Category: Marriott

Amazing Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card offers (best ever for three cards & second best for one): points & free nights from Amex & Chase

9/28/2021

Another round of amazing signup offers and this time is for four Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit cards:

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card ($450 annual fee & $300 annual Marriott credit): 150,000 points + one 85K-point free night (our value $1,425) - easily the best offer ever for this product!
Amex Marriott Bonvoy BUSINESS Card ($125 annual fee): 125,000 points + two 50K-point free nights (our value $1,413) - easily the best offer ever for this product!
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Card ($99): 125,000 points + one 50K-point free night (our value $1,143). We consider this as the second best offer ever behind last year's five 50K-point free night offer.
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa Card (no annual fee): 60,000 points (our value $450) - also the best offer ever on this product.

You might pick one up based on your own situation. Beware of the rules - read the details on the application page or in our reviews.

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Chase introduces more temporary bonuses to its credit card portfolio for November and December 2020

10/31/2020

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Chase has introduced temporary benefits on more of its credit cards. In a recent post, we covered Chase Sapphire series, Ink series, and Freedom series. Now select cardmembers will receive the following category bonuses between 11/1/2020 and 12/31/2020; you need to activate the offer through a link in the promotional email or at chase.com/mybonus directly.

5x miles/points on Amazon.com and groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for United Airlines cards, Southwest RapidRewards cards, Brith Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, Marriott Bonvoy cards, and Ritz-Carlton cards.
5x points on Amazon.com and 3x on groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for Hyatt cards and IHG Rewards cards.
10x points on Marriott portfolio hotels, up to $3,500 spent per month, for Marriott Bonvoy cards and Ritz-Carlton cards.

In addition, not from Chase or Amex, the following hotel program policies are recently announced:

Marriott: annual free night certificates expiring before 12/11/2020 will be valid until 1/31/2021, and those expiring between 12/11/2020 and 7/31/2021 will be valid until 8/1/2021. These cards earn annual free night certificates: Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, and those Marriott/Ritz-Cartlton/SPG cobranded cards issued by Chase or Amex that are no longer accepting new applications.
Hyatt: annual free night certificates with an expiration date between 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2021 will be valid until 12/31/2021. Chase World of Hyatt Visa and Hyatt Visa earn annual free night certificates.

Finally, to track all the COVID-19 related temporary credit card benefits, please visit our featured review which has been under continuous update with the most recent updates highlighted in cardinal.

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Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card & Business Card offering free Marriott Platinum status & 100,000 points & more

10/15/2020

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In response to Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa's crazily lucrative five free 50K-nights offer, Amex has also brought us very impressive offers for both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card:

For the 2021 calendar year, enjoy free Marriott Platinum Elite status, the second top tier elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy program, normally achieved by staying at least 50 nights per year and offering lounge access/free breakfasts, upgrades to a suite, and other perks.
Earn 100,000 points when you spend at least $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening for either card.
Earn additional 25,000 points upon your first anniversary when you renew your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card. The annual fee is $450 but after considering the annual $300 Marriott credit becomes $150 effectively. The card offers a free 50K-night upon each anniversary, which can easily negate the effective annual fee.
Earn up to $150 in statement credits for select U.S. advertising purchases within the first 6 months with your Marriott Bonvoy Business Card, which carries a $125 annual fee and offers a free 35K-night upon each anniversary.

Considering how lucrative Marriott Platinum status could be, we judge these as the best signup bonuses ever for both cards. The only concern is obviously your travel plan during this pandemic.

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Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless best bonus ever: five free nights, each capped at 50,000-point level

10/1/2020

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Chase has brought us an amazing signup offer for Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature:

When you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, you will earn five free nights at Marriott International portfolio hotels worldwide, each capped at 50,000 points redemption level.
The free night certificates expire 12 months after issuance.
The potential maximum value for this signup bonus is 250,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, compared to the previous signup bonus of 100,000 points. This is easily the best offer ever for this card, and probably also better than any of the previous offers from Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Starwood credit cards.
The downside of free night certificate compared to outright points bonus includes: (1) the free nights will have the best value when redeemed at hotels that require exactly or at least close to 50,000 points per night, which represent a subset of Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, while Marriott Bonvoy points can be redeemed at any Marriott portfolio hotels at different redemption levels; (2) free night certificates expire after 12 months of issuance and there is no way to extend them after expiration dates (except for COVID-19 related measures), while Marriott points expire after 24 months of account inactivity and any qualifying activity will keep all points active for another 24 months; (3) Marriott points can also be transferred to frequent flyer miles of 44 partners, and in our book this feature actually represents better value than hotel redemption (currently 0.75 cent per point vs. 0.6 cent for hotels). Partners such as American, United, Alaska, Delta, Southwest, British, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Japan, Air Canada, ANA, Avianca, Singapore, Turkish, Korean, Flying Blue, Etihad, all have their own unique strength and value; (4) you can redeem these free nights separately at different hotels or at the same hotels for different stays, but if you decide to redeem them for a five-night stay at the same hotel, keep in mind that Marriott allows you to pay for 4 nights using points and get the 5th night for free - in this way the five free nights will represent value of 200,000 points instead of 250,000 points as previously discussed.
Of course, it is up to you to decide which hotel(s) you want to redeem these free nights. Here we would like to give some ideas to maximize the value of these free nights. The following is Marriott Bonvoy's current hotel redemption chart, and obviously better value could be found at Category-6 hotels requiring 50,000 points for standard redemption rate, Category-7 hotels requiring 50,000 points for off-peak rate, and Category-5 hotels requiring 40,000 points for peak rate, as circled in red.

Here are some examples of hotels considered as having great value for free night redemption:
Category-6 (standard redemption): Al Bustan Palace=a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Langkawi, The Ritz-Carlton Cancun, The Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, The Ritz-Carlton Budapest, The Ritz-Carlton Riyadh, The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain, The Ritz-Carlton Abama, The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, The Ritz-Carlton Moscow, The Ritz-Carlton Macau, The Ritz-Carlton Santiago, The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta, The Ritz-Carlton Mexico City, The Ritz-Carlton Bali, The St. Regis Houston, The St. Regis Langkawi, The St. Regis Singapore, The St. Regis Mexico City, Las Alcobas Mexico City=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Tembo del Inka Valle Sagrado=a Luxury Collection Resort, The Shanghai EDITION, W Hollywood, W Miami, JW Marriott Nara, JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge, Château de la Resle=a Member of Design Hotels, The Westin Miyako Kyoto, The Westin Palace Madrid, Marriott's St. Kitts Beach Club, Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View, St. Pancras Renaissance London, Le Metropolitan Paris=A Tribute Portfolio Hotel
Category-7 (with decent off-peak rate availability): The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, The Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale, The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, The Ritz-Carlton Bacara - Santa Barbara, The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, The Ritz-Carlton Washington DC, The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds - Lake Oconee, The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah Al Wadi Desert, The Ritz-Carlton Osaka, The Ritz-Carlton Toronto, The Ritz-Carlton Herzliya, The Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai Pudong, The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui, The Ritz-Carlton Vienna, The St. Regis Atlanta, The St. Regis Osaka, The St. Regis Toronto, The St. Regis Washington DC, Hotel The Mitsui - Kyoto=a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Jaffa - Tel Aviv=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Caresse - Bodrum=a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, King George - Athens=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel Grande Bretagne - Athens=a Luxury Collection Hotel, SLS Hotel - Beverly Hills=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel Imperial - Vienna=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel Marqués de Riscal - Elciego=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Excelsior Hotel Gallia - Milan=a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hotel President Wilson - Geneva=a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Bodrum EDITION, The West Hollywood EDITION, The New York EDITION, The Times Square EDITION New York, W New York - Union Square, W Amsterdam, W Bali Seminyak, JW Marriott Essex House New York, The Algonquin Times Square=Autograph Collection, 11 Howard New York=a Member of Design Hotels, Blakes Hotel London=a Member of Design Hotels, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort, Le Méridien Bora Bora, Paris Marriott Champs Elysees, Wealia Beach Resort - Marriott Maui, Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, Renaissance Paris Vendome
Category-5 (peak redemption): Sharq Village & Spa=a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Doha, The St. Regis Shanghai Jing'An, The St. Regis Cairo, The St. Regis Doha, Trump Turnberry - Scotland=a Luxury Collection Resort, Hotel Paracas=a Luxury Collection Resort, The Alexander - Yerevan=a Luxury Collection Hotel, The Sanya EDITION, W Muscat, W Santiago, W Brisbane, JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort, JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort, JW Marriott Monterrey Valle, Pier One Sydney Harbour=Autograph Collection, Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay

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Amex, Chase, and Citi bring COVID-19 related adjustments to credit card products

5/2/2020

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COVID-19 pandemic has obviously changed consumer behavior big time, and it makes sense that credit card issuers are making adjustments accordingly. This post summarizes these adjustments from Amex, Chase, and Citi.

American Express

For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
Platinum Card (personal): up to $320 in statement credits on select U.S. streaming services and U.S. wireless phone services (up to $20 per category per month, from May through December 2020); cardmembers that renew between April and December 2020 will receive $200 in statement credits for Amex Travel (Amex's travel booking portal, from August 2020 to December 2021).
Business Platinum Card: up to $320 in statement credits on wireless phone services and U.S. shipping (up to $20 per category per month, from May to December 2020); up to additional $200 in statement credits on Dell purchases in U.S. (up to $100 from 5/1/2020 to 6/30/2020; up to $100 from 7/1/2020 to 12/31/2020) - this is on top of the $200 Dell credits that are already part of this card's benefits; select cardmembers will also receive a $200 credit when they renew between May and November 2020.
Green Card: up to $80 in statement credits on U.S. wireless phone services (up to $10 per month, from May through December 2020).
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card: earn 6x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020); $300 Marriott statement credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020).
Marriott Bonvoy Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $59 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
Hilton Aspire Card & Hilton Surpass Card: earn 12x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020; bonus points earned through these credit cards from May to December 2020 will be considered base points for determining Hilton elite status; unexpired free weekend night certificates as of 5/1/2020 and newer certificates issued until 12/31/2020, will be valid for any night of the week, and those issued between 5/1/2020 and 12/31/2020 will be valid for 24 months (instead of 12 months); in addition, Hilton Aspire's $250 Hilton resort credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020.
Hilton Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $50 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
Delta SkyMiles Reserve, SkyMiles Platinum, SkyMiles Gold, SkyMiles Blue cards: earn 4x miles on U.S. supermarkets, from May through July 2020; select Business SkyMiles Reserve cardmembers will receive a $125 credit when they renew between May and December 2020; select Business SkyMiles Platinum cardmembers will also receive a $75 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.

Chase

For those who open a new credit card (personal or small business) from January through March 2020, the period to meet spending requirements to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
Sapphire Reserve Card: annual fees will be reduced from $550 to $450 for those who renew the card from 4/1/2020 through 7/31/2020; earn 5x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchases per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
United Club Infinite Card, United Club Card, United Presidential Plus Card: earn 5x miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Bonvoy Bold, Marriott Rewards Premier: earn 6x points on groceries, up to $6,000 in purchase, from 5/1/2020 through 7/31/2020.
The following cards will earn 3 points or miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020: Sapphire Preferred Card, United Explorer Card, United MileagePlus Select Card, Southwest RapidRewards (RR) Plus Visa, Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Priority Visa, British Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, World of Hyatt Visa, Hyatt Visa, IHG Rewards Club Premier WEMC, IHG Rewards Club Select MasterCard, and Disney Premier Visa.

Citi

For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
Citi Prestige: the annual $250 travel credits can now be used towards groceries and dining, from May to December 2020.
Citi AA Executive: cardholders that renew after 3/31/2020 will receive a $225 statement credit, which equals to half of the annual fee.
Citi AA Platinum Select: the annual $125 flight discount certificates (after $20K annual spending) that are expiring between 3/31/2020 and 5/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.
CitiBusiness AA Platinum Select: the annual $99 companion certificates (after $30K annual spending) that are expiring on 12/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.

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Amex also has major changes in protection benefits effective January 1, 2020

11/17/2019

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After Citi's September overhaul and Barclay's November overhaul of their credit card protection benefits, Amex will also have some major changes coming on January 1, 2020. Here are the breakdowns of the upcoming changes.

Trip Cancellation & Interruption: added to Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. This covers trips cancelled or interrupted due to weather, terrorism, sudden illness or injury, jury duty, up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per year. In addition to tickets paid entirely with an Amex card, awards tickets and Pay with Points tickets are covered as well.
Trip Delay: added to Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, for flight delays more than 6 hours, up to $500 per ticket. Also added to Gold Card (personal and business), Green Card, and Delta Platinum (personal and business), for flight delays more than 12 hours, up to $300 per ticket. In addition to tickets paid entirely with an Amex card, awards tickets and Pay with Points tickets are covered as well.
Travel Accident Insurance: removed from all cards!
Roadside Assistance: removed from all cards! For most cards it is not big deal, as the benefit only dispatches a service provider and you still have to pay for the service. However, certain premium Amex cards such as Platinum Card (personal and business), Gold Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant currently offer Premium Roadside Assistance which covers towing up to 10 miles and other incidentals for free, for up to 4 times per year, and this benefit will be gone as well! Many cardholders including myself, actually use the Premium Roadside Assistance in lieu of AAA's basic plan, and in 2020 they have to look into alternatives such as Chase Sapphire Reserve (which unfortunately only covers up to $50 per use) or start paying AAA once again.
Return Protection: removed from all cards except for Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Blue Cash Preferred, EveryDay Preferred, and Plum Card (business).
Extended Warranty: coverage will be reduced from two years of extended warranty down to one year. Remember Amex actually just increased the coverage from one year to two years back in August 2018, and in 2020 the only card issuer that continue to offer two years of extended warranty is Citi (and only for certain cards). What is more, this benefit will be removed entirely for EveryDay Card, Blue Card, Blue Cash Card, and Cash Magnet.
Purchase Protection: coverage will be reduced from 120 days back to 90 days. The same story here - Amex just increased the coverage from 90 days to 120 days in August 2018. The coverage usually covers only theft or damage, up to $1,000 per item and $50,000 per year, but Amex will add accidental loss and increase the per item limit to $10,000 for Platinum Card (personal and business), Gold Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.

Overall, the changes are mixed - some gain and some loss - but not as bad as Citi's drastic devaluation. The cards that benefit from the changes are probably limited to those with an annual fee at least $450 - Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant; the rest of the cards are generally considered to receive reduced coverage. We think most cardholders will be unhappy about the changes. We will update our Protection page once these changes kick in.

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A few updates on the website...

8/24/2019

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There are quite a few updates on the website in the recent weeks, and here is a quick roundup.

Chase Southwest Performance Business Visa write-up is up - please see the Chase Southwest Visa Cards review for details. The impressive 80K points signup will get you really close to the 110K-point qualifying threshold to achieve the potentially extremely lucrative Southwest Companion Pass which allows you take a companion for free for a year.
Amex Blue Business Cash review is up - this card is no the new benchmark for general business spending with a strait 2% cashback on everything up to $50K spent per year and no annual fees. If you can leverage Membership Rewards' miles transfer feature to achieve a points value higher than 1 cent a piece (1.5 cents in our book), you'd better off with the old "King of Business Cards" Amex Blue Business Plus; however, for most business owners, Blue Business Cash is a much easier option to get $1,000 in rewards per year.
U.S. Bank Business Cash WEMC review is up. Its 3.75% & 1.25% cash rewards structure is nothing to write about, but the $500 signup bonus is worth looking into.
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa review is up. If you can take advantage of the annual free night capped at 35K redemption level, the $95 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa is actually a better card to apply and keep.
Chase United Explorer Business Visa is offering up to 100,000 miles at signup. Before get too excited, you have to know that this comes with a rather difficult spending requirement of $25K within 6 months of new account opening. Even with the devaluation of United miles in the coming November, due to the fact that partner redemption will be kept the same, this signup offer (worth $1,250 in our book) still tops our chart of best signup bonuses.
Chase IHG Premier MasterCard offers the historical high - 125K points & $50 statement credit & 15 extra points for IHG purchase for the first year & 2 extra points for other general spending for the first year. However, due to the relative low value of IHG points, this signup offer is worth about $460 in our book.
Amex Hilton Ascend has been rebranded back to Amex Hilton Surpass, and nothing else changed. It still comes with 130K Hilton points at signup (worth $425 in our book), complimentary Hilton Gold status, and an annual free weekend night after $15K spending.
Amex Platinum Card offers 75K Membership Rewards at signup now. It is very decent offer for those who are also interested in the iconic card's Fine Hotels & Resorts program, arguably the best airport lounge program offered by a credit card, Hilton Gold status, Uber & Saks credits, 5x points on airfare, etc.

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Increased signup bonuses: Delta Amex (five cards 60-80K miles each, with some historical high), Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless 100K points, Chase IHG Premier 120K points.

3/1/2019

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This week we have seen some elevated signup bonuses on a few credit cards (our value for the bonus minus first year annual fee is for your reference - your valuation may vary):

Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles personal card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 60,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Mile) - our value $650
Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles business card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 70,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $750
Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles personal card ($195 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $705 (historical high)
Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles business card ($195 annual fee): 80,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $755 (historical high)
Amex Delta Reserve personal card ($450 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $350 (historical high)
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa ($95 annual fee): 100,000 points - our value $655 (historical high)
Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier MasterCard ($89 annual fee): 120,000 points - our value ($390 (historical high)

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Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is here - everything remains the same but the name

2/13/2019

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With the new name for the world's largest loyalty program unveiled, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card is finally rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. Everything remains the same but the name - including (1) the $450 annual fee, (2) 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, (3) annual $300 credits at any Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, (4) an annual free night at Marriott portfolio hotels or resorts with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less, (5) annual 15 night credits towards Marriott elite status, (6) free Marriott Gold status and upgrade to Marriott Platinum status after $75K annual spending, and (7) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited airport lounge access for you plus two guests.

At the same time, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express is rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card. The only thing that changes other than the name is the annual fee - increased from $95 to $125 and NOT waived for the first year any more. However, if you apply before 3/28/19, you will continue to receive the first annual fee waiver and your annual fee after the first year will be grandfathered in at $95. You will also receive 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months. If you have been thinking about applying for this card, you probably want to do it before March 28.

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Amex SPG Luxury is here - apply before 8/26/18 if you are interested to avoid potential non-approval due to the strange and over-complicated Chase Marriott/Ritz-Carlton rule

8/23/2018

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American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Luxury Card is finally here, with a 100K signup bonus. Our review is now alive. The card is totally worth keeping after the first year thanks to the annual $300 Marriott credits and the free night capped at 50K points level. For your information, the new Marriott program has 8 redemption categories, and 50K points are required for a Category 6 standard awards night. We have also updated the High-end Credit Card Comparison, as well as quite a few related reviews.

The Facts

Annual Fee: $450
Signup Bonus: 100,000 points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. The welcome offer is not available to applicants who have or have had this card. Effective 8/26/18, welcome offer is not available to applicants who (i) have or have had JP Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card, Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card, or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a welcome or upgrade offer for Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card, Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card, or Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card in the last 24 months. Historical best bonus: 100,000 points since introduced in August 2018.
Application Landing Page
Rewards: 6x Marriott portfolio hotels, 3x U.S. restaurants and airfare, and 2x everywhere else.
Best Use of Marriott points: (1) You may redeem points for hotel stays or upgrades at over 6,500 Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, including Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, JW Marriott, EDITION, W Hotels, Marriott, Renaissance, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, AC Hotels, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, Protea, Moxy, Four Points, element, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club. (2) You may transfer points into airline miles of 30+ frequent flyer programs, mostly at 3:1 ratio. If you transfer 60,000 points in a bulk you will get 5,000 miles as a bonus (60K points = 25 miles). Please see our review on Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR for details of the programs that allow frequent flyer miles transfer. (3) You may also redeem points for Marriott Hotel+Air Travel Packages - you exchange a certain number of Marriott points for a certain number of frequent flyer miles plus a 7-night certificate for a Marriott portfolio hotel at a certain redemption level. Generally, the new Travel Packages represent devaluation from the old Travel Packages before August 2018 - you save some points when use this option, but in our opinion most of the time the saving is not big enough for the hassle of finding a single hotel to stay seven nights in a row.
Marriott Benefits: (1) Annual $300 statement credits towards purchases at Marriott portfolio hotels each membership year. (2) An annual free night at any Marriott portfolio hotels with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less upon each cardmember anniversary after you renew the card (the e-certificate expires 12 months after issuance). (3) Complimentary Marriott Gold Elite status, the third tier status in the combined Marriott loyalty program effective August 2018. Normally achieved by staying at least 25 nights per year, Marriott Gold doesn't offer much but at least is better than nothing. (4) Upgrade to Marriott Platinum Elite status, the second tier status, after you spend at least $75,000 in a calendar year. Marriott Platinum, normally achieved by staying at least 50 nights per year and offering lounge access/free breakfasts and upgrades to a suite, is the real deal; however, spending $75K is quite a requirement. (5) Coming 2019, 15 night credits toward elite status each calendar year. (6) Free premium internet access at Marriott portfolio hotels.
Other Benefits: (1) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide for you plus two guests. (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application fees every four years. (3) Waived foreign transaction fees, with an embedded EMV chip. (4) Amex 24/7 Concierge Service. (5) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit or earn bonus points on select merchants when using your Amex card; you need to manually add an offer to your Amex card to be eligible for savings or bonus, and unlike other savings/bonus programs, you don't need to shop through a certain portal. (6) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants. (7) Entertainment Access including American Express Presale, American Express Preferred Seating, and Premium Access (dining access). (8) Unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi plan. (9) Premium Roadside Assistance - while most credit card's roadside assistance service only dispatches a provider and you have to pay for the actual charge, Amex Hilton Aspire is among the very few cards that cover towing up to 10 miles and other incidental charges, up to 4 times in a calendar year, regardless of how far you are away from home.
History: with the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs in August 2018, Amex introduced the SPG Luxury Card as the flagship credit card in the combined loyalty program.

The Math

First of all, the effective annual fee of Amex SPG Luxury Card is very reasonable at $150 after considering the easy-to-use $300 annual Marriott credits. With that, you receive several valuable perks including the 50k-point free night, 15 elite qualifying night credits, and Priority Pass Select membership.

Even though Marriott points are probably our favorite frequent traveler currency (thanks to Marriott's decision of keeping SPG's best feature), the earning rate of 2x points in the general spending category offered by this card (as well as any other Marriott credit cards) is not that impressive, especially compared to the old Amex SPG which technically returned 3x Marriott points for general spending. Our current valuation of Marriott points is 0.75 cent a piece, which means that this card returns 1.5%, 2.3%, 4.5% travel rewards for the 2x, 3x, and 6x categories, respectively. For general spending, you might want to consider a 2% cashback card without annual fees (such as Citi Double Cash) or a miles credit card with potential higher return such as Amex EveryDay Preferred (which returns 2.25% travel rewards when you have at least 30 transactions per month) and Chase Freedom Unlimited (which returns 2.25% travel rewards when you pair it with Chase Sapphire Reserve or similar premium UR cards). The bottom line is that we won't recommend this card for spending, probably except for purchases at Marriott hotels. In this way, this card is considered a great "drawer card". How about spending $75K to get the lucrative Marriott Platinum status? Let's use 2% cashback as the benchmark - your "complimentary" Marriott Platinum essentially costs you $75,000 x (2% -1.5%), i.e., $375 per year. This may be reasonable for some travelers but probably not for most.

Amex SPG Luxury vs. Amex SPG: the effective annual fee on the SPG Luxury Card is only $55 more than the lower-tier SPG Card. With that, you get a 50K-point free night instead of a 35K-point free night, Marriott Gold for free instead of spending $35K, the potential Marriott Platinum after $75K spending, as well as Priority Pass Select membership, Premium Roadside Assistance, etc. It is almost a no-brainer to pick the more expensive card as long as you stay at least a few nights at Marriott portfolio hotels.

Amex SPG Luxury vs. Amex Hilton Aspire: As the flagship credit card in each of their program, each card carries a $450 annual fee and offers complimentary Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited access for you plus two. How do they compete with each other? Let's first compare the annual statement credits - SPG Luxury offers $300 for any Marriott portfolio hotel purchases, while Hilton Aspire offers $250 for airline incidentals plus $250 for Hilton portfolio resorts; obviously, SPG's credits are easier to use, but Hilton's total credits are $200 more - considering both the absolute value and how easy to use, we call it a draw. Secondly, let's look at the annual free nights - Hilton Aspire wins this one as the annual free weekend night can be redeemed at any Hilton portfolio hotels, while SPG Luxury's free night is capped at 50K-point properties (a top-tier hotel requires 70K-100K). Thirdly, Hilton Aspire's complimentary Diamond status again blows SPG Luxury's complimentary Gold status out of water. Marriott Platinum status will be a good match of Hilton Diamond status, but it does require a whooping $75K annual spending on the card. Lastly, while we don't recommend either card for general spending, charging the hotel purchases to either card does make sense and the value actually compares well - Hilton Aspire's 14x points (5.6% cash equivalent return in our book) vs. SPG Luxury 6x points (4.5% in our book and offering more flexibility due to the valuable airline miles transfer). In general, Amex Hilton Aspire packs more value in our opinion, but which to pick actually heavily depends on which frequent guest program you are more loyal to.

To see how Amex SPG Luxury Card competes with other cards with similar annual fees, please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex SPG Luxury, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United MP Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, CNB Crystal, and MasterCard Black Card.

The Conclusion
Amex SPG Luxury, with the annual $300 Marriott credits and the anniversary free night, is such a great card to keep without ever spending a dime on, even for travelers that only stay at Marriott portfolio hotels just a few times a year. For travelers that frequent Marriott, this card's 6x points on Marriott purchases, 15 elite qualifying night credits, and the potential Marriott Platinum after $75K spending, are all worth looking into. It is currently rated as one of Best Credit Cards for Perks.

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