Is the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Annual Fee Worth It?

In September 2022, Marriott Bonvoy has revamped its credit card line and introduced two cards with an annual fee we’ve never seen before.

In general, most hotel credit cards can be considered “basic” (with an annual fee of less than $100) or “deluxe” (with an annual fee of $400 or more). However, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card from Chase has a $250 annual fee, right in the middle.

At first glance, you might think it has $150 worth of extras when compared to the basic cards but lacks some of what the deluxe card offers. Is that true? What do you get with this uncommon annual fee?

Here’s a closer look at what you get for the $250 annual fee on the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card so you can decide if the annual fee is worth it.

New subscribers can earn 125,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after making a purchase of at least $4,000 on their new card in the first three months of account opening. These bonus points are worth $1,050, according to TPG . latest valuation.

Information about the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you’re looking for inspiration on great destinations to use your Marriott Bonvoy points, consider accolades at places like The resort of St. Regis Bora Bora, West Hollywood Version and The Ritz-Carlton, Turks & Caicos.

Skiers and snowboarders can enjoy properties such as The resort of St. Regis Aspen, Valley of Deer St. Regis or The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor of Gulch.

In March 2022, Marriott deleted its award charts to switch to a dynamic pricing system. While 97% of hotels are still within their peak rates through late 2022, next year will be different. All hotels will move to dynamic pricing by 2023. This means it’s almost impossible to know exactly how many points you need for a hotel until you sit down and try to book.

Related: Ouch: Not only you, Marriott stay now costs more points

If you previously had a Chase or American Express Marriott Bonvoy credit card, yes restrictions will limit your ability to receive rewards for signing up. Fortunately, Our chart can help clarify things to help you understand which card(s) you may be eligible for.

Abundant cardholders receive complimentary Gold Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy each year when they have the card. TPG evaluates Gold Elite status at $800 annually. At this level, you’ll get benefits like an upgrade to priority rooms (but not suites), a welcome gift as bonus points for late check-in and check-out.

Cardholders also get 15 credits for the elite night deposited Marriott Bonvoy account each year. Premium night credits are what you need to get higher with Marriott, and you can stack them if you also have a Marriott small business credit card.

For example, if you keep Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, this card will give you another 15 elite night credits. Therefore, you will automatically start the year with 30 elite night credits.

Related: Here’s why you need both a personal and business Marriott Bonvoy credit card

In addition, it should be pointed out that Bountiful cardholders receive Gold status but do not start the year with the 25 credits of stay normally required to achieve that tier. As a result, you’ll have 15 stay credits from the credit card benefit, but no more 25 credits from your Gold status – which means you won’t start the year off with 40 preferential night credits.

To qualify for Platinum Elite Status – where you will find benefits like upgrade set and free breakfast – you need 50 nights per year with Marriott Bonvoy. Keeping your Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card and your Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business card at the same time gets you more than half way there, with 30 nights in your account to start each year.

Unlike many hotel credit cards you’re used to, there’s no way to higher elite status by spending a lot of money on your Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card each year. You can’t spend your way to Platinum Elite status, no matter how much you spend on this card.

However, it’s worth pointing out that you can get Platinum Elite status automatically with Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Cardbut that card comes with a significantly higher annual fee of $650 (see rates and fees).

Abundant cardholders get 1,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy Score for each paid stay at a participating Marriott Bonvoy hotel or resort. TPG . Value Marriott Bonvoy is only 0.84 cents per person, so 1,000 points is worth $8.40. Unfortunately, these points do not apply to vacations where you redeem points or get a free night bonus for the holiday with a reward.

Rich cardholders who spend $15,000 or more on their card in a calendar year can receive up to 50,000 points worth of free night rewards. Great uses for these prizes include attributes like The Ritz-Carlton, Bali, JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa, St. Regis Langkawi in Malaysia and Westin Hapuna Beach Resort In Hawaii.

Related: 13 Ways to Redeem Marriott’s 50,000 Free Nights Rewards

Due to the dynamic price mentioned above, you should do calendar search for flexible dates to find nights costing 50,000 points or less. Typically, the hardest times to use these free night bonuses will be on or near the holidays, due to Marriott’s dynamic pricing model. However, if you want to use your free night bonus at a more expensive hotel, you can do this by plus up to 15,000 points for additional redemption options.

Related: Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card Review

Use TPG . latest valuation, which is a 5.04% return on purchases at Marriott, 3.36% return on food and beverage and a 1.68% return on daily spending. Those prices aren’t terribly high, but not bad for a branded hotel credit card.

Cardholders also have protections when traveling and making purchases on their Bountiful card which can come in handy. Benefits include baggage delay insurance up to $100 per day for up to five days (effective after a delay of six hours or more), purchase protection in 120 days, trip delay refund (starts when you’re delayed overnight or for 12 hours or more) for up to $500 per ticket and Lost baggage reimbursement up to $3,000 per passenger.

Cardholders can also avail Pursuit offermay offer discounts or bonus points through targeted promotions.

However, absent from the list of benefits are perks such as access to the lounge and a automatic free night on your account anniversary each year – a privilege many hotel credit cards offer without any spending activity.

The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card offers quality sign-up rewards that easily deliver value for the first year to cardholders. However, the value for two years onward can be difficult to determine. Those who don’t stay at Marriott often can enjoy complimentary Gold status, but they may not have enough stays (and thus, enough status perks) for $250 annually. worthy.

Those who stay at Marriott more often enjoy more perks, but can also reach Gold status without the card. That’s especially true because tags like Marriott Bonvoy Borderless Credit Card (also from Chase) offers automatic Silver Elite status, 15 elite night credits, and a free night bonus for just a $95 annual fee. You can also unlock Gold status with an Amex Marriott Bonvoy business card for just $125 (see rates and fees) – and that card automatically comes with a free night bonus every year.

Remember that the Bountiful card follows the Chase 5/24 rule. If you want to apply for this card but can’t open any more credit cards with Chase at this time, consider a near-identical card Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card. You can read our full review of the Bevy . card here.

For prices and fees for the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, click here.
For prices and fees for Amex Marriott Bonvoy business cards, click here.