Can Two Marriott VISA Accounts be Linked to One Rewards Number?

[JIMinNC]

Does anyone know if it is possible to open a second Chase Marriott Rewards VISA account and link it to the same Marriott Rewards number as an existing card?

Here's our issue:

My wife uses her personal Marriott VISA card for her frequent business travel and handles her expense reimbursements from her employer and her credit card bills using a dedicated checking account that is kept separate from our joint family checking account. This helps keep her business expenses and reimbursement cycles from complicating our personal cash flow.

But we also like to charge our Marriott maintenance fees and personal Marriott stays on that card to get the 5X MR points. That's where the problem comes in.

Whenever we put personal expenses on that card, I have to write her a check or otherwise transfer funds from our personal checking account into her business expense checking account to cover the personal card use. Invariably, we'll lose track of what personal charges I've reimbursed her for, and it just creates a lot of confusion and issues trying to keep track of all that.

The perfect solution would be to get a second Marriott Rewards VISA card (in either my name or hers) that we could use for our personal Marriott expenses, allowing her current card to be 100% dedicated to business use. But since we only have one Marriott Rewards number - hers - and she has the Platinum status and larger point balance that we want to keep building, we would want both her current card account and any new card account to be linked to that same existing Marriott Rewards number. Can that be done?

 

[VacationForever]

Not an answer to your question, but why don't you/her get a SPG Amex? You get 2X SPG for MF, which results in 6X MRPs. Since she already has Platinum, she will also get SPG Platinum.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

I think it is the answer. The one applying needs to have an MR number that matches and you cannot apply for a second card of the same type. Have her apply for the SPG Amex and then add yourself as a cardholder. Link the SPG and MR together and transfer the points as needed. The SPG Amex generate 3 Marriott points for every dollar of regular spending and 6 points for Marriott spend. The 3 for $1 is fantastic.

 

[dioxide45]

Since you can transfer points easily between accounts, there is really no need unless you are chasing the elite night for every $3000 in spend. You could get your own card and charge MFs to that card and then later transfer the points. Any points you transfer to her would be counted toward her lifetime points.

Another option is just to have her add you as an authorized user to her account. They will send you a card with your name on it that you can use to charge the MFs to. Easy peasy. So really, the way to get a second card linked to the same MR account is to add an authorized user.

 

[JIMinNC]

Since you can transfer points easily between accounts, there is really no need unless you are chasing the elite night for every $3000 in spend. You could get your own card and charge MFs to that card and then later transfer the points. Any points you transfer to her would be counted toward her lifetime points.

Another option is just to have her add you as an authorized user to her account. They will send you a card with your name on it that you can use to charge the MFs to. Easy peasy. So really, the way to get a second card linked to the same MR account is to add an authorized user.

Being an authorized user on her account would not solve the issue. If I had a card on her account those charges still post on that single account. That’s what we want to avoid - having both personal and business charges post to the same underlying credit account.

Are you saying that if I got my own MR account and my own MR Visa card (separate account in my name) any points I earn can easily be transferred to her account? Also, in that scenario, if we used my MR Visa to pay for any incidentals at an MVC resort, could we still have the stay linked to her MR number so she gets the nights credit for the stay and the MR points for the stay, but then my MR account would get the points for the card spend? Or, does the MR number on the reservation have to be the same as the MR linked to the card used?

 

[dioxide45]

Are you saying that if I got my own MR account and my own MR Visa card (separate account in my name) any points I earn can easily be transferred to her account? Also, in that scenario, if we used my MR Visa to pay for any incidentals at an MVC resort, could we still have the stay linked to her MR number so she gets the nights credit for the stay and the MR points for the stay, but then my MR account would get the points for the card spend? Or, does the MR number on the reservation have to be the same as the MR linked to the card used?

The card used to pay for the stay doesn't have to be linked to the same account that was used to book the stay. So your wife could book the stay under her MR account but you then use your card to pay for the stay. She would get the base + bonus points and any elite nights for the actual stay and you would then get the five points per dollar for the credit card spend. You can then transfer up to 50,000 points to her MR account. If you are transferring at the time of a redemption, there is no cap on the number you can transfer. The only thing she would lose in this scenario is that you would earn 1 elite night for every $3,000 in spending on your Marriott credit card. You can't transfer those to her account, only the points.

With the above, you could also add her as an authorized user to your credit card, so then when checking in, the stay is in her name as is the credit card being used to pay for it. Though that card is linked to your MR account number. Though this really isn't necessary.

 

[JIMinNC]

One final question...with the SPG Amex offering basically 6 Rewards Points per Marriott dollar spend (with transfer from SPG to MR) and the Marriott Rewards VISA only offering 5, it sounds like from a point perspective the SPG card may work better. But are there other reasons to get the Marriott card instead of the SPG card?

 

[VacationForever]

One final question...with the SPG Amex offering basically 6 Rewards Points per Marriott dollar spend (with transfer from SPG to MR) and the Marriott Rewards VISA only offering 5, it sounds like from a point perspective the SPG card may work better. But are there other reasons to get the Marriott card instead of the SPG card?

Only if you need the Marriott Visa to build Elite status. Otherwise, no reason to use one.

 

[mjm1]

One final question...with the SPG Amex offering basically 6 Rewards Points per Marriott dollar spend (with transfer from SPG to MR) and the Marriott Rewards VISA only offering 5, it sounds like from a point perspective the SPG card may work better. But are there other reasons to get the Marriott card instead of the SPG card?

With the Marriott Visa you receive a free night at a category 1-5 hotel every year. If you can use that night somewhere that is a good value. Marriott adjusts their ratings of hotels every year, which we have found knocked some hotels we have liked to a category 6 or higher. However, we are still finding ways to use the free night.

The other thing to consider in the long run is whether the SPG Amex card will exist once Marriott combines the MRP and SPG reward programs, supposedly later this year. Personally, I hope they keep both cards alive with the same benefits, but that may not happen.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[davidvel]

Does anyone know if it is possible to open a second Chase Marriott Rewards VISA account and link it to the same Marriott Rewards number as an existing card?

Here's our issue:

My wife uses her personal Marriott VISA card for her frequent business travel and handles her expense reimbursements from her employer and her credit card bills using a dedicated checking account that is kept separate from our joint family checking account. This helps keep her business expenses and reimbursement cycles from complicating our personal cash flow.

But we also like to charge our Marriott maintenance fees and personal Marriott stays on that card to get the 5X MR points. That's where the problem comes in.

Whenever we put personal expenses on that card, I have to write her a check or otherwise transfer funds from our personal checking account into her business expense checking account to cover the personal card use. Invariably, we'll lose track of what personal charges I've reimbursed her for, and it just creates a lot of confusion and issues trying to keep track of all that.

The perfect solution would be to get a second Marriott Rewards VISA card (in either my name or hers) that we could use for our personal Marriott expenses, allowing her current card to be 100% dedicated to business use. But since we only have one Marriott Rewards number - hers - and she has the Platinum status and larger point balance that we want to keep building, we would want both her current card account and any new card account to be linked to that same existing Marriott Rewards number. Can that be done?

Jim,
At one time I had both a Marriott personal visa card and a Marriott business card. They both had my MR# on them. They still offer this card.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Jim,
At one time I had both a Marriott personal visa card and a Marriott business card. They both had my MR# on them. They still offer this card.

I did this as well, it worked fine.

I recently discovered that I get to use Boingo WiFi all over the place, esp. at airports that don't have free WiFi and use Boingo with the SPG Amex card. I probably had this all along, but just found out I did and just used it on a trip. That's a nice benefit, for me at least.

 

[rthib]

... You can then transfer up to 50,000 points to her MR account. ...

No 50K limit if redeeming. "Members who are transferring points in order to satisfy a specific award may exceed the 50,000 limit up to the amount needed to satisfy the reservation."
Do it all the time for travel award.

 

[BocaBoy]

I was a bit late in putting forth this idea, but I agree that she could get a Marriott Business Visa for her work expenses and use the personal card for her non-work expenses. They could both be linked to her MR number.

 

[VacationForever]

I did this as well, it worked fine.

I recently discovered that I get to use Boingo WiFi all over the place, esp. at airports that don't have free WiFi and use Boingo with the SPG Amex card. I probably had this all along, but just found out I did and just used it on a trip. That's a nice benefit, for me at least.

Would you please explain the Boingo? I have SPG Amex for more than 10 years and have never heard of this.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Would you please explain the Boingo? I have SPG Amex for more than 10 years and have never heard of this.

Best place to look for info is here: https://amex.boingo.com

I ran across it in the Amex IOS app on one of their member benefit pages I happen to look through. The IOS app is nice as it basically auto logs you in for the most part.

 

[VacationForever]

Best place to look for info is here: https://amex.boingo.com

I ran across it in the Amex IOS app on one of their member benefit pages I happen to look through. The IOS app is nice as it basically auto logs you in for the most part.

Thank you.

 

[Dean]

Does anyone know if it is possible to open a second Chase Marriott Rewards VISA account and link it to the same Marriott Rewards number as an existing card?

Here's our issue:

My wife uses her personal Marriott VISA card for her frequent business travel and handles her expense reimbursements from her employer and her credit card bills using a dedicated checking account that is kept separate from our joint family checking account. This helps keep her business expenses and reimbursement cycles from complicating our personal cash flow.

But we also like to charge our Marriott maintenance fees and personal Marriott stays on that card to get the 5X MR points. That's where the problem comes in.

Whenever we put personal expenses on that card, I have to write her a check or otherwise transfer funds from our personal checking account into her business expense checking account to cover the personal card use. Invariably, we'll lose track of what personal charges I've reimbursed her for, and it just creates a lot of confusion and issues trying to keep track of all that.

The perfect solution would be to get a second Marriott Rewards VISA card (in either my name or hers) that we could use for our personal Marriott expenses, allowing her current card to be 100% dedicated to business use. But since we only have one Marriott Rewards number - hers - and she has the Platinum status and larger point balance that we want to keep building, we would want both her current card account and any new card account to be linked to that same existing Marriott Rewards number. Can that be done?

I think you can do so as long as it's the same person who's name is listed as the owner. Being an authorized user isn't enough. We just went through this. I'm recently Lifetime Platinum with MR. I changed the MR # associated with our MVC account to my wife's and got a new card in her name. That way she gets upgraded to Platinum while she's building toward lifetime status. We did have to get a new Marriott Visa with her as primary, the number on the account with me as primary could not be changed just because she was an authorized user.

 

[dioxide45]

No 50K limit if redeeming. "Members who are transferring points in order to satisfy a specific award may exceed the 50,000 limit up to the amount needed to satisfy the reservation."
Do it all the time for travel award.

I agree, I did point out "If you are transferring at the time of a redemption, there is no cap on the number you can transfer."

 

[JIMinNC]

Jim,
At one time I had both a Marriott personal visa card and a Marriott business card. They both had my MR# on them. They still offer this card.

I did this as well, it worked fine.

I was a bit late in putting forth this idea, but I agree that she could get a Marriott Business Visa for her work expenses and use the personal card for her non-work expenses. They could both be linked to her MR number.

I was under the impression that the Marriott business card is designed for small business owners, not employees of large corporations like my wife. The online application asks for information on the business - tax ID, revenue, address, number of employees, etc.

 

[davidvel]

I was under the impression that the Marriott business card is designed for small business owners, not employees of large corporations like my wife. The online application asks for information on the business - tax ID, revenue, address, number of employees, etc.

I thought it was her business, I misread. Not sure if you can use SSN as sole proprietor would, and estimate the revenue... I did use an EIN when I had it. I presume their primary concern is your credit, but not sure.

 

[Steve Fatula]

I was under the impression that the Marriott business card is designed for small business owners, not employees of large corporations like my wife. The online application asks for information on the business - tax ID, revenue, address, number of employees, etc.

Probably is as you say, but I was a sole prop.

 

[JIMinNC]

This has been a very helpful discussion. Based on what everyone has said, I think what makes the most sense for us is for me to get my own Marriott Rewards Visa, which will then become the card that we use for our personal Marriott travel, but we would still book the stay under her MR number if we are traveling together so we can get Platinum benefits for the stay and she gets the nights credit/base points, etc. But using my card will keep our personal expenses separate from her numerous reimbursable business expenses and simplify things a bit.

Since the points I would transfer from my MR account to her MR account count toward her Lifetime Elite status, that is the tie-breaker for us between the SPG and Marriott cards. While the SPG card would effectively net us one more point per dollar of spend when transferred to Marriott Rewards, those points would not count toward her MR Lifetime Elite status. While my wife is currently Platinum, she is only Lifetime Silver, so we want to try to get her to at least Lifetime Gold before she retires and the business travel ends (she already has more than enough lifetime nights for Lifetime Gold, just not enough points yet).

 

[BocaBoy]

This has been a very helpful discussion. Based on what everyone has said, I think what makes the most sense for us is for me to get my own Marriott Rewards Visa, which will then become the card that we use for our personal Marriott travel, but we would still book the stay under her MR number if we are traveling together so we can get Platinum benefits for the stay and she gets the nights credit/base points, etc. But using my card will keep our personal expenses separate from her numerous reimbursable business expenses and simplify things a bit.

Since the points I would transfer from my MR account to her MR account count toward her Lifetime Elite status, that is the tie-breaker for us between the SPG and Marriott cards. While the SPG card would effectively net us one more point per dollar of spend when transferred to Marriott Rewards, those points would not count toward her MR Lifetime Elite status. While my wife is currently Platinum, she is only Lifetime Silver, so we want to try to get her to at least Lifetime Gold before she retires and the business travel ends (she already has more than enough lifetime nights for Lifetime Gold, just not enough points yet).

I think this is a good decision.

 

[dioxide45]

Since the points I would transfer from my MR account to her MR account count toward her Lifetime Elite status, that is the tie-breaker for us between the SPG and Marriott cards. While the SPG card would effectively net us one more point per dollar of spend when transferred to Marriott Rewards, those points would not count toward her MR Lifetime Elite status. While my wife is currently Platinum, she is only Lifetime Silver, so we want to try to get her to at least Lifetime Gold before she retires and the business travel ends (she already has more than enough lifetime nights for Lifetime Gold, just not enough points yet).

Do we know for sure that those points from SPG won't count toward her lifetime status? We do know that when someone transfers SPG points from SPG to their own MR account, they don't count toward MR lifetime status, but has anyone tested then transferring them to another persons account? Is the system smart enough to know that those points don't count toward lifetime? I don't know if it is something you would want to test out in this situation, but would be very interesting to know if this is a way around the no lifetime points for points transferred from SPG.

 

[VacationForever]

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