Marriott Bonvoy® Credit Card Guide

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase

Annual Fee: $95

Key Benefits:

• 1 Free Night Award annually after your card account anniversary (up to 35,000 points)
• Earn up to 17X total points per $1 spent at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®
• Automatic Marriott Bonvoy® Silver Elite Status
• After holding this card for 1 year, you can upgrade to the Ritz Carlton card, which is a good option for families to get airport lounge access.

If you like Marriott, this is a solid card to get and then hold on to — we find that the annual free night is easy to redeem at hotels that cost $250+ per night. That’s a half price hotel!

The welcome offer on this card fluctuates from 75,000 bonus points and up. Sometimes the offer is 3 or 5 free night awards for a room up to 50,000 points per night. Note that personal referral offers often don’t match the best available offer.

Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful^® Credit Card from Chase

The information related to the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® Credit Card was collected by Katie’s Travel Tricks and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see the issuer website for current information. Katie’s Travel Tricks does not receive commission for this product.

Annual Fee: $250

Key Benefits:

• Earn a free night award (up to 50,000 points) after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year
• Up to 18.5X total points per $1 spent at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy^®
• Automatic Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status

The annual fee on this card is high, especially compared with the benefits you get. For most people, the Boundless is going to be a better value. This card doesn’t come with a free night certificate automatically, but you can earn one after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year. Gold Elite status is a nice perk if you stay at Marriott regularly.

Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card

Key Benefits (Enrollment required for many benefits, terms apply):

• Earn a free night award (up to 50,000 points) after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year
• Earn up to 18.5X total points per $1 spent at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®
• Earn 4x points at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S. on up to $15,000 in combined
• Automatic Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite status

Like with the Bountiful card, you have to spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year to earn a free night certificate. 4x points on dining is a nice perk if you eat out a lot. Even still, the benefits on this card probably won’t justify the hefty annual fee for most people.

It’s important to note that if you have or have opened a Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, you wont’ be eligible for this welcome offer due to Amex “family” restrictions.

Rates and Fees

The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card

The information related to the Chase Ritz-Carlton® Card was collected by Katie’s Travel Tricks and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see the issuer website for current information. Katie’s Travel Tricks does not receive commission for this product.

This card is not available for new sign ups but is available as an upgrade option if you open either of the Chase personal Marriott cards and hold it for a full year. Read more about the perks of the The Ritz Carlton Credit™Card here.

Annual Fee: $450

Key Benefits:

• A Free Night award worth up to 85,000 points each year on cardmember anniversary (instead of the 35,000 per night certificate that comes with the Boundless card)
• $300 annual travel credit to use for airline incidentals like baggage fees, seat upgrades, airport lounge memberships, and more.
• Priority Pass™ membership for yourself and all authorized users of the card – including all lounges and experiences (restaurants are excluded). Each cardholder gets two guests (including each authorized user) and authorized users are free to add.
• Access to the Chase Sapphire Lounges for yourself and two guests (same for authorized users) — this is a very valuable perk if you live or travel to JFK, LGA, BOS, PHX, LAS, or SAN which all have Chase Sapphire Lounges.

In addition — if you upgrade to the Ritz card and wait 24 months since you earned the Boundless bonus, you’ll be able to apply for the American Express Marriott cards — or for this card again.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

Key Benefits (Enrollment required for many benefits, terms apply):

• Up to $300 each year (up to $25 statement credit per month) for eligible purchases at restaurants.
• Credit for trusted traveler programs
• Earn a free night award (up to 85,000 points) every year after your card renewal month
• Automatic Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status
• Priority Pass™ membership for lounge access

This card has a high annual fee, but it also comes with more perks than any of the other Marriott cards. The $300 restaurant credit is easy to use if you dine out regularly. If you’re able to use the full credit, it effectively brings the annual fee down to $350.

The free night certificate that comes with this card is good for a room that costs up to 85,000 points per night. You can easily use that to cover a room that costs between $500-$800 per night if paying cash.

Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status is the mid-level membership tier that includes 4 p.m. checkout and guaranteed lounge access/complimentary breakfast at any of the participating hotel brands, based on availability.

Business Credit Cards

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

Annual Fee: $125

Key Benefits (Enrollment required for many benefits, terms apply):

• Earn a free night award (up to 35,000 points) every year after your card renewal month
• 4x points on restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
• Automatic Gold Elite status
• 7% discount on eligible bookings made directly with Marriott at participating properties

Since this card is a business card, it won’t show up on your credit report as an account and therefore won’t add to your 5/24 count. This can be a huge asset if you have a specific strategy you’re working on like opening cards for a Southwest Companion Pass or focusing on earning Chase Ultimate Rewards® and don’t want to lose a 5/24 slot.

Sometimes, if you’re already an American Express customer, you won’t even see a hard pull on your credit report if you apply for an American Express business card.

Table Comparing Marriott Bonvoy® Credit Cards

Marriott Card Eligibility

Marriott cards have some of the most complicated eligibility requirements of any cards. That’s because they are issued by both Chase and American Express.

For a quick history lesson — Chase used to issue all the Marriott credit cards and American Express used to issue all the Starwood Preferred Guest credit cards. In 2016, Marriott and SPG merged and the banks had to come up with some agreement about who issued these different cards. New card products were introduced and eligibility requirements were made more complicated.

For a complete guide on eligibility with a chart, check out this post here by Frequent Miler.

Every single Marriott card has different eligibility rules that take into consideration the other Marriott cards you may have or may have had in the past. You’ll want to read the offer terms closely before applying to any of them.

Amex Pop Up and Chase 5/24 Eligibility

Beyond these card eligibility terms, you may not be eligible for one or other cards due to either the Amex Pop Up or Chase 5/24 rule.

Amex Pop-Up

If American Express decides it doesn’t want to give you a bonus, it will give you a pop up window before you submit your application that states this.

You may see this pop-up because you’ve gotten a bonus on this card in the past 7 years, or for any other number of reasons. The pop-up is not related to the additional guidelines pertaining to Chase cards — those you have to check on your own.

The Chase 5/24 rule

I have a full guide on the Chase 5/24 rule that you can read here. Essentially it means that if you have five or more new cards reporting to your credit report from any issuer in the past 24 months, you will very likely be denied for a new credit card from Chase.

Learn More

This guide should give you a solid foundation for choosing the best Marriott credit card for your needs. Remember to always compare your options and consider your individual travel style. If you want to compare the Marriott membership tiers, you can do that here. I hope this information helps you make the most of your Marriott rewards!

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