75k Bonuses Available With Marriott Bonvoy Amex Cards

One of the after effects of the Marriott/Starwood merger was changes in its American Express and Chase-branded credit cards, bringing them all under the Marriott Bonvoy brand. Here are the current bonus offers for the Marriot Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express® Card

The Bonvoy Brilliant and the Business cards have identical welcome offers: Spend $3,000 in the first three months to earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. Based on TPG’s valuations, 75,000 Marriott points are worth $600.

The Bonvoy Brilliant was previously known as the SPG Luxury Amex, while the Bonvoy Business was formerly the SPG Business Amex. The Bonvoy branding just went live online and in marketing, but until all credit cards have been updated to Bonvoy names and designs over the next few months, we’ll still be in a bit of an awkward in-between period.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

Benefits

As the premium consumer card in the Marriott Bonvoy credit card lineup, the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex has a $450 annual fee (see rates and fees). It also has plenty of perks, including:

• 6x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy Hotels, 3x points at US restaurants and flights booked directly with airlines, and 2x points on everything else
• Up to $300 statement credit for Marriott purchases — Each card member year, you and your authorized users will receive up to a total of $300 in statement credits for Marriott and SPG purchases charged to your card. This applies to room rates as well as incidentals charged to your room. So even if you just have a few Marriott stays in a year, it’s easy to take advantage of this benefit and effectively cut your fee to $150.
• Annual free night award — Each year on your card anniversary, you’ll receive a free night award worth up to 50,000 points. This gets you more value than the free night certificates that come with other cards such as the Marriott Bonvoy Business, since those are capped at 35,000 points.
• Automatic Gold elite status — Just for being a card holder. This gets you a 25% points bonus and space-available upgrades to enhanced rooms, among other perks. You can earn Platinum elite status when you spend $75,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• Application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
• Priority Pass lounge access
• Elite Night Credits — Receive 15 elite-qualifying night credits per year. This benefit is identical to that of the regular Marriott Bonvoy Amex and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card from Chase and is limited to one per member, not one per card.
• $100 luxury credit — Use this credit for stays of two nights or longer at St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton properties.

The Bonvoy Brilliant also joins the ranks of metal cards, with a more minimal texturized black look.

Eligibility

Amex now has a welcome bonus eligibility tool that lets you know if you’re able to earn a given offer before you hit “apply,” but each Amex and Chase card in the Marriott portfolio also has extensive eligibility requirements listed in its terms and conditions.

If any of the following are true, you won’t be able to earn the bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex:

Currently have or have had any of the following Cards in the last 30 days

• The Ritz-Carlton Credit Card from JP Morgan

OR have acquired any of the following Cards from Chase in the last 90 days

• The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card)
• The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card)
• The Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card)

OR have received a welcome or upgrade offer for any of the following Cards from Chase in the last 24 months

• The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card)
• The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card)
• The Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card)

So in short, you can’t have the Ritz-Carlton card, which is no longer open for new applicants, and you can’t have earned a welcome bonus/upgrade bonus on three of the Chase-issued Marriott cards in the last 24 months (or opened any of those three in the last 90 days). This means you can have both the Marriott Bonvoy Amex that recently closed to new applicants and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.

Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex

The Marriott Bonvoy Business has a $125 annual fee (see rates and fees), and no foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees). Perks include:

• 6x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels; 4x points at US restaurants, at US gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from US service providers and on US purchases for shipping; 2x points on everything else
• Free award night — Each year after your account anniversary, get a free award night that can be used at properties that cost up to 35,000 points.
• Complimentary Silver elite status — And you can upgrade to Gold status after spending $35,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• Premium on-property internet access
• Boingo Wi-Fi — Free, unlimited access at hot spots worldwide on up to four devices with the Boingo American Express Preferred Plan. Note that this benefit will end in July 2020.
• A second free award night — Earn a second award night for properties that cost up to 35,000 points, after you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year.

Eligibility

If any of the following are true, you won’t be able to earn the bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex:

Currently have or have had any of the following Cards in the last 30 days

• The Marriott Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card)
• The Marriott Rewards Business Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card)

OR have acquired any of the following Cards from Chase in the last 90 days

• The Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card)
• The Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card)

OR have received a welcome offer for any of the following Cards from Chase in the last 24 months

• The Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card)
• The Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card)

So in short, you can’t earn the welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex if you currently hold either of the Marriott business credit cards issued by Chase (neither of which are currently open to new applicants) or if you’ve opened the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless or the Marriott Bonvoy Premier in the last 90 days, or earned the welcome bonuses on those two cards in the last 24 months.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking to boost your Marriott points balance, these 75,000-point offers can come in handy. Both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex and Bonvoy Business Amex also offer some valuable perks for Marriott guests, including 6x points earning on Marriott purchases and automatic elite status.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, please click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex, please click here.

Sponsored by American Express.