Credit Card Review: The Marriott Bonvoy Amex Canada Cards

Credit Card Review: The Marriott Bonvoy Amex Canada Cards

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Features and benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Cards in Canada

There are two Marriott Bonvoy cards in Canada, both issued by American Express, with one geared towards consumers and one focused on small businesses:

  • Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card
  • Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card

The cards have a significant amount of overlap, so I’ll go through an overview of the benefits and then point out the differences as we go.

Marriott Bonvoy Canada welcome bonus

These cards offer the same bonus structures:

The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card has the following bonus structure:

Earn 50,000 Welcome Bonus points after you charge $1,500 in net purchases to your Card in your first 3 months of Cardmembership.

And, the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card has the following welcome bonus:

Earn 50,000 welcome bonus Marriott Bonvoy® points

  • Earn 50,000 Welcome Bonus Marriott Bonvoy® points after you charge $1,500 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership.

Marriott Bonvoy Canada return on spend

Outside of any bonus earning on spend associated with the welcome bonus:

The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card has the following rewards structure:

  • Earn 5 points for every dollar in eligible Card purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
  • Earn 2 points for every $1 in all other Card purchases

Meanwhile, the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card has slightly different bonus categories:

  • Earn 5 points for every $1 in Card purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
  • Earn 3 points for every $1 in Card purchases on eligible gas, dining, and travel
  • Earn 2 points for every $1 on all other purchases charged to the Card

Both cards offer their best return for spending at Marriott properties, and the 3x points per dollar spent on gas, dining, and travel is actually a very good return for the small business cards. If you value Marriott points similarly to how we do, that’s roughly a 3% return in those categories, which isn’t common in the Canadian card market.

That being said, personal card users who spend a lot at restaurants and don’t mind the high annual fee will get a better return by putting their dining spend on The Platinum Card®. And if your goal is to wrack up as many points as possible, many will earn points more quickly with an Aeroplan-specific card.

But for the flexibility to earn rewards in a variety of airline programs, combined with thousands of potential hotel redemptions, the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card and The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card are solid options.

So while I’d never consider making non-bonused purchases on any of the U.S. versions of the Bonvoy cards, the Canadian cards are actually worth considering.

Fees

The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card has a $120 CAD annual fee, with no annual fee on additional cards for your authorized users.

Meanwhile, the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card has a $150 CAD annual fee, with supplementary cards available for employees at $50 each. Amex notes that the annual fees on the business cards may be tax-deductible, but we’d of course recommend checking with your tax professional on that.

Like the majority of rewards cards in Canada, both Marriott Bonvoy cards levy a 2.5% foreign transaction fee. This is a bit disappointing for the co-branded card of a global hotel chain with 7,000+ properties, as it means Canadian cardholders will pay extra fees when using their Bonvoy card at 95% of the Marriott portfolio.

Marriott Bonvoy Canada Card perks

Both cards come with a variety of potentially useful benefits, including:

  • A free night award on your account anniversary every year, valid at a property retailing for up to 35,000 points per night
  • Complimentary Silver Elite status for as long as you have the card
  • Gold Elite status when you spend $30,000 on eligible purchases on the card in an account year
  • 15 elite qualifying nights towards status annually just for having the card (note that if you have multiple cards offering this benefit, it can’t be stacked)

The big win here for Canadians is the potential for 15 elite qualifying nights, which wasn’t previously a feature of the old cards. The annual free night award more than justifies the annual fee, and is a reason to have the card in and of itself.

Great uses of Marriott Bonvoy points

Regardless of whether you are looking for a luxury stay, ways to reduce your out-of-pocket on a longer stay, or a great value with an airline transfer, there are still some fantastic ways to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points.

5 free nights at a Category 3 hotel

One of the nice features of the Marriott program is that members always receive the 5th night free on award stays. So if you were to book five nights at one of the 2,000+ Category 3 hotels once off-peak pricing starts, you’d pay 15,000 points per night for four nights, and -0- points for the fifth!

While there are plenty of North American properties in this category, international locations (particularly in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe) can be a great way to stretch your points at a more luxurious property.


The Metropol Palace in Belgrade, Serbia is a Category 3 hotel (Read the review!)

Standard pricing at Category 3 properties is 17,500 points a night, so you’d need 70,000 points for the five-night stay.

Splash out on a luxury stay

Marriott’s Category 7 hotels, like the London EDITION, are often incredibly expensive (i.e. upwards of £400 per night, plus high taxes).


Check out the OMAAT review of the London EDITION

Standard reward rates are 60,000 points per night, which is still a significant amount, but is a great value compared to the cash you’d otherwise be spending.

Transfer points to an airline

The good news is that with the program, it’s possible to efficiently convert Marriott points into airline miles. Specifically, Marriott points convert into airline miles at a 3:1 ratio with most programs, with a 15,000 point (or 5,000-mile) bonus for every 50,000 Marriott points transferred. In other words, 50,000 Marriott points convert into roughly 20,000 airline miles.

Bottom line

While this has been a frustrating merger, Marriott Bonvoy points are still worth collecting, pretty much regardless of your travel aspirations. The program offers good flexibility with a range of hotel and airline redemptions, and the Canadian cards actually offer a decent return for spending, even on everyday purchases.

The welcome bonuses on the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card and The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card are very competitive given the relative value of the points earned, and I think both cards are well worth it long term for the annual free night award, which should offer most people outsized value compared to the annual fee.

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  1. Teena McWilliams Guest

    Hi I have the Marriott Bonvoy us card and I know you can stack the 15 nights if you have a us card and a us business card. If I apply for the Canadian business card as I have a company in Canada can I stack the elite nights with the us personal card?

    1. Alex Guest

      Hi Teena. No you can't stack US and CAN cards. Only 2 US (personal / business) can stack.

  2. DNN Guest

    That Marriott card by American Express sounds like a pure playa deal. I saw it recently on the American Express site along with a few other cards.

  3. Cheer E. Guest

    Hey Tiffany, Nicely explained. Should I sign up now or wait for higher bonus (100K) ? I already have Amex Cobalt and Amex Plat. Thank you.

  4. Bernard Guest

    Thanks Tiffany for this report and for covering topics relevant to us in Canada.
    Like you mentioned, the annual free night up to 35000 points makes this card a no brainer.
    This is a benefit inherited from the Chase Marriott card together with the 15 nights giving you silver status.
    Chase Marriott Visa left the Canadian market last year leaving AMEX SPG the only provider for the new combined Marriott loyalty program...

    Thanks Tiffany for this report and for covering topics relevant to us in Canada.
    Like you mentioned, the annual free night up to 35000 points makes this card a no brainer.
    This is a benefit inherited from the Chase Marriott card together with the 15 nights giving you silver status.
    Chase Marriott Visa left the Canadian market last year leaving AMEX SPG the only provider for the new combined Marriott loyalty program now named Bonvoy.
    Please continue to cover Canadian content. Thanks again.

  5. Jeffrey Member

    Not sure if this issue has been highlighted or commented on, but AmEx cards in Canada have a low acceptance rate.

  6. Azen Guest

    It's actually 14,000 points per night with the free night.

  7. Dale Guest

    Considering what we have up here in the Canadian market, this cards is one of the top ones, with the sign-up bonus and the free night. I live in Calgary and can redeem the free night at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge just over an hour outside the city. For a Saturday night stay in the summer, rates approach $500 and over.

    WIth the Cobalt, just to get 35,000 points, you'd have to spend $7,000 in groceries, restaurants, etc...

  8. Notbonvoy Guest

    Marriott category three hotels cost 17500 points per night not 15000, so one would only be able to get three free nights , not five.

    At some point category three hotels will cost 15000 off peak, but that is unlikely to be at a time that anyone wants to travel, let alone good value.

    The real weakness of this card is the foreign transaction fee, which is actually a lot more than 2.5 percent if...

    Marriott category three hotels cost 17500 points per night not 15000, so one would only be able to get three free nights , not five.

    At some point category three hotels will cost 15000 off peak, but that is unlikely to be at a time that anyone wants to travel, let alone good value.

    The real weakness of this card is the foreign transaction fee, which is actually a lot more than 2.5 percent if the foreign currency is something other than US dollars — Amex Rips you off twice.

    So this card is better for someone selling it or issuing it, than for the consumer.
    Sign up bonus aside — and the first year annual fee eats up a big part of it, and the free night in year two about three months after the anniversary (worth a little more than the annual fee if one has a use for it ), this card is slightly worth getting and sock drawering — but there are better Canadian cards worth getting and using. They are not however part of affiliate compensation.

    As an aside, this is part of the Marriott bonvoy loyalty program, which has at least as much frustration and time waste and unkept promises and legalese that doesn’t delivery what it seems to promise in English, that it is not worth it. Please, omaat, stop selling stuff related to this incompetent and unscrupulous company.

  9. Dave Guest

    Already having a Gold and Platinum Amex, these don't seem like a compelling enough offer, unless you're a super-frequent Marriott customer. I'd rather take me 2x MR per $ on the Gold or Platinum on my hotel stays for the 20ish nights/year that I'm in their properties.

    If I was more of a "frequent sleeper" on business, these would be a great option, but they don't seem compelling for non-Marriott spend.

  10. Chief Babaracus Guest

    Amex Cobalt is by far the better card for earning Bonvoy! points for dining in Canada (and also for groceries and food delivery), and does not have a high annual fee ($120 CAD). 5x MR-S = 6x Bonvoy! points per CAD spent. Approx 8x when measured in USD.

    1. Tiffany OMAAT

      @ Chief Babaracus -- That's a great point; the Cobalt is the card that most of our clients end up putting the bulk of their spend on, but I completely forgot that those points can be moved to Bonvoy.

      @ Dave -- Along those lines, if you're already earning MR, you might want to look at balancing your points portfolio with MR-S and the Cobalt card. That's probably going to be the more interesting option...

      @ Chief Babaracus -- That's a great point; the Cobalt is the card that most of our clients end up putting the bulk of their spend on, but I completely forgot that those points can be moved to Bonvoy.

      @ Dave -- Along those lines, if you're already earning MR, you might want to look at balancing your points portfolio with MR-S and the Cobalt card. That's probably going to be the more interesting option than the Bonvoy cards in your shoes. Though, as @ DenB® notes, you don't necessarily have to choose.

  11. DenB® Diamond

    I agree with Tiffany's rating: not thrilling, but solid. Worth noting that while the bonuses are less valuable than those available in the US, the ability to get multiple Amex in Canada (when referred) is a valuable benefit denied our neighbours to the south. "once in a Lifetime" doesn't always apply here.

    Yes, Virginia, there is one thing that's better with Canadian credit cards than with American cards!

  12. iv Guest

    In the very least Amex should waive the 2.5% foreign transaction fee for spend at all Marriott Bonvoy properties.

    1. Tiffany OMAAT

      @ iv -- I totally agree, and am surprised no one on either team argued for that. But I try and remember that it's only been the past ~4 years that we've seen waived forex fees as a nearly assumed benefit in the U.S., so hopefully that's coming to Canada soon!

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Alex Guest

Hi Teena. No you can't stack US and CAN cards. Only 2 US (personal / business) can stack.

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Teena McWilliams Guest

Hi I have the Marriott Bonvoy us card and I know you can stack the 15 nights if you have a us card and a us business card. If I apply for the Canadian business card as I have a company in Canada can I stack the elite nights with the us personal card?

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DNN Guest

That Marriott card by American Express sounds like a pure playa deal. I saw it recently on the American Express site along with a few other cards.

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