American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (Old Review NOT Being Updated)
Updated July 3, 2022. This is for the product before September 2022, and visit the current product page here.
The Facts
The Math
First of all, the effective annual fee of Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant vs. JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa: Even though the Ritz-Carlton Visa has been discontinued to new applicants due to Marriott-Amex-Chase agreement that makes Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant the sole high-end Marriott credit card, it will still be interesting to compare the two. With the same $450 annual fees as well as several features like the annual free night capped at 50K points, Marriott Gold for free and Marriott Platinum after $75K spending, Priority Pass Select membership, Global Entry / TSA PreCheck credit, and premium roadside assistance, the two cards differ in: (1) even though both have very similar 6-3-2 rewards earning structure, Ritz-Carlton Visa has car rentals as an additional 3x category; (2) the annual $300 travel credits are different - Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant's is for any Marriott portfolio hotel charges while Ritz-Carlton Visa's is for airline incidental charges; (3) Ritz-Carlton Visa offers several lucrative travel perks unavailable on Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, such as three Ritz-Carlton Club level upgrades, hotel privileges through Visa Infinite/Signature Collection and Relais Chateaux, Visa Infinite $100 companion discount in economy class, car rental elite status, primary rental car collision coverage, while Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant's unique perks pale in comparison (annual 15 night credits toward elite status); (4) Ritz-Carlton Visa's travel protection is much better than Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant's, as the latter doesn't cover travel cancellation, travel delay, baggage delay, and extended family members as well as awards tickets. In general, we are really disappointed to see Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant packs a much weaker suite of perks.
Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 - Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant offers $300 for any Marriott portfolio hotel purchases, while Hilton Aspire offers $250 for airline incidentals plus $250 for Hilton portfolio resorts; obviously, Marriott'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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant'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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant'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. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, 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.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $450
- Signup Bonus: 75,000 points after you spend $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening. The welcome offer is not available to applicants who (i) have or have had Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card or this card, (ii) have or have had the Ritz-Carlton Credit Card from JP Morgan or JP Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card in the last 30 days, (iii) have acquired Marriott Bonvoy Boundless from Chase, Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy Premier from Chase, Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Business from Chase, or Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card from Chase in the last 90 days, or (iv) received a welcome or upgrade offer for Marriott Bonvoy Boundless from Chase, Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy Premier from Chase, Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Business from Chase, or Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card from Chase in the last 24 months. Historical best bonus: (1) 150,000 points + one 85K-point free night in 2021; (2) Marriott Platinum for a year + 100,000 points @singup & 25,000 points @ anniversary in late 2020; (3) 100,000 points since in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 6x Marriott portfolio hotels, 3x U.S. restaurants and airfare, and 2x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Marriott Bonvoy 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, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Delta, Gaylord, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Courtyard, Four Points, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, AC Hotels, Protea, moxy, aloft, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, element, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Marriott Vacation Club. (2) You may transfer points into airline miles of 40+ 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; you might also top off the free night certificate with your own Marriott points, up to 15,000 additional points for a higher redemption level. (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) Annual 15 night credits toward elite status each calendar year. (6) Free premium internet access at Marriott portfolio hotels. (7) $100 property credit for each 2-night stay at St. Regis or Ritz-Carlton booked with the special "$100 Property Credit, Luxury Credit Card Rate" in your Marriott Bonvoy account or via the call center.
- 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.
- Other Facts: this card has a metal design and weighs about 15 grams, three times as heavy as regular plastics.
- History: with the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programs in August 2018, Amex introduced the SPG Luxury Card as the flagship credit card in the combined loyalty program. In February, with the new name of the combined program finally unveiled, Amex SPG Luxury Card was rebranded as Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card.
The Math
First of all, the effective annual fee of Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant vs. JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa: Even though the Ritz-Carlton Visa has been discontinued to new applicants due to Marriott-Amex-Chase agreement that makes Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant the sole high-end Marriott credit card, it will still be interesting to compare the two. With the same $450 annual fees as well as several features like the annual free night capped at 50K points, Marriott Gold for free and Marriott Platinum after $75K spending, Priority Pass Select membership, Global Entry / TSA PreCheck credit, and premium roadside assistance, the two cards differ in: (1) even though both have very similar 6-3-2 rewards earning structure, Ritz-Carlton Visa has car rentals as an additional 3x category; (2) the annual $300 travel credits are different - Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant's is for any Marriott portfolio hotel charges while Ritz-Carlton Visa's is for airline incidental charges; (3) Ritz-Carlton Visa offers several lucrative travel perks unavailable on Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, such as three Ritz-Carlton Club level upgrades, hotel privileges through Visa Infinite/Signature Collection and Relais Chateaux, Visa Infinite $100 companion discount in economy class, car rental elite status, primary rental car collision coverage, while Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant's unique perks pale in comparison (annual 15 night credits toward elite status); (4) Ritz-Carlton Visa's travel protection is much better than Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant's, as the latter doesn't cover travel cancellation, travel delay, baggage delay, and extended family members as well as awards tickets. In general, we are really disappointed to see Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant packs a much weaker suite of perks.
Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 - Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant offers $300 for any Marriott portfolio hotel purchases, while Hilton Aspire offers $250 for airline incidentals plus $250 for Hilton portfolio resorts; obviously, Marriott'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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant'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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant'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. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, 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 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, 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.