not a bad deal, the 30,000 points are good for 2 nights at one of their hotels. green for you.

The points are a good deal. Is the Gold Elite status all that valuable? You get:
GOLD ELITE (stay 15-49 nights or earn 20,000 points in a calendar year)
Receive all Club benefits, plus:
• Priority Check-in™ on guaranteed reservations
• 10% bonus on base points
• Exclusive Gold Customer Service Phone Number
No free upgrades at that level. The 10% bonus is good, but is Priority Check-in a big deal? Does that just mean you get to use the carpeted line when it's busy?

The Gold status really is bunk. I am a platinum member and almost never get upgrades at Holiday Inn's or any real benefits except earning extra points as free newspapers don't do much for me. However status does help if you stay at Intercontinental properties and you sometimes get nice upgrades there like I did in NYC. However IC hotels are usually pretty overpriced when you compare them to Hilton, Westin etc.. The only real way to get good upgrades is if you spend 20,000 points or $150 on becoming an "ambassador"

approved!

thx op.

Thanks for posting, OP. Took a look at what you can get with the points and it looks like it takes a ton of points to get retail/dining GC's - 20k for a $50 GC and 38k for a $100 GC. So the points are basically good for free nights at IC hotels and not much else. Still a great bonus if you need that.

Retail GC rewards

dhobi said:Not a bad deal, however IMHO the Marriott Visa card is a better deal which gets you 2 free nights or more at category 1-4 hotels.

Apply Link

Redeem Points

Also appears to be fee-free for first year.

Donedealzz said:dhobi said:Not a bad deal, however IMHO the Marriott Visa card is a better deal which gets you 2 free nights or more at category 1-4 hotels.

Apply Link

Redeem Points

Not really the Marriott card has higher BT fees, and a higher interst rate. No 0% for purchases or BT, no statement credit etc. read the terms of the two to compare
3.90% fixed APR for the first 6 billing cycles following the opening of your account. After that, 18.24% variable.
May not be best for AOR, but gives one free night at a category 1-4 hotel + 20000 points that can be redeemed for 1 to 3 nights. First year no annual fee, $30 after that. I think you can combine the free certificate and points with your spouse.

ive churned this deal 2 times now and got 60,000 priority points. Im thinking of doing it again.

Can anyone share the experience of redeeming the points? Are there many restrictions when/where you can use the points?