Second, Marriott determines award cost based on demand: the more people redeem at a certain hotel, the more it will cost to stay there. That's how you end up with the Anaheim Residence Inn by Disneyland being a Cat 6 (50k points/night) and the JW Mexico City Santa Fe being a Cat 4 (25k points/night).

That's why my post said that he'll be lucky to get about two nights at a popular travel destination in the US.

The reason to keep the card is you get an annual free night that pays for the annual fee.

Correct, and I have the Marriott card (both, actually, the Chase legacy one and the old Amex SPG that has a weird new name). But that's an argument for getting (and keeping) the card, not for which card has good rewards and a good sign-up bonus.