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Marriott recently launched its new mid-tier co-branded credit card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card from Chase, on the same day that it launched another nearly-identical card: The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card. Now, Marriott has a total of six co-branded credit cards.
Like its sibling the Bonvoy Bevy card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card has an annual fee of $250 (rates & fees). This is the most expensive co-branded Marriott card that Chase offers. The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card has a $0 annual fee, and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card has an annual fee of $95.
Unlike the Bonvoy Bold and Bonvoy Boundless cards, the Bonvoy Bountiful comes with complimentary Gold Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy program, which is a valuable perk for those who stay at Marriott properties often. Unfortunately, also like the Bonvoy Bevy card, the Bonvoy Bountiful card lacks some of the perks that one might expect to come with a $250. Most notably, this card doesn’t offer an anniversary free night certificate.
Let’s take a look at the perks that come with the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card, which perks are missing and whether this card is worth the $250 annual fee.
Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Overview
The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card has an annual fee of $250 and offers solid earnings on spending, particularly at properties participating in Marriott Bonvoy. With this card, you’ll earn:
- 6X Bonvoy points on purchases at the nearly 7,000 hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program
- 4X Bonvoy points on up to $15,000 in combined purchases per year at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets
- 2X Bonvoy points on all other eligible purchases
If you compare that to the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, which has an annual fee of just $95 and offers pretty much the same earnings structure (except that you earn 3X points on up to $6,000 in combined purchases per year on groceries, dining and gas instead of the 4X points on groceries and dining offered by the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card), and the Bountiful card looks pretty unimpressive.
However, where the Bountiful card really makes up for that additional annual fee is with the benefits that it offers.
Additional Card Benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card
The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card offers some solid perks on top of the potential rewards that one can earn by spending. Being that this is a Marriott co-branded credit card, though, these perks will only be appealing if you frequently stay at Marriott locations. The two main perks of this card are complimentary Gold Elite status and the ability to earn a free night certificate by spending at least $15,000 in a cardmember year.
The perks that the Bountiful card offers are really what help make up for its annual fee. So, if you get this card, make sure that you use these benefits to the maximum. Here are the main perks to remember.
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
Cardholders receive automatic Gold Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy program for as long as they hold the card. Otherwise, you’d have to complete 25 qualifying nights at Marriott Bonvoy properties to achieve Gold Elite status. And those stays would cost a solid chunk of money. However, with the Bountiful card, you’ll be elevated to this status tier instantly.
Some of the benefits that come with Gold Elite status are the ability to earn 25% bonus points for all eligible hotel purchases, complimentary room upgrades (subject to availability) and late checkout (subject to availability).
If you use your Gold Elite status perks wisely, they can easily outweigh the $250 annual fee that you’ll need to pay for the Bountiful card.
Elite Night Credits
On top of the Gold Elite status, the Bonvoy Bountiful card also comes with 15 elite night credits, which can help you achieve the next elite status tier faster.
Normally, you’d need to stay 50 qualifying nights at Marriott Bonvoy properties to achieve Platinum Elite status. However, with the Bonvoy Bountiful card, you’ll need to complete just 35 qualifying nights to reach Platinum Elite (since the additional 15 elite night credits that come with the Bountiful card will get you to 50).
If you really want to get to Platinum Elite status without paying for too many Marriott stays, you can stack those 15 elite night credits with another 15 elite night credits you can earn with a small-business Marriott card, such as the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card ($125 annual fee, see rates & fees). Unfortunately, if you received a welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card in the last 24 months, then you aren’t eligible to receive a welcome bonus for signing up for the Marriott Business Amex card.
As a Platinum Elite member, you’ll earn 50% more Marriott Bonvoy points on eligible hotel purchases, significantly improving your ability to rack up a large balance of points.
Free Night Certificate via Spending
By spending $15,000 or more per cardmember year on your Bountiful card, you can earn a free night certificate worth up to 50,000 Bonvoy points. That’s a better value than the free night certificates that can be earned with lower-tier Marriott-branded cards, which are worth up to 35,000 points.
With a 50,000-point free night certificate, you can book a night at top-of-the-line five-star Marriott properties, such as The Ritz-Carlton, Macau.
Normally, these rooms can cost upwards of $250, which instantly offsets the Bonvoy Bevy card’s annual fee.
Bonus Points on Each Stay
One of the few perks that the Bountiful card offers that the closely related Bonvoy Bevy American Express card doesn’t have is the ability to earn 1,000 bonus points for each stay at participating Marriott hotels and resorts. Since Marriott Bonvoy points are valued at 0.84 cent apiece, this offer is equal to $8.40 every time you stay at a Marriott Bonvoy property.
Shopping Protections
Purchases made with the card can get up to 120 days of purchase protection for theft, damage or loss of new items (up to $500 per claim and up to $50,000 per account) as well as up to one year of extended warranty coverage on warranties of three years or less on covered purchases worldwide (up to $10,000 per claim and up to $50,000 per account).
What Is Missing
While the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card definitely comes with some nice perks (most notably, Gold Elite status with the Marriott Bonvoy program and the ability to earn a free night certificate via spending), there are some perks that we expected to see with this card that are glaringly absent.
First of all, cardmembers don’t receive a free night certificate each account anniversary, like they would with the $95 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase. Instead, a free night certificate is awarded after spending $15,000 per cardmember year, which is a high threshold to meet.
The Bountiful card also doesn’t offer reimbursement for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fees, a perk offered by other, much cheaper cards, such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card ($95 annual fee).
The Bonvoy Bountiful card also lacks access to Priority Pass lounges like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Finally, there is a noticeable lack of statement credits that come with the Bonvoy Bountiful card.
Is the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card Right for You?
In general, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card is a good option for those who are loyal to the Marriott brand and want to immediately reap the benefits of Gold Elite status and earn 1,000 bonus points for each of their stays at Marriott Bonvoy properties. However, as these are two of the most valuable perks offered by the card, if you don’t frequently stay at Marriott locations, then there isn’t much of a point to holding this card.
The Bonvoy Bountiful card also comes with great travel insurance and shopping insurance coverages that can save you a bunch of money if your trip gets delayed, you lose your luggage on a flight or you need an extended warranty or purchase protection. These are valuable benefits that you can often find only with high-price-tag premium credit cards.
However, there are several places where the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card falls short as well, such as its lack of Priority Pass access or statement credits. And, since Chase has a rule that you can sign up for no more than five new credit cards across any bank in a consecutive 24-month period to be approved for one of their cards (known as the Chase 5/24 rule), then you might want to consider saving that spot for another card in the Chase lineup that’s more suitable for you.
Still, if you think you can take advantage of Marriott Gold Elite status, 15 elite night credits, 1,000 bonus points for each stay and other Marriott-focused perks, then the Bonvoy Bountiful card could actually be of great benefit to you.
How to Redeem Bonvoy Points
Marriott Bonvoy points are a pretty strong rewards currency, valued at 0.84 cent apiece. Although the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card doesn’t offer the best rewards on everyday spending, it does give you the opportunity to accumulate Bonvoy points at Marriott properties, restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets quickly.
However, the benefit that you get from your Marriott Bonvoy points depends heavily on the way that you choose to redeem them. Some of the redemption options offer far greater value than others. So, here are the best ways to redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points.
Free Stays
The first and most obvious way to redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points is for free stays. This is the simplest option and, typically, the one that offers the most value. And, with more than 8,000 properties across 30 brands in nearly 140 countries participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, you’ve got a lot of options.
Saving up Bonvoy points can get you access to several of Marriott’s ultra-luxury properties, such as Ritz-Carlton- and St. Regis-branded hotels. In most cases, a night at these properties will cost you around 100,000 points (or sometimes even more).
Although that may seem like a ton of points, that’s actually a good value considering the cash rate for some of these properties can be $1,500 or more per night. That’s a value of 1.5 cents per point, which is nearly double the standard valuation of 0.84 cent per point.
You should keep in mind that Marriott has removed its award chart and shifted toward a dynamic pricing model, meaning that redemption prices are more closely tied to cash prices for any redemption. This is especially important around peak travel times and holidays when prices tend to rise dramatically.
It’s also worth noting that Marriott recently added its Points Advance feature, which gives you the option to reserve a room even if you don’t have all of the points needed. You can book your desired room and then pay off the “loan” as you earn the extra points. Unfortunately, the room rate that you book at is subject to change and may be significantly higher by the time you actually pay.
Luckily, if you use your points to book four nights in a row at the same Marriott Bonvoy-participating location, you’ll receive the fifth night free. This award is available when booking stays with points only and not when using free night certificates.
On top of that, award stays can also earn elite night credits, meaning that every award stay that you book will get you one step closer to achieving Platinum Elite status (since you already have Gold Elite status with your Bountiful card).
To book an award stay with Marriott, simply log in to the Marriott Bonvoy website, select your desired dates and location, and check the “Use Points/Certificates” box below.
Then, the search results will display the points rates for the locations on the dates that you searched.
Transfer to Airline Partners
Apart from using your points for free stays, transferring your Bonvoy points to one of Marriott’s many airline partners is another solid redemption option. Here are Marriott’s partnered frequent-flyer programs and the ratios at which Bonvoy points transfer.
Frequent Flyer Program | Transfer Ratio |
---|---|
Aegean Miles+Bonus | 3:1 |
Aer Lingus AerClub | 3:1 |
Aeroméxico Club Premier | 3:1 |
Air Canada Aeroplan | 3:1 |
Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 3:1 |
Air New Zealand AirPoint | 200:1* |
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 3:1 |
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 3:1 |
American Airlines AAdvantage | 3:1 |
All Nippon Airways Mileage Club | 3:1 |
Asiana Airlines Asiana Club | 3:1 |
Avianca LifeMiles | 3:1 |
British Airways Executive Club | 3:1 |
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3:1 |
Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | 3:1 |
Delta SkyMiles | 3:1 |
Emirates Skywards | 3:1 |
Ethiad Guest | 3:1 |
Frontier Miles | 3:1 |
Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club | 3:1 |
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles | 3:1 |
Iberia Plus | 3:1 |
InterMiles | 3:1 |
Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank | 3:1 |
Korean Air SKYPASS | 3:1 |
LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass | 3:1 |
Multiplus Fidelidade LATAM Pass | 3:1 |
Qantas Frequent Flyer | 3:1 |
Saudia Alfursan | 3:1 |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 3:1 |
Southwest Rapid Rewards | 3:1 |
TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 3:1 |
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 3:1 |
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 3:1 |
United MileagePlus | 3:1.1** |
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 3:1 |
Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer | 3:1 |
Vueling Club | 3:1 |
*Air New Zealand AirPoints are equal to 1 New Zealand dollar apiece, hence the high transfer ratio.
**Marriott and United have a partnership, known as RewardsPlus, in which United will give you 10% bonus points for transferring your Bonvoy points into their frequent-flyer program.
As you can see, most points transfer at a 3:1 ratio, meaning that you’ll only get 1 airline mile for every 3 Marriott Bonvoy points. In most cases, transferring your points in this way doesn’t make a ton of sense. However, if you need some extra airline miles to purchase a specific award flight, transferring Bonvoy points could be a good way to top off your balance.
Marriott Bonvoy Moments
Another way to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points that’s often overlooked is through Marriott Bonvoy Moments. This platform allows you to use your points to get exclusive access to concerts, sporting events, culinary experiences and more.
You can either choose to redeem your points for fixed-price tickets or participate in auctions that can get you into otherwise inaccessible events.
While redeeming this way usually doesn’t yield the highest value per point, it can help you access events that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into.
Is the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card Worth the Annual Fee?
Simply, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card is worth the annual fee if you frequently stay at Marriott properties. The most lucrative perk of this card is clearly the instant upgrade to Gold Elite status and the opportunity to earn 25% more Bonvoy points on eligible hotel purchases at Marriott properties.
The 1,000 bonus points per stay at participating Marriott Bonvoy locations is a decent perk, but since it’s worth just $8.40, according to standard valuations, you’ll have to stay at Marriott locations quite a few times for that to add up to a significant amount.
However, the 15 elite night credits that come with the Bountiful card can help get you to Platinum Elite status quickly, especially if you also hold a co-branded Marriott small-business card and stack another 15 elite night credits on top of that.
At that point, you need to stay just 20 more qualifying nights and then you can achieve Platinum Elite status and start earning 50% more Bonvoy points at participating locations. That can quickly help you offset the Bountiful card’s annual fee.
Everything about the Bountiful card, obviously, is geared toward earning and spending at Marriott locations. The card’s earnings structure is most rewarding when used at Marriott locations, and Bonvoy points are most valuable when used for free stays. So, if you frequently stay at Marriott locations, you can definitely make up for the Bountiful card’s annual fee.
However, if you aren’t a frequent traveler or you don’t stay at Marriott hotels or resorts often, then there’s really no reason to get this card. And, even if you’re a frequent guest of Marriott properties, you might be better off going with a different card.
Which Cards Compete With the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card?
If you’re impartial to banking with Chase vs. American Express (and you want a card with a $250 annual fee), you’re probably better off going with the Bonvoy Bountiful card over the Bonvoy Bevy card.
The two cards are nearly identical apart from the fact that the Bountiful card offers 1,000 bonus points per stay at Marriott Bonvoy properties whereas the Bevy card does not. The Bountiful card also offers better travel protection and shopping protection than the Bevy card.
If you’re looking for a card within the Marriott Bonvoy family of co-branded credit cards that has a lot more perks, then you might want to consider going with the $650 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card (see rates & fees).
While this card’s price tag may seem high at first, it easily makes up for it by offering complimentary Platinum Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy, a free night certificate worth up to 85,000 points every cardmember anniversary and up to $300 in statement credits toward dining every cardmember year. If you think you’ll be able to take advantage of all of these perks, then the Bonvoy Brilliant card might be a better option for you.
If you aren’t loyal to the Marriott brand but you still want a hotel rewards credit card, then you should look into the Hilton Honors Aspire card, which has an annual fee of $550.
This card offers a ton of great perks: top-tier Diamond status with Hilton Honors, a weekend night award every cardmember anniversary and Hilton resort statement credits each cardmember year. This card has a lower annual fee than the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card and has pretty similar earnings and benefits.
If you’re looking for elite benefits from both Hilton and Marriott, The Platinum Card® from American Express offers complimentary Gold status with both Hilton and Marriott, and this status is retained as long as you have the card. This card also comes with lounge access from Priority Pass, Centurion Lounges and Plaza Premium.
You’ll also receive elite status with several rental car companies as well as up to $1,500 in annual credits. Plus, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points directly to Marriott Bonvoy at a favorable rate. All of this comes with an annual fee of $695 (see rates & fees).
The Bottom Line
At its price point of $250 annually, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card from Chase (and its nearly-identical sibling the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card) is a new concept in the world of hotel co-branded credit cards. These mid-range cards bridge the gap between entry-level cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card ($95 annual fee) and premium cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card ($650 annual fee).
Disappointingly, the Bonvoy Bountiful card lacks many of the perks that one would expect to come with a card of this tier. For instance, the card doesn’t come with an automatic free night certificate every cardmember anniversary, TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee reimbursements, Priority Pass lounge access or any statement credits.
With that being said, this card may still be a great option for people who often stay at Marriott properties and want to rack up Bonvoy points quickly without having to pay $650 for Marriott’s top-of-the-line Brilliant card. And, if a $250 annual fee sounds good to you, you’re probably better off going with the Bountiful card over the Amex Bevy card as it comes with slightly better perks.
New to the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best card to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year. , 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
after you spend $2,000 on your first 3 months. Free Night valued at 50,000 points. Certain hotels have resort fees.
after spending $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card!
after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
after you use your new card to make $8,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Valued at up to 50K points each for eligible stays. Limited time offer. Offer ends 10/16. Resort fees & terms apply.
after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.