Prior to the Marriott and Starwood merger they both had their own separate portfolio of credit cards. Post merger there were no changes and there are still many cards out there with the “Starwood” branded name. Come February, however, that is all about to change. Marriott is re-branding all of the Starwood credit cards to be aligned with the new Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty program that was just announced.
On February 13th, the following cards will have new names and card designs.
- The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card will now be called the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
- The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express will now be called the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card
- The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express will now be called the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
New Card Benefits
In addition to the name change and new card design, there are some additional benefits being added to the cards.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
You’ll receive a $100 property credit when use book a special rate code for a 2+ night stay at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis. While this might be a worthwhile benefit, you have to book a certain rate and my best guess tells me that this rate will actually be more expensive than the best available rate you can find online. It also means you will not be able to use any discount codes, such as AAA rate, corporate rate, senior discount, etc. This new benefit will start March 28, 2019 so we will have to wait until then to see if it is actually a real benefit that will save cardmembers money.
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
If you spend $60,000 or more on this card annually, you’ll receive an additional free night award. This award can be used the same as the regular free night award that comes with just having the card and is capped at a hotel that costs 35,000 points or less. While earning a free night award is great, it requires a ton of spend.
Because of the new benefit, they are increasing the annual fee from $95 to $125. In my opinion this is quite a hefty increase in the annual fee, especially since most cardmembers probably will not benefit. For me personally, this might be a reason for me to cancel the card once my annual fee hits.
New Point Offers
New Credit Card Welcome Offer
Both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant and Marriott Bonvoy Business Cards will be offering a new 100,000 point credit card offer starting February 13, 2019. It will be available for over two months and will require $5,000 spend within the first three months. This is actually a great offer for both cards! Once this offer is available, I’ll be sure to share it with you all!
Existing Card Member Point Offer
Starting February 24, 2019, if you are a Marriott Bonvoy American Express cardmember (currently known as the The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card), you’ll be able to earn up to 100,000 bonus points with regular spend. For every $25,000 you spend on the card, you’ll earn 25,000 bonus points, up to four times during the calendar year. This is actually a much better offer than the Marriott Bonvoy Business credit card offer which will require you to spend $60,000! Once this offer is available for registration, I’ll be sure to share it with you all.
Overall…
I like that a new increased offer will be coming out soon and that there will be a strong promotion for those with the regular Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card. I do not like that the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express credit card is increasing $30—I see no real benefit being added here so I do think it is quite a ridiculous increase. The new card design do look pretty sleek. Although I am still not a fan of the “Bonvoy” name, I do like that everything is being rebranded to be consistent within the Marriott name.
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Can you add a link or some basic data on the benefits for each of the cards as it exists now? I am considering applying for one of them and am not sure what they offer. Thank you!
@Lara – I am going to put a blog post together with all of that info for you!
Should I cancel my SPG amex prior to the change to avoid the Amex policy of only offering sign up bonuses on cards you have not held previously? Would that allow me to then apply for and get the sign up bonus for the Bonvoy card at some point down the road?
@Alex – I wish that was the case. Unfortunately I was told that this will not be considered a new product, so the once in a lifetime Amex rules still apply.
Do you think we can close the AMEX business card now and earn the 100k points on opening the Bonvoy Business card?
@David – Unfortunately I was told that they will not be considered new products. So if you’ve had the card in the past you will not qualify for the new card.
Will the card replacing the SPG business Amex , give Gold status thru spend?
Will this card be available to those who previously held the SPG cards? In other words, will it be considered a new product or is it just a name change?
@Rachel – Unfortunately they will not be considered new products, just a (lousy) name change.
“This new card art will arrive in May which will incorporate the new Marriott Bonvoy colors and modern shapes to bring to life the sunrise and sunset reflecting off of the buildings in an urban cityscape”
Is that what it’s supposed to represent? I think it is a good-looking card, but I would not have guessed that. It reminds me of the good-looking but now defunct Mitsuwa JCB card.
I wonder how many people know the VISA tricolor logo was designed to represent a California landscape?
If I apply for the old Marriott business card is it excluded from 5/24 since it’s a business card?
@Kathy – There are some reports saying it is excluded, but not enough reports juts yet.