American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ Credit Card Review

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Credit Card Review

The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant credit card offers you 2x to 6x points on eligible purchases, flights, dining, and hotels. You’ll earn 95,000 Marriott Bonvoy points as a new cardmember sign-up bonus when you spend $5,000 with your new card within the first three months of membership. The card offers a wide variety of redemption options to use your points. These include free nights at Marriott properties, flights, cruise bookings, and car rentals. Despite its high annual fee and interest rate, it’s certainly the travel rewards card worth considering.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: pros and cons

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant: rewards system in a nutshell

The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card is the most prestigious member of the Marriott Bonvoy credit card family. It provides a wide variety of luxurious advantages to Marriott's loyal clients and frequent travelers.

As an American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card holder, you’ll earn 6x points on Marriott Bonvoy hotels. The card also offers 3x points on dining worldwide, 3x points on flights when you book directly with airlines, and 2x points for each dollar spent on other eligible purchases.

There are a few ways you can redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points:

• Reward nights at 7,000+ Marriott properties. The minimum amount of points necessary for a reward night at a hotel is 5,000. Standard nights in category 1 hotels cost 5,000 to 10,000 points, depending on the season. Meanwhile, high-end luxury hotel costs may range from 85,000 to 100,000 points per night.
• Miles. Marriott partners with about 40 Frequent Flier Programs worldwide.
• Cruise. Book your cruise using points + cash or just points.
• Rental cars. You can redeem points and enjoy special savings on Hertz rentals.
• Room upgrades.
• Dining, concerts, and sports experiences.
• Gift cards and shopping.

Marriott doesn’t disclose the points-to-dollar conversion rate. But based on the rewards values they offer for a certain amount of points, we can say that one Marriott Bonvoy point is usually worth between 0.7 - 0.84 cents.

Who can benefit from getting the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant credit card?

The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant credit card is best suited for frequent Marriott Bonvoy guests who value luxurious and stressless travel experience. It will benefit someone who is already a member of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program and is looking for ways to boost their rewards in order to earn additional free night stays.

However, even several Marriott stays per year could be sufficient to leverage the card’s perks and help to cover the $650 annual Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant cost.

In addition, because of the program’s extensive network of dining, car rental, and airline partners, occasional Marriott guests can receive great value from Marriott Bonvoy points.

Are there any other benefits?

A wide range of Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant AmEx benefits helps to justify the high annual fee of $650. These include:

• Priority Pass Lounge access. The card includes a Priority Pass Select membership, which offers you and two guests unlimited access to more than 1,200 airport lounges worldwide.
• Elite Night Credits. Each year, you’ll earn 25 elite night credits on qualifying stays which help to achieve the next Elite status. This perk may be combined with nights earned by using an American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business credit card to allow you to earn up to 40 Elite Nights annually.
• Up to $100 property credit. You’ll earn a credit for incidentals of up to $100 when you book a paid stay of at least two nights at a participating St. Regis or Ritz-Carlton property using the special “$100 property credit, Luxury Credit Card Rate.”
• Travel protections and insurance. This card offers travel cancellation or interruption and trip delay insurance for trips that are delayed for more than 6 hours for a covered reason.
• Earned Choice Benefit. Starting in 2023 you can choose one Earned Choice Benefit from a variety of rewards after spending $60,000 in one calendar year. Rewards include Five Suite Night Awards, $750 off on a Bed from Marriott Bonvoy® Boutiques, and a Free Nights Award.
• Free credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. The Bonvoy Brilliant card, like many other premium cards, can repay you up to $100 if you charge the application cost for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck to the card ($85 for TSA PreCheck or $100 credit for Global Entry. Remember that Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, so it’s usually a better option than choosing just a TSA PreCheck especially if you travel internationally.
• Shopping protections. Products purchased with the card are eligible for up to 1 year of extended warranty coverage, as well as 90 days of purchase protection. Shopping protection applies to warranties of up to 5 years on covered purchases in the United States.

Conclusion

Overall, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express card could be worth the annual membership fee of $650 if you often stay at Marriott Bonvoy hotels. The card provides far more value than its annual price to loyal Marriott travelers, including complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Status, 25 Elite Nights per year, and travel insurance.

Additionally, Amex Marriott Bonvoy benefits like TSA PreCheck or Global Entry can help you minimize stress during travel. And the Priority Pass Select lounge access will enhance your comfort while you’re waiting for your flight.