If you’re looking for a new cardmember welcome bonus on a Marriott credit card, you may have noticed that every new Marriott card comes with a long list of cases where you may not be eligible for the bonus. In this post, I’ve tried to make the rules behind the Chase and Amex new cardmember welcome bonuses on Marriott cards understandable.
If you’re thinking about applying for a new Marriott credit card, this post can serve as a quick reference to help you determine whether you are eligible for a new cardmember bonus.
Rules for Chase-issued Marriott credit card welcome bonuses
Generally Chase doesn’t want you to earn a welcome bonus on any Marriott card more than once every 24 months and the bank doesn’t want to give you a new cardmember bonus if you also hold a similar Amex-branded Marriott card. Here are the welcome bonus eligibility rules for the current Marriott cards.
| Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card | Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card | Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cards you’re considering for welcome bonus: |  |  |  |
| You may not receive a new cardmember welcome bonus for the card in the column if you… | |||
| Currently have these cards. or Have received a new cardmember welcome bonus within 24 months. | Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (this card) Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card Any variant of the Premier or Premier Plus cards (all discontinued) | Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (this card) Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card Any variant of the Premier or Premier Plus cards (all discontinued) | Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card (this card) |
| Currently have these cards. or Have had these cards in the past 30 days. | Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express | Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express | Any Amex Marriott Bonvoy® or Starwood Preferred Guest® credit card. (Current or discontinued.) |
| Applied and were approved within the last 90 days or Received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade bonus within the past 24 months | Any current Amex Marriott card Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card | Any current Amex Marriott card Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card | Any Amex Marriott Bonvoy® or Starwood Preferred Guest® credit card. (Current or discontinued.) |
Rules for Amex-issued Marriott credit card welcome bonuses
Here are the rules for the American Express-issued Marriott card welcome bonuses. Generally, you cannot receive a welcome bonus on a card that you’ve held before. Amex also won’t give you a bonus if you’ve gotten any Marriott Chase card within the past 90 days or received a new cardmember bonus from Chase within the past 24 months.
Amex also states that you may not be eligible for a bonus due to “other factors.” Fortunately, Amex will tell you during the application process if you’re ineligible for a bonus.
| Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card | Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card | Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cards you’re considering for welcome bonus: |  |  |  |
| You may not receive a new cardmember welcome bonus for the card in the column if you… | |||
| Have ever had these cards or previous versions of these cards. | Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card (this card) Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card | Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (this card) Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card | Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (this card) Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express |
| Currently have these cards. or Have had these cards in the past 30 days. | Any Ritz-Carlton card. Any current or discontinued Chase Marriott card. (Includes both personal and business.) | Any Ritz-Carlton card. | Any Chase Marriott business card. |
| Have acquired any of these cards in the past 90 days. | Any current Chase Marriott card. | Any current Chase Marriott card. | Any current Chase Marriott card. |
| Have received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade offer in the last 24 months. | Any current Chase Marriott card. | Any current Chase Marriott card. | Any current Chase Marriott card. |
List of all current and previous Marriott-related cards
This list includes all of the Marriott, Starwood, and Ritz Carlton-branded credit cards that we know about or that are mentioned in the welcome bonus terms and conditions of the current Marriott cards. Rather than listing out each card in the tables above, we sometimes refer to “discontinued cards” or cards with certain branding. This table can help you decipher the application rules.
| Personal Cards | Business Cards | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Amex Marriott cards | Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card | Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card |
| Current Chase Marriott cards | Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card | – |
| Discontinued J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton cards | The Ritz-Carlton® Credit Card from J.P. Morgan J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card | – |
| Discontinued Amex Marriott cards | Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card | – |
| Discontinued Chase Marriott cards | Bonvoy-branded cards: Marriott Bonvoy® Credit Card Marriott Bonvoy® Premier credit card Pre-Bonvoy cards: Marriott Rewards® Credit Card from Chase Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card | Bonvoy-branded cards: Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card Marriott Bonvoy® Premier Plus Business Credit Card Pre-Bonvoy cards: Marriott Rewards Business® Credit Card from Chase Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase |
| Discontinued Amex Starwood Preferred Guest® cards | The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card | Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express |