300,000 Points with the Marriott Credit Cards

UPDATE: This offer has expired.

Over the past few weeks, Marriott announced increased credit card offers for all three of their co-branded credit cards—100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per card. For those who are still thinking in Starwood terms, this is equivalent to about 33,333 SPG points. This is a strong offer and probably the highest you’ll see publicly available for all the cards, although I do know many members are saying Bonvoyage to Marriott after a pretty horrible merger.

With the three cards, you’ll receive the same number of points after meeting the respective spend requirement, but the benefits and annual fee differ greatly between them.

3 Different Marriott Credit Card Options

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express

This offer has expired. Formerly known as the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury card, this is the higher end card out of the group and offers many benefits that you will not receive with the other cards.

• Key Link: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card — Earn 100,000 points after you spend $5,000 on the card within three months. $450 annual fee.

Although this card comes with a high annual fee, it offers an incredible number of benefits which can ultimately pay for the annual fee, plus more. These benefits include:

$300 statement credit: You can receive up to $300 in statement credits per year for purchases made directly at participating SPG or Marriott hotels. You can use this credit towards the cost of the hotel room or any incidentals put on your hotel bill. All you have to do is put the charge on your credit card and you’ll automatically receive the credit. And even if you use points to pay for your room, this can still cover incidental charges. With this statement credit, this theoretically brings the annual fee down to just $150.

Free night award: While all Marriott and SPG cards will come with a free night award, the one coming with this card can be used at more properties due to the higher cap. After every anniversary with the card, you’ll receive a free night that can be used at a hotel up to 50,000 points. For a standard room, this means you can stay up to a category 6 which is most likely over $250 a night (and in many cases even more).

Elite status: This card comes with automatic Gold Elite status and if you spend $75,000 on the card within a calendar year you’ll be bumped up to Platinum Elite status.

Lounge access: This card comes with Priority Pass Select Airport lounge access which is a very popular benefit with credit card these days. This will allow you and 2 guests free access to participating lounges. A great benefit if you do not already have a card that comes with this benefit, but theres a good chances you already have this access.

Complimentary global entry: You will receive a statement credit for the $100 Global Entry fee. You can receive this statement credit once every four years. All you have to do is put the application fee on your credit card and you’ll see the statement credit. If you already have Global Entry you can use it for someone else.

Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

This offer has expired. Formerly known as the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express.

• Key Link: Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card — Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. $125 annual fee. Offer ends 04/24/2019. *Terms Apply; 

The benefits you receive with this card include:

Free night award: This particular card will give you a free night to use annually, but capped at a hotel costing up to 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. For me personally, I have always been able to get a decent value for my free night certificates making the annual fee well worth it.

Silver status: Just having this card will give you complimentary Bonvoy Silver Elite status. Plus, you can earn Gold Elite status after making $35,000 in eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year. I personally do not put much value on Silver status (although something is better than nothing), and I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to spend that much on the card simply for Gold status.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card

This is Marriott’s brand new card and is not a converted card post the merger. Unlike the two cards above, this is a Chase credit card, which means you’ll need to pay attention to Chase’s “5/24” rule.

• Key Link: Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card — Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. $95 annual fee.

The card benefits are very similar to the business American Express credit card from above. Again, I personally think the annual fee is worth it as the free night you receive on an annual basis covers the cost, plus more. The benefits you receive with this card include:

Free night award: This particular card will give you a free night to use annually, but capped at a hotel costing up to 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. As I mentioned above, I’ve always been able to come out ahead with this.

Silver status: Just having this card will give you complimentary Bonvoy Silver Elite status. Plus, you can earn Gold Elite status after making $35,000 in eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year. Again, Silver status doesn’t do much, but it is better than nothing. I also wouldn’t put that much money on my card purely for Gold status.

My Recommendation

If you are solely looking for a card that will provide you with the welcome offer to increase your account balance, then the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is the way to go. It offers the lowest annual fee, but also comes with the free night certificate. I also value the free night certificate at a minimum of $150, so that covers the annual fee, plus many times much more.

Now, if you want a card for both the offer and the benefits, then the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card is the card for you. Yes, it does come with a pretty hefty annual fee, but after you take into consideration the $300 annual credit, you are looking at a net total of just $150, which is not bad at all. The free night certificate you receive on an annual basis is significantly better and will allow you to stay at a property that could have otherwise cost $300+ a night. On top of this, you’ll receive global entry which is worth a $100 savings.

And lastly, I’d go for the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card solely if you already have or not eligible for the other two. Or, if you want a third Marriott card in your wallet for another free night certificate on an annual basis.

Overall…

With three 100,000 point offers it is nice to be able to pick the card that works for you. Of course, Marriott did put some restrictions into place last year where you might not be eligible for a card, if you already have a Marriott card or receive a sign up bonus not too long ago. Also, the American Express cards are still a once in a lifetime offer and the Chase card is subject to Chase’s “5/24”. All in all, great offers if you have yet to say Bonvoyage to Marriott and are looking to stay at their properties.

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