September 23, 2021
The Marriott Bonvoy® Credit Cards Explained
Alex
There are six Marriott Bonvoy® credit cards that allow you to earn points towards stays within the Marriott Bonvoy® program. Three of these cards are issued by Chase Bank and three are issued by American Express. These cards usually have high offers 2 to 3 times a year so make sure you sign up when the bonus is high! This article talks about the standard offers on these cards.
The Six Marriott Bonvoy® Credit Cards
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless®
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® (this is a non-affiliate link) is offered by Chase. This card will earn 17x points on Marriott purchases and 2x points on everything else. The annual fee of $95 is not waived in the first year.
This card does fall under the Chase 5/24 rule. This means that if you have opened more than five cards across any bank in the last 24 months, you will not be approved for the card.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Card
The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Card (this is a non-affiliate link)is also issued by Chase and as such falls under the Chase 5/24 rule. This card has no annual fee but also doesn’t come with the anniversary-free night that all the other Marriott cards come with. It earns 3 points at Mariott hotels, 2 points on travel, and 1 point on everything else.
Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card
The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card (this is a non-affiliate link) is also issued by Chase. It has an annual fee of $250. This card does not include a free night unless you spend $15K on the card. It does have the following benefits: Gold Elite Status, free night award (up to 50K points) after spending $15K on the card in one calendar year, 15 elite night credits, a statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®, and 1,000 bonus points per stay.
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Bevy
The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Bevy has an offer of 85,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months. It comes with a $250 annual fee. The benefits of this card include:
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- Gold Elite Status
- Free night award (up to 50K points) after spending $15K on the card
- 15 Elite Night Credits
- Global Entry or TSA Precheck Benefit
- 1,000 bonus points per stay
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Marriott Bonvoy Business
The Marriott Bonvoy Business card is issued by American Express. The $125 annual fee is not waived. This card also includes a free night (valued at up to 35,000 points) each year on your account anniversary. The card earns 6 points at Marriott hotels, 4 points at gas stations, U.S. and worldwide restaurants and wireless telephone service, and 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
If you are worried about Chase 5/24 then this is a great card to get as it won’t go towards your count! Remember, most business cards (including Amex and Chase business cards) don’t count toward your 5/24. To learn more about the business card and to see how you may actually have something that counts as a business, check out this post.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant
Marriott’s luxury card is the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. It is issued by American Express.
There is a big annual fee on this card of $650. The fee includes a $300 annual credit every calendar year toward restaurant dining ($25/mo), a free night award on your cardmember anniversary (valued up to 85,000 points), Priority Pass (lounge access at airports), a statement credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck, Platinum Elite status at Marriott hotels (free breakfast, room upgrades, etc.), and more.
The card earns 6 points at Mariott hotels, 3 points at restaurants and airfare booked directly through airlines, and 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
Rules of the Marriott Bonvoy Cards
There are various rules associated with Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards. For example, if you have one of the Chase Marriott cards, you can’t open the other Chase Marriott card. If you have an Amex Marriott card you can open the other Amex Marriott card. If you have an Amex Marriott card and want to open a Chase Marriott card, then you will need to wait till it has been 24 months since you received your bonus on the Amex card.
It can be a little confusing. Get our free Marriott Eligibility Chart.
Why I Like These Points:
1. Book 4 Nights and Get the 5th Night Free on Award Stays
I love this perk! Your points go much further when you get an extra night! I like to always book my award stays for five nights so I can take full advantage of that 5th free night.
2. Free Cardmember Anniversary Night
Most of the Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards come with a free night on your cardmember anniversary. Usually, you can get a hotel that costs much more than your annual fee! Even the Bonvoy Brilliant with its annual fee of $650 can be justified when you are able to use the free night (up to 85,000 points) at a luxury property where nights can go well over $1,000 a night!
3. Lots of Hotel Options
There are 6,700 Marriott hotels across 130 countries. Their global footprint is huge!! Because of this, you should have no problem finding a way to use your points.
4. Chase and Amex Transfer Partner
You can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards® and your Amex Membership Rewards® into your Marriott account at a ratio of 1:1. I have to mention that you get much more value by transferring your Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt vs. Marriott. I wouldn’t transfer my Chase points into my Marriott account to pay for a whole vacation, but if you are short on points then it might be worth it, especially if a transfer to top off your Marriott account will get you the necessary points to get a 5th night free! The same goes for Amex, your points will usually be more valuable when transferring to airlines.
How To Use Your Marriott Points
You can find a Marriott pretty much anywhere you want to go but here are a few examples of some great ways to use your Marriott points. Here’s some info on getting Marriott Hotels on the cheap! We’ve listed some of our favorite redemption stays below.
JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay
Marriott Wailea Beach Resort
St. Regis Bangkok
Springhill Suites at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa
There are thousands of options when it comes to where to use your Marriott points; good luck narrowing it down. But that’s a great problem to have, right?!
Bottom Line
We love Marriott Hotels and have stayed in them so many times. Adding a Marriott credit card to your wallet is a great idea for hotel stays. Do you have a Marriott card, and if so, which one?
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I am super struggling w the fact that I have had this card since 2000 and am a very loyal AMEX cardholder. We had a huge stay in Feb of 2022 but my new card year begins in May. They sent out the notice of chages in August of this summer. So between May and Sept we had not Marriot stays therefore did not get our $300 resort credit! This just infuriates me! I expect to get a cc reimbursement for the $300 of which is a main reason that I justify the cc. I have called in and spent hours on hold. I do not plan to renew the new card for $650 IF I do not get my expected benefits. Any advise? It is the principle in my opinion, surely there are others that were robbed of this stay credit. Thank you.
I totally get it. I liked the resort credit much more too. The only thing that is keeping me with the card is the 85K annual certificate value now. And I can use the dining out credit – I just preferred the resort credits. Let me know if they end up honoring your resort credit for this year!