AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card Review (2023.6 Update: 125k+50k Offer)

2023.6 Update: The new offer is 125k+50k: earn 125,000 Marriott points after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months; plus, earn 50,000 Marriott points after you stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy through 1/31/24. Offer ends 8/9/23.

2023.1 Update: The offer is now only 85k.

2022.9 Update: new card launched, 125k offer.

Application Link

Benefits

1. 125k+50k: earn 125,000 Marriott points after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months; plus, earn 50,000 Marriott points after you stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy through 1/31/24. This is the best offer on this card.
2. We estimate the value of a Marriott point at 0.7 cents/point, so the 125k sign-up bonus is worth about $875.
3. Earn 6x Marriott points at Marriott hotels (including Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and SPG brands). Earn 4x Marriott points on the first $15,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores and dining. Earn 2x Marriott points on everything else.
4. Earn 1,000 Bonus Points per each stay at a hotel participating in Marriott Bonvoy. Note that bookings from OTA (like priceline/expedia) don’t count.
5. Earn 15 elite nights each calendar year (elite nights are for status, not free nights). You will only receive Elite Night Credits from ONE Marriott co-branded personal credit card even if you have more than one Marriott/SPG/Ritz-Carlton credit card. You can get 15 more Elite Night Credits if you have a Marriott co-branded business credit card.
6. Complimentary Marriott Gold status.
7. For every calendar year, after spending $15,000, you will be credited a free night (FN) with a redemption level up to 50,000 points.
8. With this card, you can get access to Amex Offer, which usually offers very good discounts at some stores, such as: spend $15 or more and get $5 back at Walmart; spend $75 or more and get $25 back on Amazon.com.
9. No foreign transaction fee.

Disadvantages

1. Annual fee $250, NOT waived for the first year.

Introduction to Marriott Points

• Marriott points are the most flexible transferable points (After the merger with SPG, Marriott obtained all its airline partners).
• You can earn Marriott points with Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold, AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Business, and the following cards that do not accept new applications but accept product change: Chase Ritz-Carlton, and AmEx Marriott Bonvoy .
• Marriott points are stored in your Marriott account, not in your credit cards, so you won’t lose your points by canceling the credit cards.
• Your Marriott points will expire if you don’t earn or spend any Marriott points in 24 months. As long as you earn make a purchase with the corresponding credit cards or stay in a hotel, or you redeem some points during the time frame, the point expiration date will be postponed accordingly.
• Marriott points can be transferred to a lot of airlines miles (you don’t have to have a Marriott related credit card to make the transfer), and the ratio is 3:1.25 (ie 3:1 transfer rate, plus you get a 5k bonus miles for every 60k Marriott points you transfer at a time). The good options are: Alaska Airlines (AS) (Non-alliance), Japan Airlines (JL) (Oneworld), United Airlines (UA) (Star Alliance), American Airlines (AA) (Oneworld), All Nippon Airways (ANA, NH) (Star Alliance), Korean Air (KE) (SkyTeam), etc. If you use Marriott points in this way, the value is about 0.7 cents/point.
• Marriott points can also be redeemed for hotel stays obviously. Here’s the redemption chart: Marriott redemption chart. Generally speaking, you can get a better redemption value from the lowest categories. If you use Marriott points in this way, the value is about 0.7 cents/point.
• In summary, we estimate that Marriott points are worth about 0.7 cents/point.

Recommended Application Time

1. You can only get the welcome bonus once in a lifetime, so be sure to apply when the historically highest offer appears.
2. Welcome offer not available to applicants who
   1. have or have had Chase Ritz-Carlton, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold, Old Chase Marriott Premier, or Old Chase Marriott Business in the last 30 days,
   2. have acquired Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, or Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold in the last 90 days,
   3. or received a new Card Member bonus or upgrade offer for Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, or Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold in the last 24 months.
3. AmEx doesn’t typically care about the number of hard pulls.
4. You can try to apply for it when you have a credit history of 6 months.
5. Only 2 AmEx credit cards can be approved within 90 days, but this rule does not apply to charge cards. Multiple cards approved in the same day will only have one Hard Pull.
6. You can keep at most 5 AmEx credit cards, but this rule does not apply to charge cards.

Summary

With a $250 annual fee, this card is very weak. It doesn’t even come with a free night every year like other hotel co-branded cards. The only unique feature is 1,000 Marriott points per stay (worth about $7). This card is not worth holding. The only attractive thing will be the welcome offer. I suggest to wait for a better welcome offer.

Related Credit Cards

Recommended Downgrade Options

After Applying

• Click here to check AmEx application status.
• AmEx reconsideration backdoor number: 877-399-3083. The “real” backdoor number of Amex is well protected. Different from Chase, the representatives from this AmEx reconsideration backdoor number only have the right to help you submit requests.

Historical Offers Chart

Application Link

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