Credit Card Review: Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card replaced the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express personal card. All cardholders were transferred to the new card but there’s a chance you’re still holding the SPG card as the cards will only be replaced as they expire.

The SPG Amex used to be one of the best cards out there, but there’s no need to relive the past. Those days are gone and the Marriott Bonvoy AMEX is what’s left. The question is now, what benefits does the card provide and it is worthwhile keeping?

NOTE: This card is no longer available to new applicants. If you are looking to sign up for a new card, please check out our reviews of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa by Chase

Since no one can sign up for this card, there’s no signup bonus.

When spending on the card, you earn points in the Marriott Bonvoy program as follows:

Now, I’ll admit that’s not a very exciting list of bonus categories. Even at Marriott hotels, you’ll earn 6X points but you can earn 3x points on all hotel spending by using the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. You have to decide if you value Ultimate Rewards 2X more than Marriott Bonvoy points.

Let’s look at what benefits you get with Marriott for having the card:

Points earned with the Marriott Bonvoy AMEX card can be used to stay at Marriott properties. In addition, you’re able to transfer points to many different Airline Frequent Flyer programs (possibly with a bonus, depending on how many points you transfer). That’s not counting the additional options of Marriott Bonvoy Moments (which I explain later in this post).

Points can be used for award stays at any of the Marriott Bonvoy hotels. This covers 30 chains worldwide:

You can transfer points to the frequent flyer programs of over 30 different airlines. The transfer ratio is 3 points to 1 mile for most airlines and you get a bonus of 5,000 extra miles when you transfer 60,000 points. That means it’s best to transfer only in 60,000 point increments, when your 60,000 points will give you 25,000 miles. A change from the previous transfer ratio is with United Airlines. Whereas a transfer to United was a previously a horrible deal, you’ll now get a 10% bonus when sending points to United.

There are also other interesting ways for you to spend your points. One of those is the Marriott Bonvoy Moments program. Some of the events they offer a set price are:

Besides the fixed price tickets, they also have auctions for more “once in a lifetime” events:

For one of the most expensive uses of points, here’s an article by Dan, of the website Dan’s Deals, who won an auction to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 7 of the World Series at Wrigley Field for 1,060,500 Starpoints (the equivalent of over 3 million Bonvoy points).

I’ve held onto this card for a long time because I found Starpoints to be really useful due to their value and flexibility. The ability to transfer points to airlines is a huge bonus but the earning on everyday spend on this card was cut 33% when the merger between SPG and Marriott’s rewards programs was completed. This is no longer a great card to use for everyday spending like it once was. So why keep it?

Luckily, I’ve found that using points for hotel stays can also be a great value. I wish we could stay somewhere for 5 nights more often, so I could take advantage of the fifth night free on reward stays like I did at the Residence Inn Times Square New York.

The new perk of this card is the addition of the free night certificate for a room costing 35,000 points or less. Is that worth keeping it for the $95 annual fee? Honestly, it will be easy to find a room costing over $100 where I can use the free night each year. I’m still deciding if saving that amount is worth the increased restrictions put on where we want to stay. Am I stuck staying at a Marriott just because I need to use the certificate up? If so, I might just let the card go.

For now, I’m going to hold onto my Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.

What about you?

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

Source: Yourmileagemayvary.net

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