by Daniel | Last Updated August 25th, 2021
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If you travel quite often and like to stay at Marriot Bonvoy Hotels then this card may just be for you.
In this review, I am going to look at the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card and see what benefits and user perks it offers and then decide if it’s worth the $450 annual fee.
Who’s this card for?
This card is specifically designed for people who like to stay at Marriot properties, although it can still be useful to anyone who has never stayed at one as it offers some great perks that you can use towards hotel stays with Marriot.
Annual Fee
So let’s start with the annual fee of this card, and it is not cheap, it is currently $450 a year to use this card, which is quite expensive.
But it does offer some pretty nice benefits that can offset the annual fee quite easily if you are able to take advantage of them.
So next, let’s have a look at what the sign-up bonus is and how much you actually need to spend to receive it.
Sign Up Bonus
So the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card is currently offering 75,000 Marriot Bonvoy Bonus Points and up to $200 back in statement credits for purchases made at US restaurants within the first 6 months of card membership.
Now to earn the 75,000 points you will need to spend $3,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account.
And these points are worth approximately .8 cents per point, so 75,000 points are worth approximately $600.
Now, these points can be used on quite a large range of different options.
You can use the points through Marriot Bonvoy hotels for award nights, and seeing as there are over 7,000 hotels it shouldn’t be too hard to find a place.
The points can also be used for flights and car rentals, or you can actually transfer the points to over 40 different frequent flyer programs.
So in total, the sign-up bonus is worth up to $800, which quite easily covers the $450 annual fee and leaves you with another $350 worth of benefits to use.
Earning Points
Next up let’s look at the options for earning points with this card.
First up you will receive 6x points for purchases that are made at hotels that participate in the Marriot Bonvoy program.
Next up you will receive 3x points for purchases at US restaurants, which includes takeout and delivery services, and you will also receive 3x points for any flights that are booked directly with airlines.
And finally, you will receive 2x points for all other purchases that are made on this card.
So this card offers some pretty decent points earning potential, especially if you travel quite frequently, as the 6x point for Marriot Hotels and 3x points for flights that are booked directly with the card can really add up.
Just a note about the Marriot points, they can actually expire after 24 months if there is no qualifying activity on the associated card.
Benefits and User Perks
So now let’s take a look at what this card offers in terms of benefits.
The first notable benefit that this card offers is a $300 Marriott Bonvoy statement credit, and this can be used for eligible purchases that are made at any hotel that is part of Marriot Bonvoy, and this includes hotel room rates.
Next up you will receive a $200 statement credit for eligible purchases that are made at US restaurants within the first 6 months of card ownership.
So both of these 2 benefits alone totally offset the annual fee with an extra $50 in benefits left over.
So if you are worried about the relatively high annual fee of this card, as you can see, it is pretty easy to cover it.
Another benefit that you will also have is the ability to earn a $100 Marriott Bonvoy credit, and to earn this you will have to use your card to book a minimum 2-night stay at either The Ritz Carlton or St. Regis hotel under that rate named ‘$100 Property Credit,’ and if you book by phone you must quote the ‘$100 Property Credit’, once you have done this you will receive a $100 credit that can be used at the hotel.
The next benefit that you get as a cardmember is a free night award, and this is given to you after your 1-year card account anniversary.
And this is worth up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Another very useful benefit that is great if you travel a fair amount is is a free Priority Pass Select Membership that is valued at $429.
This gives you access to over 1200 airport lounges around the world and provides you with free food and drinks, internet access, and a more often than not, a nice place to relax before your flight.
Like most other premium cards you will also receive a credit for either TSA Pre-check or Global Entry, and this is worth up to a total of $100.
So if you take all of these benefits and add them up they easily cover the annual fee and rewards you with a fair amount of nice benefits that are relatively easy to use.
Insurance-related Benefits
And finally, this card has quite a lot of insurance-related benefits, which makes sense as it is a travel-related card.
So let’s take a closer look at what these benefits are.
Starting with travel-related insurance you will get a baggage insurance plan which will cover up to a combined total of $3,000 for both checked and carry-on luggage if it is lost, damaged, or stolen.
There is also trip delay and interruption insurance which will cover up to $10,000 per trip and a total of $20,000 per eligible card per 12 consecutive month period.
You also have access to trip delay insurance which provides up to $500 per trip with a maximum of 2 claims per eligible card per 12 month period if your trip is delayed for more than 6 hours.
There is car rental loss and damage insurance that will cover up to $75,000 if a rental car is damaged or stolen.
To receive this benefit you must have paid for the car rental in full with your card.
And just note that it is not available for cars that are rented in Australia, Italy, and New Zealand.
Now let’s have a look at the shopping-related insurance.
So first up you will get return protection, and this covers you if a seller won’t take back an item that you purchased from them for up to 90 days from the original purchase, (and for this to be valid you must have used your card for the purchase.)
And Amex will refund up to $300 per item and a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year.
You will also get an extended warranty, and this gives you an extra year that can be added to an original manufacturer’s warranty from the US that is 5 years or less.
Final Thoughts
So what are my thoughts about this card?
I think if you travel a fair amount already and stay at Marriott hotels, or want to, I believe it offers a lot of value.
Just the welcome bonus alone more than offsets the annual fee of $450 and leaves you with an extra $150 in value.
And beyond the welcome bonus, the $300 annual statement credit and annual free night that is awarded to you each year also cover the annual fee with ease.