AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: Limited-Time 150,000 Points + $250 Sign-Up Bonus

Now this card has a new limited-time welcome bonus: 150,000 + $250, with $6,000 in spending required over six months. The offer expires on September 30. The biggest feature of this card is that simply holding it gives you Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status, which includes free breakfast for two, lounge access, and room upgrades. On top of that, this card already comes with a $300 dining credit + an 85,000-point free night award each year, which basically offsets the $650 annual fee, so it is worth considering for long-term holding.

• Marriott Brilliant application link

This bonus is really, really good, so I added it to the rankings.

• U.S. credit card welcome bonus rankings (personal cards) [Updated monthly]

AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card

Highlights

• High welcome bonus, strong overall value: 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points can be converted into about 40,000 AA miles or BA miles for award flights: see this article; for hotel redemptions, you can book stays at hotels from three hotel groups, ranging from luxury to practical options, so the selection is very broad
• $300 dining credit, $25 per month: starting on September 22, 2022, this was replaced by a $25 monthly dining credit that works at restaurants worldwide. Personally, if you already spend money on dining every month, this credit is pretty easy to use.
• Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status just for holding the card: Marriott Platinum status is still pretty good. At some hotels you can be upgraded to a suite, and you can also enjoy free breakfast and lounge access.
• 25 elite nights every year: useful for status chasing. These 25 nights can stack with elite nights from business cards; they probably cannot stack with personal cards.
• $100 Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis credit: you need to book a room with the $100 tag through the official website and stay at least two nights. This benefit is similar to FHR.
• 85,000-point free night award every year: starting in the second year, after paying the annual fee, you receive one 85,000-point free night award each year. It is basically no problem to stay at Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis properties. Using it in China is a bit of a waste, but it can be useful for hotels in U.S. and European city centers.
• Spend $60,000 and choose one of three benefits: after spending $60,000 in a year, you can choose one of three options: 5 suite upgrade awards, a $750 mattress purchase discount, or an 85,000-point free night award. I think I would just pick the 85,000-point free night award without overthinking it. Details here
• No foreign transaction fee: AMEX cards do not have DCC on overseas purchases, meaning the conversion rate is the same whether you charge in local currency or U.S. dollars. You do not have to worry about getting a bad exchange rate like with Visa when settling in local currency. No more worrying about booking hotels outside the U.S.
• Priority Pass Select membership: members can enter Priority Pass partner airport lounges for free. It is available at most airports, and in China you can use most Air China lounges.
• High-spend bonus: once annual spending reaches $60,000, cardholders get one additional 50,000-point option. The latest choices are:
  • 5 suite upgrade awards (formerly called Suite Night Awards™)
  • 1 free night award, valid for rooms costing up to 85,000 points
  • [New] 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
  • A $1,000 mattress credit from any Marriott Bonvoy retail brand

AMEX card benefits

• AMEX Offers: Amazon $20 back on $20, Walmart $5 back on $15, phone bill $10 back on $75. Generous AMEX often sends cardholders great offers that let you earn cash rewards while spending. See: Recent good AMEX offers, Compilation of past good AMEX offers, AMEX offer explained
• Small Business Day: every year, AMEX credit cards can participate in the Small Business Day promotion, where spending at participating merchants earns extra rewards. See: Small Business Day promotion overview
• High credit limits: AMEX is very generous with customers and often gives much higher limits than other banks.
• 3x credit-limit increase: after holding an AMEX card for 61 days, you can request a limit increase to three times the original amount through the website.
• Free ShopRunner membership: enjoy free two-day shipping from many online stores. For details, see: Official website
• Extended warranty: items purchased in full with an AMEX card automatically get a one-year extension to the manufacturer's warranty.
• Free report: cardholders can check their free Experian credit score. See: Free credit score comparison

Cons

• The points you earn cannot be redeemed directly for cash, and the annual fee is a bit high.

Points system overview

• Point value: Average value is 0.8 c/p, 100 Marriott points = $0.80 (Point value and analysis)
• Hotel redemptions: Marriott points can be redeemed for stays at Marriott hotels, Ritz-Carlton, and hotels that were previously part of SPG. Marriott now uses dynamic pricing, so the number of points required depends on the room rate. You can also redeem using cash+points. All-points bookings qualify for a stay 5, pay for 4 offer.
• Point transfers: Marriott points can be transferred to the following airline miles at a 3:1 ratio, with an additional 10% bonus when transferring to UA. In addition, every 60,000 points transferred earns an extra 5,000-mile bonus, which means a maximum transfer ratio of 3:1.25 for miles (eligible miles only). Air Canada Aeroplan (AC) miles (domestic U.S. flights, one-way economy tickets between the U.S. and China, emergency flights, and infant tickets on two-cabin itineraries); Alaska Airlines (AS) miles (domestic U.S. flights, U.S.-China flights, U.S.-China two-cabin itineraries, free one-way Stop Over); ANA miles (U.S.-China flights, round-trip economy for just 60,000, business class for 95,000); AA miles (U.S.-China CX and JL two-cabin itineraries, no fuel surcharges); BA miles (domestic U.S. flights and short nonstop flights between China and Japan, very low change/cancellation fees, emergency tickets); Delta miles (domestic U.S. flights, U.S.-China flights, can be redeemed at 1 c/p); UA miles (U.S.-China economy, domestic U.S.)
• Point characteristics: Points can be transferred between different accounts, with an annual limit of 100,000 points. When booking rooms, you can combine your family members' points with no limit. Points expire after 24 months with no activity.
• My quick take: Marriott inherited SPG's extremely strong flexibility and can be transferred to many very useful airline miles, with pretty good transfer ratios as well. Point value for hotel redemptions is not as high as Hyatt points, but it is still decent. The ability to pool points for the whole family is also a big plus.
• Detailed analysis: Marriott points guide

My take:

After the card was refreshed on 2022.9.22, it definitely became a premium card. The most important perks are the Platinum status and the 85,000-point free night award. If you like premium travel experiences, these benefits are pretty worthwhile. There is also a $100 credit for stays at Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis. But if you only want to keep the card and use it purely for the free night award, the value is a little lower. And the dining credit is also kind of annoying: it is only $25 per month and just keeps hanging around.

Marriott has co-branded credit cards with AMEX and Chase, so you can read the article below to choose the one that fits you best.

• How should you choose among 8 Marriott co-branded credit cards?

Apply:

This card is a Marriott co-branded credit card. If you already have a Marriott number, you can enter it when applying (if you do not, one will be assigned automatically), but it is still recommended that you register for a Marriott membership first.

You will not receive the welcome bonus in the following cases, so please pay special attention.

• Held or previously held within the last 30 days a Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card, Chase Marriott Bountiful, Marriott Boundless, Marriott Bold, or other Chase Marriott co-branded credit cards
• Received Chase Marriott Bountiful, Marriott Boundless, or Marriott Bold within the last 90 days;
• Received a welcome bonus or upgrade bonus for the Chase Marriott Bountiful, Marriott Boundless, or Marriott Bold cards within the last 24 months

Other application notes

• AMEX official application status check link
• For the same AMEX credit card, the public welcome bonus is generally available only once (once-per-lifetime restriction)
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-528-4800, 877-399-3083, 866-314-0237) to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• AMEX limits you to 4 credit cards and 10 charge cards total.
• You can apply for a total of two AMEX credit cards every 90 days, excluding charge cards.
• After you submit your application, a pop-up may appear telling you that you are not eligible for the welcome bonus. In that case, it is usually best not to continue with the application (detailed analysis)
• More about applying for AMEX credit cards

Application link