The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (review) is Marriott’s small business credit card. I find the card worthwhile for the annual free night award, plus the ability to earn 15 elite nights toward status annually.
Some positive changes were made to the card earlier in 2022, which I think cardmembers will be happy about.
Best of all, the card’s $125 annual fee (Rates & Fees) will remain unchanged. Let’s go over the details of these improvements in no particular order (these all kicked in as of July 21, 2022).
Earn 4x Bonvoy points on restaurants globally
Historically the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex has offered 4x points on U.S. restaurant spending; now, the card offers 4x points on restaurant spending globally. This is a very nice development, especially since Amex has historically limited some bonus categories to the United States.
In addition to this, the card offers 6x points on Marriott spending, 4x points on U.S. gas stations, U.S. purchases for shipping, and wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, plus 2x points on other purchases.
Earn Marriott Gold status
The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex now offers Marriott Gold status for as long as you’re a cardmember, rather than just Silver status. Gold status offers perks like 25% bonus points, 2PM late check-out, enhanced Wi-Fi, a room upgrade subject to availability (to non-suites), etc.
Status gets most valuable when you get to the Platinum tier, so I wouldn’t get too excited about the Gold status. Fortunately, elite nights are easy to rack up with the card, as you get 15 annually just for being a cardmember.
7% Marriott room rate discount
The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex now offers a 7% room rate discount. This applies off the standard rate, for a standard guest room booking at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties.
You need to pay with your business card to take advantage of this. The catch is that the discount is off the standard rate, and many of us will have access to equally good or even better rates otherwise. In other words, you may find that AAA rates, senior rates, Bonvoy member rates, advance purchase rates, etc., are either similarly priced or even cheaper.
If you’re an eligible cardmember and log into your Bonvoy account, you should see the “Amex Biz Card Member Rate” automatically listed in the section that shows eligible rates.
For example, I pulled up the rates for a stay at the Le Meridien Tampa. The standard rate was $180, and the Amex Biz Card rate was $171. Meanwhile the advance purchase rate was $153.
I then looked up the flexible AAA rate, which was $156.
So frankly, I’d consider this to be of limited value since this doesn’t actually seem to be better than existing rates for savvy travelers.
Bottom line
Some positive changes have just been made to the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex. The card now offers Bonvoy Gold status for as long as you’re a cardmember, you earn 4x Bonvoy points on dining globally (rather than just in the United States), and cardmembers also get access to a 7% rate discount off the flexible rate.
These are all positive changes, though personally I wouldn’t consider any of these to be too huge of a deal. For me the core value proposition of the card continues to be an annual free night certificate plus 15 nights toward elite status, both of which help me earn status with Marriott.
If you’re considering picking up the card, keep in mind Marriott credit card eligibility restrictions.
What do you make of these Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex changes?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees).
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.