Comments on: Comparing the best Marriott credit cards

By: Pstein

Pstein — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 11:51:05 +0000

I am BonVoy Lifetime Titanium. Retired, so my travel is less frequent.

Tough to justify actually using these cards for any spending other than at a Marriott property. It takes 3 points to get one airline mile. Not much sense in that. With Amex Delta adding 2 miles for each dollar of grocery spending, both BonVoy cards are total losers for everyday spending.

I would like access to priority lounges and the Bon Voy Brilliant may be the best way for me to go. I will continue to charge my airline tickets to my Amex Delta, Free bag and priority boarding. Therefore, I will forfeit the new benefits of trip cancellation and trip delay.

By: Gt

Gt — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 19:47:40 +0000

In reply to Darin. Doesn’t matter how many cards you have, the 15 elite nights don’t stack. They used to but marriott put an end to it.

By: Darin

Darin — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 16:52:38 +0000

In reply to Andrew Wan. Great read here! If you have two cards (Amex and Visa), will you get 30 elite nights and 2 free nights? I have a chase sapphire reserve and just canceled Amex platinum. For me this Brilliant card is better than the platinum because it’s almost impossible for me to spend my $200 on airlines (since I fly so much I invite virtually no incidentals) and my Uber/Lyft is minimal. That and Centurion lounges almost always being over occupancy I think makes this $300 Marriott is far superior for me.

By: Andrew Wan

Andrew Wan — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 18:57:48 +0000

In reply to Colleen.

Wow! Sounds like you’re really prepared with priority pass and global entry 🙂

Glad you found this article useful!

By: Colleen

Colleen — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 18:09:39 +0000

Hello! I currently have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card and a “regular” Marriott Bonvoy Amex (previously SPG, it just got swapped out and my new card just came in the mail recently). I am a Bonvoy points member through my time-share membership (I hate to use the term “time-share” as I literally only use the points that I receive each year from being a time-share owner, wherever I see fit, not tied to a specific Marriott property). I stay at Marriott properties less than 35 nights/year… probably more like 20 nights/year but I always try to travel and stay at their properties and I always use my Bonvoy Amex while on their properties. I currently am only earning 2x points with my Bonvoy Amex, I believe, so 6x points is extremely attractive. I already have Global Entry, TSA pre-check and Priority Pass as you guessed so I am just hoping to tease out which of the 3: Brilliant, Business or Boundless would make the most sense. Thanks for writing such a great article!

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 14:11:47 +0000

you “fully support” spending $60,000 on a Bonvoy Business card to get another free night certificate?! You are currently working towards this? I can’t see how this makes any sense. $60,000 spend on a no fee 2% cash back card would net $1200 which is far superior to a free night certificate.

By: Andrew Wan

Andrew Wan — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 18:46:54 +0000

In reply to Gary Hatfield. This is a good point. I think the biggest challenge (besides strategizing spending to meet the min. spend to earn the intro bonuses) would be navigating the application rules and restrictions among the different cards.

By: Gary Hatfield

Gary Hatfield — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 15:17:40 +0000

Why not get all? If each card’s free night covers the annual card expense, why stop at one card. Strategically applying so you can meet the required spend is simple. I have 3 (no business version) and use every free night certificate. When we drive on vacation trips, Marriott properties are everywhere. I feel the annual fees are a lot less than the benefits each card returns.