Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
9 Things I Like and Dislike About Marriott Bonvoy
Share this Article
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card
- Earn 65,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months
- Earn an additional 30,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $20,000 in the first 12 months
- Plus, earn 15,000 Bonvoy points when you make a purchase between 15 and 17 months of Cardmembership.
- Also, receive an annual Free Night Award worth 35,000 Bonvoy points starting in your second year with the card
- Also, receive 15 elite-qualifying nights every year and automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
- Bonus Bonvoy points for referring family and friends
- Annual fee: $120
17 Comments
Prince of Travel is the leading resource for using frequent flyer miles, credit card points, and loyalty programs to travel the world at a fraction of the price.
Join our Sunday newsletter below to get weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
Have a question? Just ask.
Platinum Membership
Our Platinum members get access to a Circle community, exclusive live learning sessions, and in-person gatherings with like-minded travellers.
Top Offers
Latest News
Prince of Travel Elites
Great analysis as always Ricky. In the US it seems Marriott constantly gets a bad rap by bloggers and points and miles gurus, as Hyatt reigns supreme here with their strong partnership with Chase and reasonable redemption rates. I would argue that Marriott’s strength is in their cheap cash rates along with their treatment of mid-tier elites. I will take having a choice of many different Marriotts over 1 or 2 Hyatt’s any day.
Hyatt also has been known to play games with award availability, effectively blocking out dates. (although the terms say no blackout dates) I have consistently seen no award rooms available during a busy convention or holiday week, whereas Marriott always tended to have rooms available. (albeit more points required)
Ricky, I am wondering do you redeem pts for airline miles? and how does Marriott compare to Hilton’s ecosystem in Canada? The common sentiment seems to be status at Hilton is neer meaningless since so many people have the aspire card here in the states.
Appreciate the Marriott love as always
You mentioned the US-based Amex offerings, but not the Chase ones? The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless has enjoyed a 100,000 point sign-up bonus since near the end of July. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-marriott-bonvoy-boundless-100000-point-offer-returns/
The lack of differentiation between Titanium and Ambassador is foolish on Marriott’s part in my opinion. This is because I have absolutely no incentive to meet the $20k/yr spend threshold and as a result, many of my Marriott stays are points and certificate redemptions. After hitting 75 nights, I prefer to spend my cash at non-Marriott affiliated Design Hotels and more recently, SLH hotels. There are some really unique properties between the two brands and they tend to offer a more memorable experience. Most of these stays include breakfast and also I’ve been fortunate enough to get upgraded quite often. By not offering meaningful benefits above Titanium, Marriott is effectively driving me to spend my cash at boutique brands.
When you talk about suite upgrades, are you expecting them to be completely complimentary (I.e., free)?
Absolutely. Free on the basis of elite status. It’s not something I’d usually pay for, since no one really *needs* a suite when they’re travelling after all.
Thanks for the reply!
As yourself, I have been very fortunate to have all my SNAs clear, except in one incidence (Str. Florence on a Sunday in summer). Fortunately upon check-in discovered I was upgraded to that particular suite, so I avoided that experience of feeling unvalued. But I dread the day of denial.
Lucky you. In my case I was certainly not about to treat my parents to the W if they were only going to get the Cool Corner Room! Thankfully they really enjoyed the Waldorf on the Bund instead.
Wonderful! Glad to hear they enjoyed it, looks like an impressive property.
It’ll be interesting to see the landscape when the rumoured merger of Accor and IHG were to happen, creating world’s largest hotel group.
If that happens, they’d really need to ramp up their loyalty offering, as the way things stand we’d end up with the world’s largest and most uninspiring hotel loyalty program at the same time.
Some great info for evaluating the realities of the Bonvoy program. One other benefit I didn’t see was the 5th night free on points redemptions. I always try to maximize with 5 day redemptions when I can.
Very true Scott, I always aim for the same thing. I’ve added a mention of that to the section on redemptions, cheers.
Feel the exact same way, only wish we had a Hyatt credit card in Canada to make being less loyal to Marriott a little easier ;P
Currently forcing myself to aim for Titanium this year just to get out of the increasingly easy to reach Platinum pool,and it’s not a good feeling :(. Really hoping for strong action from Bonvoy post-Covid!
Personally I don’t see the Hyatt card coming into Canada because there are only like 12(?) Hyatt properties in Canada. I just wish AMEX offers a premium Marriott card because Cat 5 anniversary night are getting harder and harder to use. (Less properties to use in general and even harder to use to get an outsized value) Also would welcome the ability for Canadian business credit cards to get 15 elite credits like our brothers do south of the border.
But I think in order for these changes to happen we need more competition in hotel credit cards offered in Canada. Marriott is pretty much the only hotel CC provided in Canada (excluding Best Western because doesn’t offer FNA certs) so they have no reason to one up another program. With travel industry heavily being impacted by COVID-19, hopefully hotels look at generating other sources of revenue (from credit cards) and improving the meta of the game we play here.
Even one of the Amex Hilton cards from the US coming up north would change things up significantly. Hell, I’d welcome Capital One and their IHG card back in a heartbeat.
Good news is that I imagine it isn’t too hard to get to Titanium these days, with the 30 credit card nights + the big bonus we all got a few months back.
Free breakfast is the most important perk for me. For that reason, Hilton Gold through Amex Canada’s Platinum Card is enough for me to wish Marriott “Bonvoy” and enjoy status with Hilton