Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
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There are new offers out today on all of the currently-available Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. In this post, we’ll cover the new offers on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express card. The welcome bonuses released today are what I could consider to be all-time-high offers on these cards. While it is very exciting to see the existence of a new kind of free night certificate, my pick out of these two cards right now may actually be the business card. More under “Quick Thoughts” below.
The Offers
Consumer
| Card Offer |
|---|
95K Points ⓘ Affiliate 95k points after $6K spend within the first 6 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$650 Annual Fee Recent better offer: (Expired 10/2/24) 185k points after $6K spend within the first 6 months. |
Business
| Card Offer |
|---|
3 Free Night Awards, valued at up to 50K points each ⓘ Affiliate Three 50k free night certificates after $6K spend in the first 6 months. Redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy(R) points for each bonus Free Night Award, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy(R). Resort fees & terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$125 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 5x50K free night certificates after $8K in spend (expired 10/16/24) |
Key Card Details
Consumer
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
|---|
FM Mini Review: Decent ultra-premium option for Marriott fans, especially those aiming for lifetime status tiers $650 Annual Fee Earning rate: 3X airfare -on flights booked directly with airlines; 3X restaurants worldwide, 6X Marriott; 2X on all other eligible purchases Card Info: Amex Credit Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Annual Choice Award with $60K calendar year spend Noteworthy perks: ✦ 85K Free Night Award each year upon renewal ✦ $300 dining credit per membership year ($25/mo) ✦ Platinum Elite status ✦ 25 elite nights credit ✦ Priority Pass membership (Lounges only) with 2 guests ✦ Global Entry fee credit ✦ Free premium internet at Marriott properties Note: Enrollment required for some benefits. See also: Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide |
Business
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
|---|
$125 Annual Fee Earning rate: 6x at Marriott Bonvoy properties ✦ 4x at restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased from U.S. suppliers and on U.S. purchases for shipping ✦ 2x on all other eligible purchases. Terms Apply. (Rates & Fees) Card Info: Amex Credit Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: Earn an additional 35k free night certificate (can be topped-up with up to 15k additional points, subject to resort fees) after you spend $60K on purchases in a calendar year Noteworthy perks: Complimentary Marriott Gold elite status ✦ 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year ✦ 35k Free Night Award every year after card renewal (subject to resort fees) ✦ Complimentary premium Internet access at Marriott properties ✦ Terms Apply (Rates & Fees) See also: Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide |
Quick Thoughts
Both of these offers are fantastic. The chance to get an 85K free night certificate on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is something we just haven’t seen before; you can use those certificates for a free night at any Marriott hotel in the world during standard pricing — and better yet, those certs will cover peak pricing at all but top-tier Category 8 properties. That includes many very expensive properties in desirable locations. It truly is an awesome addition to an already-strong 150K-point welcome bonus. Personally, I’d be thrilled to use a night at the St. Regis New York, where this offer could really shine.
That said, the offer on the business card is also very compelling. At 125K plus two 50K free night certificates, it wouldn’t be hard to get incredible value out of the business card for a much lower annual fee. Greg has previously found that 50K free night certificates are worth around $300 domestically. Obviously they can be more or less valuable depending on your circumstances, but it certainly wouldn’t be hard to get excellent value out of those certificates. While 50K won’t get you a fancy hotel in the largest markets, it will give you plenty of options even in cities like New York (albeit mostly Courtyard and Residence Inn type places in New York City). In mid-major markets, 50K will often represent excellent value (and there are similarly some very attractive options in Europe at that level). If you value those certs at $300 each and the points at our reasonable redemption value of 0.62c per point, you’re looking at almost $1400 in value for a $125 annual fee. That’s awesome.
Of course, the 85K free night certificate on the Brilliant card could book you a hotel north of $1,000 a night in some markets. Combined with the 150K points on the Brilliant card, you could certainly get more cash-rate-equivalent value out of that offer. On the other hand, I have a hard time pinning down a dollar value on an 85K free night certificate. While I would indeed be thrilled to spend a night at the St. Regis New York and that property is often more than $1,000 per night, I wouldn’t spend anything close to one thousand dollars on a single hotel night. As we discuss on this week’s podcast, the “right” value is hard for me to assign because I probably wouldn’t even pay $350 per night when there are plenty of other acceptable options for $200 per night — but I do value the luxury of a St. Regis far beyond the price I would actually pay for a Residence Inn or whatever else may be in the ~$200 range that I’d more realistically choose. I certainly won’t fault those who value that 85K free night cert highly. Even if you only value it at $350 — just $50 more than a 50K cert (which seems absurdly low on the one hand but it’s hard to imagine buying a time-limited certificate for much more) — the welcome offer on the Brilliant is perhaps even better than the business card when you account for the $300 annual Marriott credit on the Brilliant
However, on this week’s podcast (coming this weekend), Greg and I come to the conclusion that it might be worth waiting on the Brilliant card. Now that there is such a thing as an 85K free night certificate, the rumored changes on the Brilliant card seem even more realistic than they did previously. If those rumored changes come to fruition, we have to wonder if there will be an even more generous welcome offer to come should there be an increase in the annual fee. Is it possible that we have not yet hit the peak of the credit card offer boom? It is hard to imagine a more generous offer, but with a steady stream of fantastic offers seemingly coming from all directions, it is hard to imagine a less generous offer if they do make changes to the card.
Either way it is hard to go wrong with these increased offers as both would be great additions for a Marriott fan. Keep in mind that either card offers 15 elite night credits annually. While elite nights from multiple consumer cards won’t stack, you can stack 15 elite nights from a business card with 15 elite nights from a consumer card. That fact combined with the fact that the business card will not add to your 5/24 count are a couple more things going for the business card, though that 85K cert is hard to ignore on the Brilliant.
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On the business card with the 125K points after $5K spend, when will the 2 x 50K certs appear? The points have now posted but not the certs …
Highest ever signup bonus for the Amex Marriott Business card or the Chase Ink Cash/Unlimited while I am under 5/24.
Is Chase offer $95 or AMEX offer of $450 better ?
An 85k cert, perfect for that one night stay in the Maldives. I’d definitely favor the biz offer. Tempted to try even though my SPG biz was only 4 years ago.
Hi
Does Amex match previous offer SUBs? I got the $450 one literally a month back and now I am like this is crazy better.
I am pre-approved for the Amex Marriott and Platinum cards. When I apply, I continue to get the dreaded ‘..not eligible for the welcome bonus..’ popup. I have never had either card and have only 3 Amex cards.
Anyone have success in being taken off the Amex ‘no welcome bonus’ list or is it just a waiting game until Amex deems me worthy again?
The fact that they are giving out a 85k cert certainly suggests there’s some planned use beyond SUB.
Bodes well for me keeping the Brilliant even if the annual fee is going up. That credit card probably had to keep up with its currencies’ rapid inflation.
So does this mean you get the 2 certificates (business card) after meeting the minimum spend? Then you still get one (35k) at your card anniversary?
Yup!
Awesome! Thanks, looks like I just found my next card.
I recently got the Brilliant but missed the SUB because I had the wrong spend amount. What are the restrictions in this case? Can I sign up for another Brilliant, or would I have to cancel or product change first? Is the restriction really just ever holding the card or whether I received the SUB?
Ouch. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but yes the restriction is really just ever holding the card whether or not you received the bonus. It won’t matter if you cancel or product change, you’re not going to eligible for the bonus. The only thing you can do is downgrade to the $95 card and hope to be targeted for an upgrade bonus to the Brilliant at some point, but that’s certainly not guaranteed and not always as good as a welcome bonus.
Might be worth checking out Travel Freely to make sure you track it next time (not trying to rub salt in the wound, just trying to give a helpful suggestion that can help you avoid a repeat miss):
https://frequentmiler.com/take-the-stress-out-of-credit-card-bonus-hunting-travel-freely/
Ouch is right. I’m usually pretty good at tracking these but it’s been a while since I had to, as I already have every credit card known to man, according to my wife.
At least I got reimbursed for more than the AF in the first year due to the Marriott credit and $200 restaurant credit, and the additional 15 elite nights pushed me to platinum so it’s not all bad.
Just wondering if I already had the Starwood AMEX cards in the past, am I eligible for the Marriott AMEX cards.
Probably. I assume you had the old SPG card and not the short-lived SPG Luxury? If I’m right on that, you are probably eligible for the Brilliant — but I have to qualify with “probably” because Chase and Amex have some weird rules about what makes you ineligible with the other issuer on Marriott bonuses. But having had the old $95 SPG card wouldn’t prevent you from getting the Brilliant.
As for the business one, it depends how long ago you had it. Amex says once per lifetime on a welcome bonus. Anecdotally, some people find that there is a limit to how far back Amex reaches in terms of defining a lifetime. Seems to be something like 7 years (though Greg did get a new one even sooner at one point). YMMV.
For more on eligibility rules, see the credit cards section of our Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide:
https://frequentmiler.com/marriott-bonvoy-complete-guide/#Marriott_Bonvoy_Credit_cards