Link: Apply for now the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card
Marriott Bonvoy has a large co-branded credit card portfolio, with cards issued by both American Express and Chase. The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (review) is one of the newest cards in the portfolio, and it’s kind of in the middle of the pack when it comes to the annual fee.
While the card has an excellent welcome offer, in this post I’d like to look at the overall value proposition of the card, and talk about why there’s a better option than this card for most consumers.
In this post:
The basics of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card has a $250 annual fee (Rates & Fees). Here are the main perks that you get with the card, as I see it:
- The card offers Gold Elite status for as long as you’re a cardmember
- The card offers 15 elite nights toward Elite status annually, which can help you earn a higher elite tier, like Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, or Ambassador Elite status, or qualify for Choice Benefits
- The card offers an anniversary free night award when you spend $15,000 in a calendar year; this free night award is valid at a property costing up to 50,000 points per night (this can also be topped off with up to 15,000 additional points)
- The card offers 1,000 bonus points per paid eligible stay with Marriott when using the card, in addition to earning 6x points on these purchases; this makes it the most lucrative Marriott card for hotel spending
In isolation, the card could potentially be worthwhile. For example, say you’re a frequent Marriott guest, and you easily spend $15,000 per year on a Marriott co-branded credit card. I’d say the card then has a fair enough value proposition, since you’re using the best card for your spending, plus you’re getting an annual free night award.
However, that ignores one important point…
Why the Bonvoy Brilliant Card is a better option
The argument could be made that the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card is well worth it. However, I’d argue that the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review) is a more lucrative personal credit card for a vast majority of consumers.
To get the bad news out of the way first, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card has a $650 annual fee (Rates & Fees), which is obviously steep. Understandably, most people don’t want to spend that much on an annual fee if they can avoid it.
However, I’d argue that for virtually any savvy consumer, you’d come out ahead with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (and I’m not even factoring in the superior welcome offer):
- The card offers Platinum Elite status for as long as you’re a cardmember
- The card offers 25 elite nights toward Elite status annually, which can help you earn a higher elite tier, like Titanium Elite or Ambassador Elite status, and/or qualify for Choice Benefits
- The card offers an anniversary free night award valid at a property costing up to 85,000 points per night (this can also be topped off with up to 15,000 additional points), and there’s no spending requirement to unlock this
- The card offers up to a $300 restaurant credit annually, in the form of a $25 monthly credit valid for restaurant purchases globally
- The card offers a Priority Pass membership (Enrollment required) for the primary cardmember, offering access to over 1,300 lounges around the world
Now, there is one other consideration I should address. Marriott credit card eligibility restrictions are kind of complicated. Essentially, it’s worth understanding that you’re eligible for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (including the welcome offer) if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card, while the inverse isn’t true (you’re not eligible for the Bonvoy Bevy Card welcome offer if you have the Bonvoy Brilliant Card).
So if you do want to pick up both cards eventually, then there’s merit to first applying for the Bonvoy Bevy Card, and then later applying for the Bonvoy Brilliant Card.
How I recommend deciding between the cards
I want to be balanced here — it doesn’t matter to me which card someone applies for — so let’s talk about under what circumstances each of the cards makes sense.
There’s a niche circumstance where I can see someone preferring the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card to the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card in the long run. The way I view it, this would be for a Marriott super user, who spends $15,000 on their card annually anyway. We’re talking about someone who maybe has Titanium status or above strictly through hotel stays. Why would the card maybe make sense for them?
- The lack of a free night award without a spending requirement wouldn’t matter, since they’d spend $15,000 on the card anyway
- The incremental elite nights and Platinum status wouldn’t be worth much to them, since they qualify for a higher tier anyway, and don’t need any more help with elite status
- The 1,000 incremental bonus points per stay could add up, in addition to the 6x points they earn for Marriott spending
For a vast majority of people, I think the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card is more compelling than the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card. Let’s work backwards, doing the math on the card’s $650 annual fee:
- I consider the $300 restaurant credit to basically be worth face value, since I just load my Starbucks account with $25 each month, and that triggers the credit; with $300 in statement credits, I basically consider the card to “cost” me $350 per year
- A free night award valid at a property costing up to 85,000 points will get you stays at some awesome hotels, and I value that at significantly more than $350; for example, I’ve used my certificate at the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto (with an extra 15,000 points), when the stay would’ve cost roughly $2,000 per night
- This doesn’t even account for the other perks of the card, like the elite status and lounge access
For me, the math very much checks out on this card, assuming you can easily maximize the restaurant statement credits (it just requires a little effort), and stay at Marriotts with any frequency.
Also, just keep in mind that you can always apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card with its superior offer and give it a try. If the card doesn’t work out for you, it should be possible to downgrade the card after a year.
Bottom line
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card could represent a good value for some consumers, though I think for a vast majority of people, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card is a better option.
Yes, the card has a higher annual fee, but it also has substantial incremental perks. You get Platinum Elite status, 25 elite nights toward status, an anniversary free night award at a property costing up to 85,000 points, a Priority Pass membership, and much more. Add in the superior welcome offer, and I really think there’s a pretty obvious choice for most consumers.
What’s your take on the value proposition of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), and Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees).
Ben is forgetting to mention one big problem with the Brilliant card: the value of platinum status with Marriott is getting close to zero.
It’s well documented on OMAAT (and other websites) that more and more Marriott hotels don’t provide the free breakfast/upgrades/late checkout/lounge access that platinum members should receive. And Marriott head office doesn’t care and won’t do anything about it.
So why would you pay for platinum status?
Regarding the Brilliant card, Will I still get the 85,000 point free night, if I cancel the card, soon after the 2nd annual fee posts? I don’t want to pay the fee a second time.
The restaurant credit is worth, realistically, somewhere between 1/2 and full.
Unless you're doing the Starbucks load and regularly go to Starbucks you need to
1) Use it at a restaurant once a month. You would never choose this card for a restaurant otherwise.
2) Remember to use it.
3) This is annoying.
It's just more correct to value this at something less than face value. Use the Frequent Miler math: What would you...
The restaurant credit is worth, realistically, somewhere between 1/2 and full.
Unless you're doing the Starbucks load and regularly go to Starbucks you need to
1) Use it at a restaurant once a month. You would never choose this card for a restaurant otherwise.
2) Remember to use it.
3) This is annoying.
It's just more correct to value this at something less than face value. Use the Frequent Miler math: What would you pay for this credit, $25 at a restaurant each month using a specific card that you have to remember to use? For me, I might pay $10 a month.
As for the free night cert, it's good. Yes, it's good. Also it's a bit of a trap. To really enjoy it, you will need to book other nights at the same hotel. Those will cost a bunch of money or points. You will have to use the cert before it expires so it will create pressure to use it.
While one might argue Marriott points are worth 0.6-0.8 cents and the cert is "worth" $500 or more, that again overstates the true value. What would you pay for such a cert? More like $300-350? Probably but even still it's time boxed!
All that said, you get Platinum status, something like $100-300 worth of restaurant credits. Something like a $300 "free night" given you paid for the annual fee. The Brilliant card is a decent value proposition for status and the benefits. But it's not overwhelming compelling dollars wise like a maxed out Hilton Aspire would be
Would also disagree that the Brilliant is better for most folks, and looks like Ben is using a straight annual fee - credit dollar conversion. Does a $300 dollar credit offset the $650 fee from a straight dollar amount? sure does! that doesn't take into account any restrictions on how to spend that $300, and we know it's no longer a lump sum, what if the hotel screws up the charge, etc. Also, most folks...
Would also disagree that the Brilliant is better for most folks, and looks like Ben is using a straight annual fee - credit dollar conversion. Does a $300 dollar credit offset the $650 fee from a straight dollar amount? sure does! that doesn't take into account any restrictions on how to spend that $300, and we know it's no longer a lump sum, what if the hotel screws up the charge, etc. Also, most folks at this point likely aren't new to the cc game, and have Priority Pass thru one if not many of their cards. So, really, I'd say that's worth $0 especially if you have it with or without the Brilliant. It doesn't net any specific gain.
Bevy for most folks actually looks better, and less AF is always a win.
Unless you're targeted with an offer, applying Brilliant before Bevy will make you illegible for Brilliant welcome bonus, so starting with Bevy, unless you need instant Platinum status, is the way to go for most existing Marriott elites.
Recently downgraded my Brilliant to Bonvoy and I'm modestly happy with Bevy and its welcome bonus at this moment, 1000 points per stay adds up to around 20K points each year.
Don’t stay at Marriott priorities, that’s the best option.
Who wants to get Bonvoyed