Marriott credit card offers: Bonus points and free nights

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Whether it’s across the world or around the corner, you might be starting to think about your next vacation. And since the Marriott hotel chain has such a large presence both domestically and globally, it’s worth considering whether a Marriott credit card makes sense for you. Both American Express and Chase issue Marriott cards, and each card has its own features and welcome offer, so there are four options to consider.

Let’s look at the Chase offers first. Right now, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card is offering 100,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account, while the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is offering 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account. The Marriott Bold card is the only Marriott credit card with no annual fee.

Meanwhile, on the American Express side, right now new card members can earn 75,000 bonus points with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card after you make $3,000 in purchases within the first three months after opening the account. And for business owners, the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card is offering the same 75,000 bonus points after you make $3,000 in purchases within your first three months of card membership.

You’ll get excellent value with all four of these card offers, so deciding which offer to choose probably depends on which card is right for you. Let’s dive into the details of each card.

If you’re looking for a personal credit card with a relatively low annual fee, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card is a great choice, and the 100,000-point sign-up bonus opens up a ton of options. In fact, based on the point valuations of frequent flyer website The Points Guy, those 100,000 points are worth as much as $800 in travel.

But in addition to the sign-up bonus, there are many other benefits that get extended to Marriott Boundless card holders, making this a nice card to hold onto year after year if you plan to stay at Marriott hotels on a regular basis.

With the Marriott Boundless card, you’ll receive complimentary Marriott Silver elite status for as long as you’re a card holder. Silver status gets you late checkout and a 10% bonus on points earned during your Marriott stays. Although this is Marriott’s lowest elite status tier, having some sort of status is better than no status at all, and it could potentially even get you a better room during check-in (though improved rooms are not guaranteed).

Or, if you’re looking to earn a higher level of elite status, the Marriott Boundless card also comes with 15 annual elite night credits, which can stack with the 15 elite nights from the Marriott Business Amex for a total of 30 elite nights. Alternatively, you can also earn Marriott Gold elite status by spending $35,000 on the card each account year. And now, the card also earns 1 elite night credit for every $5,000 you spend, with no cap on the number of credits you can earn.

When you use the Marriott Boundless card to pay at Marriott hotels, you’ll earn 6 points for every dollar you spend, plus additional points for being a Marriott loyalty member and a Marriott elite member. You’ll now also earn 3 points per dollar on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining, and then 2 points per dollar after that, along with 2 points per dollar on all your other purchases.

The Marriott Boundless card also has its own annual complimentary award certificate. Starting at your first yearly account renewal — meaning one year after you opened the card — and every year thereafter, you’ll receive a certificate that can be used at any Marriott hotel for one night costing 35,000 points or less.

Other great perks include baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement and purchase protection. And with the Marriott Boundless card carrying only a $95 annual fee, you can easily come out well ahead with all these card holder perks. In fact, if you can use the card’s complimentary award night each year for a room that would otherwise cost $95 or more, you’ll easily make the card worth it.

Learn more and apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card.

If you’re looking to earn Marriott points but don’t want to pay an annual fee for a credit card, you might want to consider the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card. Although you’ll only earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases within your first three months, the card has no annual fee, and those 50,000 points are still worth $400 toward your next hotel stay based on The Points Guy’s valuations.

Even though you won’t pay anything to carry the Marriott Bold card, it only earns 3 points per dollar at participating Marriott hotels instead of the 6x points of the Marriott Boundless card, and the same 2x points on all other purchases.

You also still get some of the same card benefits, such as complimentary Silver elite status, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement and purchase protection. But with the Marriott Bold card, you won’t receive the highly valuable 35,000-point complimentary night certificate after your first year.

Ultimately, we prefer the Marriott Boundless card over the Marriott Bold card, as long as you’re able to use all the benefits, especially the annual complimentary night certificate. But, if a quick bump in Marriott points and automatic Silver elite status is all you’re looking for, the Marriott Bold card could check the box.

Learn more and apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card.

The Marriott Brilliant Amex is a card for people who frequently find themselves at Marriott hotels, as it comes with a slew of elite perks but also a high $450 annual fee (see rates and fees). However, one of the best features of the card is up to $300 in statement credits annually for Marriott purchases. If you can use those credits in full each year, you’re effectively only paying a net annual fee of $150.

The card earns 6 points for every dollar you spend on eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 3 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines, and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.

You also earn 15 elite night credits with the Marriott Brilliant Amex, which means you’ll receive automatic Silver elite status every year you have the card, and you can upgrade to Gold elite status by spending $35,000 on the card each year.

When it comes to the welcome bonus offer, you might be wondering how much 75,000 Marriott points are worth. Based on the point valuations of The Points Guy, which values Marriott points at 0.8 cents apiece, those 75,000 points are worth $600.

And at the start of your second year with the Marriott Brilliant Amex (and every year thereafter), you’ll receive another Free Night Award that can be used at any Marriott hotel for one night costing 50,000 points or less. This means you can use it at any category 1 through 5 property on the Marriott award chart, plus off-peak and standard redemptions at category 6 hotels, and off-peak redemptions for category 7 properties.

Just keep in mind that Marriott is switching to a dynamic pricing system starting in March 2022, so the redemption cost for a room at any Marriott hotel can vary from day to day after that point.

Learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.

If you’re a small-business traveler who expects to be on the road in 2022, the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express card could be a great fit. Like the Marriott Brilliant card, the 75,000 bonus points on the Marriott Business Amex are worth $600 based on The Points Guy’s valuations, but the card comes with a much lower $125 annual fee (see rates and fees).

The Marriott Business Amex also has the same 15 annual elite credits as the Marriott Brilliant, which you can “stack” together for a total of 30 elite nights if you also hold one of the other personal Marriott cards that offer elite credits. And similarly, you can earn Gold elite status after making $35,000 in eligible purchases on the card in a calendar year.

With the Marriott Business Amex, you’ll earn 6 points for every dollar spent on eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 4 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping, and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.

Just like with the Marriott Brilliant card, you’ll receive a complimentary award night each year with the Marriott Business Amex starting with your second card member year, but with the business card, the free nights can be used at Marriott properties with a redemption level up to 35,000 points.

That means you can currently use it at any category 1 through 5 property on the Marriott award chart except for category 5 hotels during peak periods. But again, keep in mind that Marriott is changing its redemption system in March 2022. You can also earn a second award night after you spend $60,000 in purchases on the card in a calendar year.

Learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.

Marriott has about 30 different brands under its umbrella, which means there are plenty of opportunities across the globe to redeem your Marriott points or use free nights. Whether you want to stay at an ultra-luxury beach destination in the Caribbean or a few miles down from your favorite amusement park, there’s generally a Marriott property for everyone.

Obviously, if you don’t stay at Marriott hotels very often, then a Marriott credit card probably isn’t a good fit. But if you do expect to be at a Marriott even a few times in 2022, then any of these four Marriott credit cards are worth considering for their welcome offers alone, and then to keep on an ongoing basis, especially for the annual complimentary award certificates.

So if you’re just a casual Marriott traveler, consider the Marriott Boundless credit card from Chase, while small businesses with an owner or employees that make a lot of Marriott stays can choose the Marriott Business card from American Express.

Or, Marriott fanatics who can use all the perks — and the up to $300 in annual statement credits — should grab the Marriott Brilliant card from American Express and get the best that Marriott offers, while those who don’t like paying an annual fee can pick the Marriott Bold card from Chase and get bonus points without having to pay for the card each year.

Find out which credit cards CNN Underscored chose as the best credit cards to use at Marriott hotels.

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