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Marriott and Chase just launched elevated sign-up bonuses across their cobranded Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is offering 100,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months, and the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card is offering 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in the first three months.
While travel isn't a top priority right now for many people, these offers are worth considering if you know you'll use the points for a trip down the road. A bonus of 100,000 points is enough to get you a night at a top-tier property such as the St. Regis Maldives or St. Regis Bora Bora, even during peak pricing periods. Or, you can stretch those 100,000 points to get up to 25 award nights at low-category Marriott hotels.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card — 100,000-point sign-up
(Photo by John Gribben for The Points Guy)
- Sign-up bonus: Earn 100,000 bonus Marriott points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months
- Annual fee: $95
- Best for:Occasional Marriott travelers
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card is a good choice for travelers looking for a personal Marriott credit card with a reasonable annual fee.
The Bonvoy Boundless is issued by Chase and earns 6x points on eligible Marriott purchases and 2x points on all other spending. A 4.8% return on Marriott spending (based on TPG valuations) isn't bad — especially if you also have Platinum or Titanium Elite status that can help you earn extra points.
And keep in mind that the Boundless is one of the Marriott cards eligible for Chase's current promotion for 10x on gas and groceries for up to $3,500 in spending during the promotional period from July 15 to Sept. 15, 2020. While cobranded cards aren't always the best option for non-brand spending, this temporary promotion makes this an excellent card for both dining and gas purchases. Even though you may not be traveling much right now, you'll still be able to earn points on other spending categories.
Every card anniversary, you'll also get an award night that's valid for hotels costing up to 35,000 points per night. As soon as you get the card, you'll get 15 elite night credits, which gives you automatic Silver Elite status. There's also a pathway to upgrade to Gold Elite status by spending $35,000 on the card each year.
Read our full Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card review.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card— 50,000-point welcome bonus offer
- Sign-up bonus: Earn 50,000 Marriott points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months
- Annual fee: N/A
- Best for: Those who prefer no-annual-fee cards
The Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card doesn't have a ton of bells and whistles, but it is a solid choice if you really want to avoid annual fees. For a card with no annual fee, you still get perks such as 15 elite night credits per year, 3x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, 2x points on general travel purchases and 1x points on everything else.
This puts the Bonvoy Bold on par with Hilton's no-annual-fee Hilton Honors Card from American Express (see rates and fees).
Read our full Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card review.
Can you apply for more than one Marriott card offer?
You can have more than one open Marriott card — some people in the TPG office have two or three. However, that was admittedly easier to do back when there were more available cards, including some legacy Starwood Preferred Guest card products.
Now, with only four Marriott cards currently available for new applicants, there are a fair number of restrictions on who can earn the sign-up bonuses across the available cards. In fact, it's so confusing that we created a chart to see how having one card impacts getting another.
To give a specific example, if you have the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card for your small-business spending needs, but decide you wanted to jump on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card for its welcome offer and perks, you could theoretically have both of those cards and their bonuses.
However, there are lots of Marriott (and legacy SPG) card combos that don't work, so study the chart above and check the card offer's terms and conditions carefully.
Note that these restrictions are all in addition to Chase's 5/24 rule, which applies to the Bonvoy Boundless and the Bonvoy Bold cards. If you've opened five or more personal card accounts across issuers in the past 24 months, it's highly unlikely you'll be approved for a Chase-issued card.
Bottom line
Adding new travel credit cards may not be at the top of everyone's wish list right now, especially as travel restrictions for American vacationers stretch through summer and potentially beyond. However, those who are using this time to rack up valuable travel rewards and solidify their credit card strategy before travel resumes, these offers are worth looking at — especially the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless. It's a top hotel credit card with a reasonable annual fee and some great benefits. Add in the current sign-up bonus and 10x offer on dining and gas, and you've got a list of compelling reasons to consider this card.
Relate reading: The award traveler's guide to Marriott Bonvoy
Featured image by John Gribben for The Points Guy.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Amex card, click here.
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