Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express credit card review

news7g06/12/2023

4 8 minutes read

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Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express Card overview

The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express Card offers mid-tier perks, including automatic Gold Elite status, solid points-earning at Marriott properties and elite night credits. However, it lacks a number of benefits that you might expect from a card with a $250 annual fee. Card rating*: ⭐⭐⭐

* Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

Marriott has six cobranded cards available to new cardholders, with annual fees on those ranging from $0 to $650 per year. The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card sits in the middle, with an annual fee of $250 (see rates and fees).

However, the card lacks one feature we’ve come to expect with hotel credit cards: a complimentary free night each year on your account anniversary. So, does the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card offer enough ongoing benefits and perks to make it worth more than introductory cards typically bearing annual fees under $100 and offering a free night automatically?

Let’s dig deeper to decide whether the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card merits a place in your wallet.

Bonvoy Bevy Amex welcome offer

Right now, the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card is offering a best-ever 125,000 bonus points after using your new card to spend $5,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months; plus, you can earn 50,000 bonus points you stay 6 eligible paid nights at Bonvoy hotels through Jan. 31, 2024. Offer ends Aug. 9.

In all, that’s 175,000 points, worth a massive $1,470, per TPG valuations. That’s the highest welcome offer we’ve seen on the card since it launched in September 2022.

How do the 50,000 extra points work? Essentially, the promotion earning period runs from the date your new card opens through the end of January. In that time, you’ll have to stay six eligible paid nights at Marriott properties to qualify for the extra points.

Those nights include, per the terms and conditions, “all paid stays, including pre-paid stays and bookings paid with Marriott eGiftCards that are booked using the eligible cardmember’s Marriott Bonvoy account.”

Notably, this offer does not factor in award redemption stays, free night awards, points redemptions or stays booked through third parties. Be sure to check the full terms and conditions before booking to make sure you cash in on this offer.

And remember that Amex has restrictions that will limit your ability to collect a new-member bonus if you’ve had similar Marriott products from Chase or previous Starwood Preferred Guest cards from American Express. Be sure to carefully review the card’s offer details page to ensure you’re eligible.

Earning points on the Bonvoy Bevy Amex

The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card has earning rates that feel familiar, though they are slightly different from those we’ve seen with other Marriott credit cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.

Cardholders can earn 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 4 points per dollar on the first $15,000 per year in combined purchases at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (then 1 point per dollar after reaching this limit) and 2 points per dollar on other eligible purchases.

TPG values Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.84 cents apiece. This means your rate of return on spending will be 5.04% (purchases earning 6 points per dollar), 3.36% (purchases earning 4 points per dollar) or 1.68% (other purchases earning 2 points per dollar).

Redeeming points on the Bonvoy Bevy Amex

There are many lucrative ways to redeem your Marriott Rewards points. The first and most apparent redemption is for free stays. With the ability to book at more than 8,000 properties across 30 brands in nearly 140 countries, you’ve got a lot of choices. The Marriott global portfolio has many fantastic hotels, including some of the world’s most luxurious properties.

These include a number of Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis properties, some of which are all-suite — such as the St. Regis Maldives — while others sit in dreamy destinations, like the Al Maha Resort in the desert outside Dubai. Rooms at top-tier properties like these typically cost 100,000 points (or even more) per night. That may seem like a hefty price in points, but it isn’t that bad, considering room rates can be $1,500-plus per night most of the year. That would provide a redemption value of 1.5 cents per point — nearly double our standard valuation for Marriott points.

Updated rooms at Courtyard by Marriott hotels. MARRIOTT

You can also transfer your Bonvoy points to over 35 airline partners, but this rarely offers good value unless you need to top off an account balance for a flight redemption.

Bonvoy Bevy Amex benefits

Where the card shines the most is in the perks it offers:

Marriott Gold Elite status: Primary cardholders (authorized users aren’t included) receive complimentary, automatic Marriott Gold status for as long as they have the card. TPG values Marriott’s Gold status at $800 per year. As Marriott Bonvoy’s mid-tier level, the most valuable benefits of Gold status are upgrades to enhanced rooms and a 25% points bonus on hotel spending. Typically, we have seen the ability to spend your way to higher levels of elite status with many hotel credit cards; that’s noticeably absent on the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card. Enrollment is required in advance for this elite status benefit.
Annual free night award via spending: Cardholders who make at least $15,000 in eligible purchases during their cardmember year (not calendar year) can earn a free night award worth up to 50,000 points. That’s more valuable than the free night certificates that come with the lower-tier Marriott cards, which are capped at 35,000 points. Some of the best uses of the 50,000-point free night certificate include five-star hotels such as The Ritz-Carlton, Macau and The St. Regis Langkawi, where rooms routinely top $500 per night — though Marriott’s dynamic pricing can affect the ability to book some of these properties during peak travel dates.
Elite night credits: Cardholders will receive 15 elite qualifying night credits per year. This benefit can be stacked with the nights you earn with a Marriott small-business card, allowing you to fast-track up to 30 elite nights per year. For reference, you need 50 nights per year to qualify for Platinum Elite status.
Travel protections: This card offers trip delay insurance* for trips delayed by more than 12 hours due to a covered reason. You must book a round-trip ticket and pay entirely with your card to be covered. Cardmembers will also enjoy baggage insurance** coverage of up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage in excess of what’s provided by the common carrier and secondary car rental loss and damage insurance^ of up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to eligible rental vehicles. Cardmembers also have access to the Global Assist Hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week for medical, legal, financial or other select emergency services coordination and assistance while traveling more than 100 miles from home.^^
Shopping protections: Purchases made with the card can get 90 days of purchase protection** and up to one year of extended warranty coverage** on warranties of five years or less on covered purchases in the U.S. or its territories or possessions.

*Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
**Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
^Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered, and geographic restrictions apply. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
^^Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Cardmembers are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.

Noticeably absent in the perks and benefits is a free night award given automatically on the card’s account anniversary each year and other premium perks like reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

Cardmembers also don’t have access to Priority Pass, whereas other cobranded hotel credit cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card and Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offer unlimited visits to Priority Pass lounges.

Which cards compete with the Bonvoy Bevy Amex?

With a $250 annual fee (see rates and fees), let’s look at which cards compete with the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy’s new middle ground by way of similar perks and benefits.

If you want more Marriott perks: The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card confers automatic Platinum Elite status, an annual free night award worth up to 85,000 points and up to $300 per year in statement credits for dining purchases. When staying at Marriott Bonvoy properties, it earns the same 6 points per dollar as you will get from the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card. For more information, read our full review of the Bonvoy Brilliant.
If you’re not partial to Marriott: Check out the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, which carries an annual fee of $450 (see rates and fees). This card offers a wealth of benefits: top-tier Diamond status with Hilton Honors, a weekend night award each year on your account anniversary, up to $250 in Hilton resort statement credits each cardmember year, up to $250 in annual airline incidental credits each calendar year and a Priority Pass membership. For more information, read our full review of the Hilton Amex Aspire.
If you want a more general travel card: Consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve. This is a premium travel card with an annual fee of $550, offering benefits like Priority Pass membership, reimbursement for your application fee for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, an annual travel credit of up to $300 (what qualifies for this credit is very broad) and strong earning categories. For more information, read our full review of the Sapphire Reserve.

For additional options, check out our full list of the best hotel cards.

The information for the Hilton Aspire card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

It’s easy to see how cardmembers can obtain value from the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card during the first year, thanks to its valuable welcome offer. But given the earning structure and the benefits available to cardmembers, it may be hard to justify keeping this card in your wallet in year two (and beyond) — especially when other Marriott cards offer similar perks at lower annual fees.

Official application link: Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card with up to 175,000 bonus points. Offer ends Aug. 9.

For rates and fees of the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Bevy, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Aspire Card, click here.