The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (learn more) is the most premium credit card in the Marriott co-brand card portfolio. The card has a hefty annual fee that might make some people hesitant to apply, but the perks add up.
In this post, I’d like to share why I think this card is worth picking up, as the benefits justify the annual fee, in my opinion.
Link: Learn more about the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
In this post:
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card lucrative welcome offer
For applications through September 30, 2026, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card has a limited time two-part welcome offer where you can earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points plus a $250 statement credit after spending $6,000 within the first six months.
I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, given all the great ways there are to redeem them, so I would value 150,000 points at $1,050. Add in the $250 statement credit and you’re looking at a total value of $1,300. That’s just about as good as welcome offers on this card get.
Why the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card is worth it
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card has a $650 annual fee (Rates & Fees). I can understand how on the surface some people might say “well I don’t want to pay that much for a card if I don’t have to.”
I totally get it, but I think for many people this card will be well worth it. It’s a card that I personally have, and one that I get significant value from. In no particular order, below are the five perks that I like most about the card, and that I think make it worthwhile.
$300 annual restaurant credit
One thing that helps with justifying the annual fee on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card is that it offers up to $300 in restaurant credits annually. Specifically, you can receive up to $25 per month in credits for spending at eligible restaurants worldwide.
This should be extremely easy to take advantage of — just spend $25 at a restaurant each month, and you’ll receive a statement credit for that amount. You could use this toward a nice dinner while traveling, or just for your morning coffee. There’s no registration required, and the statement credit will post automatically.
Admittedly there are better cards for dining spending, so you may not want to use this card for all of your restaurant spending. My strategy is to just load $25 into my Starbucks account at the beginning of each month, and that does the trick.
Free night award worth up to 85,000 Bonvoy points
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card offers a free night award on your account anniversary every year, valid at a property costing up to 85,000 Bonvoy points per night. This has a significant advantage over the free night award on some other Marriott credit cards, which are only valid at properties costing up to 35,000-50,000 points.
You can even use up to 25,000 points to top off your free night award, meaning you could use the certificate at a hotel costing up to 110,000 points. You could potentially use that at some pretty awesome properties.
Personally, I value this free night certificate at more than $350 per year, so between the restaurant credit and this, you’re already breaking even on the card on an ongoing basis, not even accounting for the other perks.
Just to give an example, I used one of my last free night awards at the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. The property was charging 100,000 points for the night I wanted to stay, so I could use the free night award, plus top it off with 15,000 points. If paying cash, the room would have cost over $2,000. What a deal!
Marriott Platinum Elite status
The single greatest benefit of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card is that it offers Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status for as long as you’re a cardmember. This is amazing, as it ordinarily requires 50 elite nights per year. This is where hotel status gets valuable, and you can unlock perks like free breakfast, room upgrades, guaranteed late check-out, and more.
Note that the years of Platinum Elite status earned with this card also count toward lifetime status with Marriott Bonvoy, if that’s something you’re going for.
25 elite nights toward Bonvoy status
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card offers 25 elite nights toward status annually. Since I have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (learn more), I receive a total of 40 elite nights toward status annually between the two cards.
Now, of course you’re already getting Platinum Elite status with the card, so what’s the benefit of this? Well, the elite nights could come in handy if you want to earn Marriott Bonvoy Choice Benefits (like Nightly Upgrade Awards) or go for Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite or Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite status.
A Priority Pass™ membership
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card offers a Priority Pass™ membership (Enrollment required) to the primary cardmember. This will come in handy for anyone who travels by air with any frequency, given the value of airport lounge access.
Bottom line
I find the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card to be extremely worthwhile. While the card has a $650 annual fee, personally, I tend to think the up to $300 annual restaurant credit plus annual free night award more than justify the annual fee.
Then you can add in perks like Platinum Elite status, 25 elite nights toward status annually, and more, and the card really shines.
If this is a card you don’t yet have, now would be a great time to apply, given the welcome offer that’s currently available. I don’t want to suggest that Bonvoy elite status is the most valuable thing in the world — it’s not — but Marriott does have a huge hotel portfolio, and it’s ultimately better to have elite status than not to have elite status.
If you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, what has your experience been?
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).
Hi, if i renew this card next year for $650, will the renew will get the 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points?
The bonus can only be earned in the first year, if you meet the spending requirements. What you'll get for renewing next year is the free night award (currently valid at hotels that cost up-to 85,000 points).
Marriott points are becoming more and more worthless by the day. I’ve had this card for years but will be canceling this year. The 85k certificates are turning into a joke. No more aspirational properties, think Fairfield Inn at the Buffalo airport.
This may be the last year I have this card. The things really bothering me are the further devaluations of points (you say 0.7 cpp, but it feels even less) and the games played with these 85K certificates (oh, lookie, all the aspirational properties are now asking 111K per night, huh.) Otherwise, Platinum status is mainly good for complimentary breakfast, where applicable, and it feels like less and less properties are 'included' as time marches on.
If someone values Marriott points at 0.7 CCP and redeems for 75k on average, the FNC is worth over $500. Add in the restaurant credits and the AF is easily covered. Throw in the breakfast, Marriott lounge access, and uogrades from Platinum status. Plus Priority Pass. For some, it's a great fit.