Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa Signature

Updated February 11, 2023. 
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The Facts
  • Annual Fee: none
  • Signup Bonus: 60,000 points after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  This product is not available if you currently have Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card (also known as Marriott Rewards Premier Card), or Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card (also known as Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Card), or have received a signup bonus for either of these cards in the past 24 months.  The bonus is not available if you (i) have or had Amex Marriott Bonvoy Card (also known as Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Card) in the last 30 days, or (ii) have or had Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business Card (also known as Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card) or Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (also known as Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card) and received a bonus in the last 24 months, or (iii) applied and were approved for Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business Card (also known as Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card) or Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (also known as Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card) in the last 90 days.  Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards).  Historical best bonus of this card: (1) 60,000 points in 2021 & 2023; (2) 50,000 points in 2019 & 2020.
  • Application Landing Page
  • Rewards: 3x points at Marriott portfolio hotels (over 7,000 worldwide) and 2x everywhere else.
  • Best Use of Marriott Bonvoy points: (1) You may redeem points for hotel stays or upgrades at over 7,000 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.
  • Other Benefits: (1) 15 night credits toward elite status each calendar year, essentially qualifying you for Marriott Silver status.  (2) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.​
  • Other Facts: this card was introduced in 2019.

The Math

As Marriott points are normally valued at less than 1 cent per point (0.75 cpp in our book), this card is decent for general spending.  Based on our value, this card returns 1.5% travel rewards and will be outshined by a 2% cashback card (such as Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa).  However, if you points valuation is higher or if you know how to maximize points value (especially when transferred to frequent flyer miles), you might still find this card better than 2% cashback cards.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold vs. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless: With $95 annual fees, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless offers an annual free night capped at 35,000 points level and 3 extra points for Marriott purchases.  It is not hard to get a hotel night more than $95 for the free night, so for those who can take advantage of the free night, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless is a better card to have between the two.

The Conclusion
If you can take advantage of the free night certificate, it is better to get Marriott Bonvoy Boundless instead of Marriott Bonvoy Bold.