Marriott’s array of credit cards, offered by both Amex and Chase, can make it difficult to find the right Marriott card for you. In this post, we lay out all of the substantive earnings and benefits of the Marriott cards side-by-side so you can easily compare them.
If you’re ready to get a card, remember you can earn a welcome bonus with the best Marriott card offers.
Marriott credit card overview
You’ll likely want to dig into the details below, but here is a (very) high-level overview of each card in the Marriott card lineup.
| Annual Fee | Top-Level Overview of the Card | |
|---|---|---|
| Marriott Bonvoy Bold® credit card | ||
 | $0 | A no-annual fee card that can keep your points alive (Marriott points expire after 24 months of inactivity). Offers 2x points in unique categories and a Pay Yourself Back option for Marriott stays and airline purchases. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card | ||
 | $95 | Offers instant Silver status and 6x points on Marriott stays, plus a 35k free night certificate every year after the first. Grants 3x points for up to $6,000 of spending each year and allows you to earn elite nights through spending. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® credit card | ||
 | $250 | Offers instant Gold status and 6x points on Marriott stays, and allows you to earn a 50k free night certificate after spending $15k on the card in a calendar year. Awards 4x points in bonus categories on up to $15k of spending. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card | ||
| $250 | Substantively similar to the Bountiful card. The Bevy offers instant Gold status and 6x points on Marriott stays, and allows you to earn a 50k free night certificate after spending $15k on the card in a calendar year. Awards 4x points in bonus categories on up to $15k of spending. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card | ||
 | $650 | Upgrades you to Platinum the highest status granted by a credit card and awards an 85k free night certificate each year after your account anniversary. Features $25 monthly dining credits, Priority Pass lounge membership, and excellent consumer and travel insurance benefits. |
| Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card | ||
 | $125 | Offers instant Gold status and 6x points on Marriott stays, plus a 35k free night certificate every year after the first. Earns 4x in select bonus categories and awards an additional free night certificate after spending $60k on the card in a calendar year. |
Marriott hotel benefits: Perks when staying at Marriott hotels
Marriott cards offer increased point earnings at Marriott hotels, complimentary elite status, and a boost to the number of elite nights you earn each year. Some cards even offer free night certificates or the ability to earn a higher level of elite status through spending. Here are the Marriott-specific benefits of the Marriott credit cards.
| | |  | | |
| Bold | Boundless | Bountiful | Bevy | Brilliant | Business |
| Points Earned at Marriott Properties | |||||
| 3x | 6x | 6x | 6x | 6x | 6x |
| 1k Bonus Points Per Stay. Earn 1,000 points per eligible paid stay, when booked directly with Marriott. | |||||
| – | – | – | – | ||
| Complimentary Elite Status. Get this level of elite status for having the card. | |||||
| Silver | Silver | Gold | Gold | Platinum | Gold |
| Earn Elite Status. (Status level and spending required.) | |||||
| – | Gold ($35k) | – | – | – | – |
| Annual Elite Night Credits. | |||||
| 5 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 25 | 15 |
| Earn Elite Night Credits From Spending. (Amount of spending required to earn an additional elite night credit.) | |||||
| – | $5,000 | – | – | – | – |
| Annual Free Night Award. (Point value of award. Awarded every year, after your first account anniversary.) | |||||
| – | 35k | – | – | 85k | 35k |
| Earned Free Night Award. Earn a free night award once each calendar year. ( Certificate Value / Spending Required) | |||||
| – | – | 50k $15k | 50k $15k | (See below) | 35k $60k |
| $100 Property Credit. Awarded on 2+ night stays at Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® when you book direct. | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
With the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, you’ll earn a Brilliant Earned Choice Award once you spend $60,000 in a calendar year on the card. One of the selection options is a free night award with a redemption value of up to 85k points.
Our insights: Marriott cards don’t offer simple good/better/best options. All cards (other than the Bold) offer the same rewards at Marriott properties. For most Marriott guests, the Boundless card will likely offer the sweet spot of the right amount of perks when staying with Marriott compared to the price.
Some additional notes on Marriott free night awards
If you earn or receive a free night award with your Marriott credit card, you can use that award for a one-night stay at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels with a redemption level at or under the certificate’s value. You may use up to 15,000 additional Marriott points to “expand” the certificate’s value. For example, a 35,000 point certificate can be combined with 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and redeemed for a one-night stay priced at 40,000 points.
Chase awards anniversary free night certificates within 8 weeks of your cardmember anniversary date and earned free night certificates within 12 weeks of earning them. Amex awards anniversary free nights with 8-12 weeks of your cardmember anniversary month and earned free nights within 8-12 weeks of earning them.
You won’t earn a Marriott free night award after opening the card, unless you earn a free night award as part of a card’s new cardmember welcome bonus.
Rewards: Earn Marriott Bonus Points for purchases
Like most hotel credit cards, Marriott cards offer relatively relatively lackluster rewards on most spending outside of purchases at Marriott properties. That said, we’d recommend using your Marriott cards to pay for stays at Marriott brands, but keeping them in your wallet for most other purchases. Here is what each of the cards earns for spending:
| | | | | |
| Bold | Boundless | Bountiful | Bevy | Brilliant | Business |
| Marriott Stays | |||||
| 3x | 6x | 6x | 6x | 6x | 6x |
| Dining (Amex cards: Restaurants worldwide. Bonvoy Bevy includes takeout and delivery in the U.S.) | |||||
| – | Up to 3x | Up to 4x | Up to 4x | 3x | 4x |
| Flights Booked Directly with Airlines | |||||
| – | – | – | – | 3x | – |
| Gas Stations (Amex cards: U.S. gas stations.) | |||||
| – | Up to 3x | – | – | – | 4x |
| Grocery Stores (Amex cards: U.S. Supermarkets) | |||||
| 2x | Up to 3x | Up to 4x | Up to 4x | – | – |
| Shipping (Amex cards: U.S. purchases for shipping.) | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | 4x |
| Wireless Services purchased from U.S. providers. | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | 4x |
| Additional Categories. Select food delivery, rideshare, streaming, internet, cable and phone services | |||||
| 2x | – | – | – | – | – |
| Other Purchases | |||||
| 1x | 2x | 2x | 2x | 2x | 2x |
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card earns 3X points for every $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® credit card earns 4X points for every $1 on the first $15,000 in combined purchases each year on grocery stores and dining.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card earns 4X at restaurants worldwide [including takeout and delivery in the U.S.] and U.S. Supermarkets (on up to $15,000 in combined purchases at restaurants and supermarkets per calendar year, then 2X points)
Our insights: Outside of purchases at Marriott properties, when it comes to rewards, it only makes sense to spend on the Marriott cards if you’re planning on earning a free night certificate with the Bountiful, Bevy, Brilliant, or Business cards. In most cases, you can get more point value when using a no-annual-fee cash back card in each of the non-Marriott bonus categories offered by the Marriott cards.
Redemption options and statement credits
Some of the Marriott cards offer unique ways to redeem your points for statement credits or statement credits for airline purchases or dining. We’ve put all of those types of credits in this section. Keep in mind that the Bold card’s Pay Yourself Back credits require you to redeem your points for statement credits.
| | | | | |
| Bold | Boundless | Bountiful | Bevy | Brilliant | Business |
| Pay Yourself Back. Redeem points for statement credits to offset airline tickets purchased directly with airlines or Marriott hotel stays. 12,500 Marriott points = $100 statement credit. Up to $750/year. | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
| Airline Credits. Awarded for purchases with airlines. Spend $250 between June 4 and December 31, 2025 and earn $50. Spend $250 between January 1 and June 30, 2027 and earn $50 | |||||
| – | Up to $100 from 6/4/26 – 6/30/27 | – | – | – | – |
| Dining Credit. (Up to $25/month credits—up to $300/year—for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide.) | |||||
| – | – | – | – | Up to $300/year | – |
Our insights: While not all of the cards offer statement credits, the statement credits on the Boundless card and Brilliant card should be relatively easy to use if you travel with some regularlity.
Travel benefits: Perks to use when traveling
Outside of travel insurance benefits (covered below,) the Marriott cards don’t really provide that much in the way of travel benefits, other than the Bonvoy Brilliant card, which does offer airport lounge access, dining credits, and a fee credit for Trusted Traveler programs.
| | | | | |
| Bold | Boundless | Bountiful | Bevy | Brilliant | Business |
| Airline Credits. Spend $250 between June 4 and December 31, 2025 and earn $50. Spend $250 between January 1 and June 30, 2027 and earn $50 | |||||
| – | – | – | |||
| Priority Pass Select membership | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
| Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
Our insights: The Priority Pass Select membership makes up a large part of the Brilliant card’s value proposition. Outside of this, the cards don’t offer much in the way of non-insurance travel benefits.
Travel insurance and assistance benefits: Coverage for your trip
Booking your airline tickets, train tickets, or other travel with a card that offers travel insurance benefits can protect you in a variety of situations, like trip delays, baggage damage, or damage to rental cars. Here are the benefits that each of the Marriott credit cards offers.
| | | | | |
| Bold | Boundless | Bountiful | Bevy | Brilliant | Business |
| Trip Delay Reimbursement (Amex: Trip Delay Insurance) | |||||
| – | |||||
| Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
| Baggage Delay Insurance and Lost Luggage Reimbursement (Covers loss, but not damage.) | |||||
| – | – | – | |||
| Amex Baggage Insurance Plan (Covers loss and damage, but not baggage delays.) | |||||
| – | – | – | |||
| Auto Rental Coverage (Amex: Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance) | |||||
| Travel Accident Insurance | |||||
| – | |||||
| Travel and Emergency Assistance (Amex Global Assist® Hotline) | |||||
| Premium Global Assist® Hotline | |||||
Our insights: The Bold and Boundless cards offer an impressive set of travel insurance benefits for cards in their price category. The Marriott cards are reasonable choices to use to book your flights if you don’t have a card that offers better travel insurance benefits.
Consumer insurance benefits: Protection for the things you buy
Purchasing things like expensive electronics with cards that offer extended warranty and purchase protection is a good call—even if it means earning fewer rewards. Since all of the Marriott credit cards offer at least these two benefits, they can be good cards to use for these types of purchases.
| | | | | |
| Bold | Boundless | Bountiful | Bevy | Brilliant | Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card |
| Purchase Protection | |||||
| Extended Warranty | |||||
| Return protection | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
| Cell phone protection | |||||
| – | – | – | – | – | |
Our insights: With decent purchase protection and extended warranty benefits across the board, the Marriott cards can be good choices to use for purchases of durable goods with warranties, even if you could earn more points on another card.
Our tips on using Marriott credit cards
Here are our quick tips and tricks based on our experience using Marriott credit cards that can help you get the most value out of your cards:
- Pay for your Marriott stays with your credit card. In most cases, you’ll earn the most rewards value on your stays by booking directly and using your hotel-branded credit card to pay for your stay.
- Make a plan to use your free night certificate. If your card offers a free night certificate, be sure to use it. Know when your certificates expire (usually one year after they are issued). Remember, it’s better to use the certificate for less-than-maximum value than to let it expire.
- Remember, you can “top up” your free night certificate. You can use up to 15,000 points in combination with a free night award to use it for a more expensive hotel stay.
- Use other cards for most of your other purchases. Outside of Marriott hotels, you can earn more rewards with other credit cards. Other cards earn more on groceries, gas, dining, and other categories.
- Consider downgrading over canceling. If you find yourself not staying at Marriott hotels and getting more value than you’re giving up by paying your card’s annual fee, consider downgrading your card. You might be able to downgrade to a no-annual-fee card, to keep your credit line and give yourself a way to keep your Marriott points alive.
- Don’t let your Marriott points expire. Remember, Marriott points expire after 24 months of account inactivity. Be sure to earn or use your points at least once every 24 months.
Our experiences: How we use Marriott credit cards
My card of choice is the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card. I’m happy to pay the card’s annual fee because I easily get enough value from the card’s annual free night certificate (though I will admit to having it almost expire in 2022). I charge all of my Marriott stays to the card, and use it for nothing else.
Other cards offer more value in spending categories and I don’t stay at Marriott hotels often enough to worry about earning Marriott status. Besides, I have lifetime status with Marriott, thanks to several years of spending 150+ nights in hotels while working for a big consulting firm.
I might consider adding the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card to my wallet for an additional annual free night certificate, but doing that isn’t a priority for me at this time.
Our recommendations: Find the best Marriott credit card for you
For most people who stay at Marriott hotels more than a few times a year, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card is the best choice, thanks to its earnings on Marriott stays and its annual free night certificate. However, the best card for you might be different. Here are our expert recommendations:
| Marriott credit card | Best for you if… |
|---|---|
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® credit card Annual fee: $0 | You rarely stay at Marriott hotels but have a stash of Marriott points that you want to keep from expiring. (Marriott Bonvoy points expire if your account in inactive for 24 months.) Sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 Bonus Points after spending $1,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card. Learn how to apply. |
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card Annual fee: $95 | You regularly stay at Marriott hotels and can make use of an annual 35k free night certificate. This will be the best Marriott card for most people. Sign-up bonus: Earn 125,000 Bonus Points + 1 Free Night Award after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. Learn how to apply. |
Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® credit card Annual fee: $250 | You to earn Marriott points on groceries and dining. You value baggage delay insurance. Sign-up bonus: Earn 85,000 Bonus Points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® Card. Learn how to apply. |
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card Annual fee: $250 () | You want a Marriott credit card that also earns increased rewards at U.S. supermarkets and on dining. (The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® credit card may be a better choice because it includes baggage delay insurance.) Welcome offer: Earn Up To 135,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Bonus Points: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months and an extra 50,000 bonus points after you make an additional $2,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Learn how to apply. |
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card Annual fee: $650 () | You stay at Marriott hotels and want a single premium credit card credit card offering airport lounge access, premium travel insurance, and decent rewards on your travel spending that you can use for booking travel and dining out. Welcome offer: Earn Up To 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Bonus Points: Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months and an extra 50,000 bonus points after you make an additional $2,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Learn how to apply. |
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card Annual fee: $125 () | You are a small business owner and spend a lot (preferably $60k/year) at Marriott hotels. You aren’t worried about earning status and can make use of 35k Marriott free night certificates. Welcome offer: Earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Earn an Extra 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Points after you make an additional $3,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Learn how to apply. |
Bottom line: The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card is best for most
Which Marriott credit card is best for you will depend on your travel patterns and preferences, but the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card will likely be the best choice for most people, thanks to its low annual fee, annual free night certificate, and earnings on Marriott stays.
