might be thinking about or not thinking about at a future date – so I can’t say none of this is EVER happening (although it may well be entirely wrong on its face) but I can say definitively that the annual fee on the Ritz Carlton credit card is NOT increasing in August.
They don’t seem to know why reps are giving this information, but they confirmed to me that “there are no changes to the annual fee for either existing or newly upgrading cardmembers.”
Great news.
For those who are not familiar with the Ritz Carlton card, it’s a sort of secret gem in the Chase ecosystem. When Marriott and SPG merged, Chase and American Express split up the card portfolio. Amex got exclusive rights to market the luxury card segment (the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card) and the business segment (the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card) while Chase got the standard consumer cards (the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and the no-annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card).
For the card geeks out there, both issuers retained the right to upgrade or downgrade to some legacy products. Amex cardholders can downgrade from the Brilliant card to a $95 annual fee version of the card and Chase Bonvoy Boundless cardholders can upgrade to the Ritz Carlton credit card. Certain products remain available for those who already had the card, but they cannot be product changed into – notably the legacy Chase Bonvoy Premier or the Premier Plus Business card which I have and keep since the annual fee is less than the Amex Bonvoy business card.
Which brings us back to the The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card.
You can still product change from a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card which you have held for a year or longer to a Ritz Carlton card (remember, you cannot apply for the card!) and the annual fee is $450.
Highlights of the card include:
- A $300 annual travel credit for qualifying airline purchases such as baggage fees, seat upgrades and preferred lounge memberships or passes. (You have to call or secure message for reimbursement.)
- A Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Reward certificate worth up to 85,000 points
- Priority Pass Select for you and unlimited guests including the same for authorized users (capacity restrictions can apply)
- Access to Chase Lounges by the Club for you and unlimited guests (capacity restrictions can apply).
- 15 Bonvoy elite nights each year
- 3 Ritz Carlton Club Level upgrade certificates a year (note that these require a standard rate plan and can’t be an award so they are not as awesome as they seem…)
- Global Entry / PreCheck reimbursement
- Primary car rental CDW coverage
I know it sounds like lower annual fee substitute for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® – but it’s not quite. That’s primarily because it earns Bonvoy points (and not at a competitive rate) rather than Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Still, for amazing lounge access and the annual free night alone, if you don’t mind jumping through a few hoops for that $300 travel credit, the fee nets out to just $150 – one of the few remaining premium credit card bargains.
PS: the 5 free nights offer on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card ends July 16th if you are interested in going for the Ritz card the only way you can… the long way!
Thoughts?
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Hearing “mixed data points” on number of additional users you can add to Ritz card for no fee and if additional users beyond that can be added for fee
‘So I reached out to Chase corporate to see if I could get any information.’ — Um. I called last week and I was told they would bump up the fee to $695. Did you call the # on the back of the card when reaching out to Chase? Frustrated that we are getting different answers.
When I say Corporate, I mean actual corporate people, not phone reps.
They confirmed no increase happening now and they were investigating why phone reps have this erroneous information.
Plus, they wouldn’t up the fee without sending advance notice to cardholders.
When you say there is no change, do you mean the product change from Marriott Boundless card to Ritz card continues working in the short term (at least in August 2025)? Thanks.
@ Mike: That is correct.