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[DISCONTINUED] Grandfathered Chase Canada Credit Cards Being Shut Down

The news that the discontinued, but grandfathered, Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa and Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa cards will be terminated has been circulating for a few days now. I have been waiting for my letter in the mail for confirmation, but still have yet to receive it. But some of my family members already received it, so I thought I’d share what the letter looks like sooner rather than later.

Chase Amazon.ca Rewards Visa

Avery, from DCTA, already reported about the closure of the Amazon.ca Rewards card. He mentioned that it may make more sense to close the credit card prior to them cancelling it for credit reporting purposes. This makes perfect sense, the only catch is to ensure that you receive the remaining balance of your cash back, if you did not reach the $20 milestone yet. However, you may not want to apply this approach with the Chase Marriott card, which I will explain below. For now, below are the highlights of the Amazon.ca closure:

  • Important change to the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card program
    • As of March 15, 2018, Chase will be closing all Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card accounts. Please update your credit card information for your Amazon.ca account and for any pre-authorized payments before this date.
      You will continue to receive your monthly statements until any outstanding balance is paid.
      The terms and conditions set out in the Cardmember Agreement for your account will still apply, and the annual interest rate on unpaid balances will not change once the account is closed.
      These changes will not impact accounts that have already been closed.
      You may have received a letter to notify you of this change.
  • What will happen to my Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card cash back?
    • As your account will be closed as of March 15, 2018, you will no longer earn cash back on your Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card account after March 14, 2018. If you had unredeemed cash back points on your account prior to closure, we will apply a statement credit to your account for the cash back amount.

Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa

Below is the letter for the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card:

a close up of a letter

a white letter with black text

They key points in the letter are:

  • As of January 1, 2018, no annual fees will be charged to your account, regardless of when you signed up for it
  • All cards will be closed on March 15, 2018
  • A free night will be awarded to your Marriott Rewards account after March 15, 2018 (which is why we may not want to cancel our cards ahead of time, to ensure that we receive the free night)

Conclusion

One of the popular features of both cards is that they waived foreign transaction fees. I recently wrote a post (Best Credit Cards for Foreign Purchases) about other options instead.

I am extremely sad to see both cards being terminated completed, not even grandfathered. But even worse, this marks the end of Chase in Canada. They tried, but did not survive, which means one less competitor in the industry, which is rarely good for consumers.

Moreover, I do hope that another credit card company picks up Marriott Rewards as a partner, as the full integration of SPG continues. As for the Amazon partnership, I doubt we will see another co-branded partnership. But maybe someone can offer a multiplier bonus for making purchases on Amazon?

36 Comments

  1. SAD…
    At least they are giving a free night as parting gift. DCTA recommended cancelling the card before the deadline for avoiding possible comment ‘Account closed by card issuer’ in the credit report. But it seems closing early will jeopardize chances of getting that free night …any thoughts?

  2. My card renews next month so do I get my anniversary night credit and then another AFTER March 15?

    I better get my 15 nights credit too I need them for LTP!

    1. Good question. Check your account when the fee would have been due and let us know! Either way the fee will not be charged, so if I had to guess, I suspect it will be after March 15 so that they inform Marriott all in one batch.

      1. Chase will credit my account a prorated amount for the annual fee. If the acct has a zero balance they will allegedly send me a cheque.

  3. Sad the Chase Marriott card is ending, I frequent a lot of Marriott hotels for work. Hopefully somebody picks up Marriott again (Amex, I’m looking at you!). Guess I’ll use my Amex for the time being…

  4. Sad! The only card I keep past charged renewal since they give something back. Clearly from the number of responses here, it shows that there is the potential for a similar card/hotel partnership.

    1. Yes, I really liked the fact that they gave an incentive when paying the annual fee each year. Would definitely like to see more credit cards have this offer.

  5. sad indeed, I use this card mainly for cash advance, and rogers card for foreign purchase. Now that it’s gone, any tips on withdrawing cash abroad with minimum fee?

  6. Very sad, though not surprised. First IHG, now Marriott… what is a Canadian traveller to do?
    I was looking at the SPG Amex but it seems like a lot in annual fees plus not many places accept Amex.
    Like a tweet that I saw earlier, I was thinking of getting my BMO AM World Elite MC but will hang on to it for now until I decide what to do next… maybe cash back?

    .

  7. I received my letter last night. More importantly I received an email this morning from Marriott. At the end it reads,
    “With change comes new adventures, and we’re here to reassure you that exciting news is on the horizon! We will be reaching out in the coming weeks with more information.”

    So maybe another CC partnership???
    Stay tuned!

      1. I overpaid on my Marriott Visa card last month by mistake so now it has $1100 credit. Should I call them to get a credit cheque sent out to me or not panic?

  8. Hoping we’ll see another card. The bonus nights were particularly valuable to me. Maybe with merger they don’t want to offer something similar to Canadian customers?

  9. Hi Matthew.
    Im very disappointed by this, and was literally in the airport headed to a hotel when I got my email from Marriott.
    This is the only CC I have, and i run a lot through it each month, so this has left me in a real jam.

    I was on the phone with Marriott the other day and the agent I spoke with told me they are still hopeful someone will buy all the profiles before March 15th….and roll the customers over into some new product. I’m hopeful of this too, but as each day passes it seems less and less likely.

    I’m thinking of getting the Rogers card and the Amex.

  10. Has anybody received their anniversary night, since the card closed? Just checked my account and I have not.

      1. Hi,wondering how this free night if honored will be implemented as the 2 rewards SPG/Marriott are being joined august 1st? Have not received anything official of a free night 1-5 Marriott stay yet…let’s see how this goes…As I see my account should be closed as of yesterday because I have 0 balance and billing cycle has ended?

        1. To be clear of my previous post what I mean is that if Marriott is taking over all SPG hotels and they both have a different evaluation,how will a cat.5 Marriott hotel when all these hotels are combined offer let’s say when both website are combined to 1 rewards # after the 1st of august? As I see it it will be 3marriott points equals 1 SPG,soooo will they put this certificate to a SPG property that is a cat3 at 7000points/21k Marriott or a cat4 at 10000 points/30000 Marriott points?
          This certificate if honored by Marriott visa will have to have a broader scope than just valid at Marriott rewards properties as this certificate will only expire if honored on or after march 15th 2019..way after the 2 rewards system and hotel chains have been implemented as 1??

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