Amex’s Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card: Limited Time Offer and Comprehensive Review
Amex has a Marriott card? Who knew?
The Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card is an excellent option for travellers looking to maximise their rewards. This article will explore the card’s limited-time offer, its overall benefits, and assess whether it is worth considering. It’s one of American Express’ more niche cards but it’s packed with a lot of perks and versatility.
Overview of the limited time offer
For a limited time until 3rd July, new card members can earn up to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points if you spend £3,000 in your first 3 months of card membership. This is 3 times the usual welcome bonus offer of 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Eligibility for the offer:
You cannot hold or have held ANY American Express personal card in the last 24 months.
You can check your eligibility without any impact to your credit score here.
Well, what can I do with those points?
Excellent question. Let’s dive in:
You won’t be shocked to know that you can use those points for subsidising room stays at qualifying Marriott hotels, of course.
But, the Marriott Bonvoy card like Amex’s Membership Reward cards can convert the points into the following frequent flyer schemes:
Aer Lingus AerClub
Air France / KLM Flying Blue
British Airways Executive Club
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Delta SkyMiles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
Iberia Plus
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Bonus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Vueling Club
The transfer rate to the above schemes is 3:1 (Marriott : Airline) which roughly equates to you receiving 0.66 miles per £1 spent. However, if you move 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to an airline at once you get a 5,000 miles bonus.
60,000 Marriott points will therefore get you 25,000 airline miles (20,000 normally plus 5,000 from the transfer bonus). This is 0.833 airline miles per £1 spent on the Marriott Bonvoy card.
There are two exceptions to the 5,000 point bonus:
Transfers to United Airlines get a bonus of 10,000 miles when you convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
You do not receive the 5,000 miles bonus on transfers to American Airlines, Avianca, Delta Air Lines or Korean Air.
Like the rest of Amex’s native card lineup, Marriott’s points versatility is mighty impressive but the earning rate is slightly lower. But that’s to be expected considering the cost of the card and the perks it offers which we’ll cover below.
Key benefits of the card
Here’s a feature level deep dive into Amex’s Marriott Bonvoy card and its key perks:
As expected the card is geared with perks to incentivise you to stay at Marriott hotels when travelling abroad by leveraging their membership system. If you’re a frequent traveller using hotels regularly then it makes sense to invest in earning rewards from certain brands or franchises. In those cases a card like this does make sense.
Let’s take a closer look at the some of the Marriott specific benefits:
Silver status - this allows you to earn a 10% bonus on the base points you receive from Marriott hotel stays. It also gives you an automatic status of 15 stays meaning you are 10 stays away from Gold status.
Gold status by spending £15,000 annually - as I’ve already said you get this by staying an additional 10 nights after receiving Silver status. However, it’s worth noting that you get Gold status automatically with the Amex Platinum card.
Free night by spending £25,000 annually - it sounds great, but it has its fine print. You can only use the free night at hotels costing 25,000 points which eliminates those luxurious stays. With that said, you can top this up with 15,000 of your own points bringing the eligible stay to 40,000 points improving the calibre of Marriott hotels available for selection.
With all that said, it does have a pretty nice earning rate of 2 Marriott points per £ spent and a whopping 6 points per £ spent if you’re spending directly with Marriott. As discussed above, Marriott points aren’t as lucrative as Avios or Amex’s Membership Rewards points as it requires a 3:1 conversion for most airlines.
Personally, I wouldn’t use this as my main credit card but maybe a secondary or tertiary card if I was a serial traveller who stayed in hotels regularly for business or leisure.
Outro
If you’re interested in applying, see the card on Amex’s website here.
It’s definitely not one of Amex’s more popular cards and it likely appeals to a more niche audience who travel regularly or those who use Marriott hotels frequently or are perhaps looking to do so. My takeaway is that it’s not ideal for primary credit card usage but as always, it really depends on your individual circumstances.
See you soon 👋
Legal disclaimer: The content provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. While efforts are made to ensure accuracy, the author accepts no liability for errors, omissions, or any loss or damage arising from its use. Readers are advised to consult with a professional for financial decisions. Offers and links mentioned are subject to change without notice and are not guaranteed by the author.