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A little over six years ago, the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card was just another co-branded business credit card that offered a good earning rate at Marriott properties and a few good benefits too. Then, in late March 2020, came a small but key policy change that has made this card an invaluable tool for anyone seeking easy Marriott Bonvoy status ever since then.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® card
In brief
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is the only Marriott co-branded business card that’s open to new applicants, and as its name tells you, it’s issued by American Express.
The card’s key selling points are (terms apply):
- It offers as many Bonvoy points per dollar at Marriott properties worldwide as any other Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card (yes, including cards that cost a lot more than this one to hold).
- It offers more Bonvoy points per dollar at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. gas stations than any other Marriott Bonvoy co-branded card.
- It offers cardholders a free night at select Marriott properties every year.
- It’s the only card that can be paired with one of several other Bonvoy cards to give cardholders 30 to 40 elite night credits towards Marriott Bonvoy status every year.
In detail
Here’s what you need to know about the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card:
Annual fee
- $125 (rates & fees)
Cost of authorized user cards
- $0 for up to five additional cards (rates & fees)
Current welcome bonus
Earn 75,000 bonus Bonvoy points after you use your new card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership. Earn a further 50,000 bonus Bonvoy Points after make a further $3,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership (terms apply).
Note: As is usual with Marriott Bonvoy co-branded cards, there are a number of key rules defining who is eligible for the welcome offer so please make sure that you read these rules carefully before submitting an application (the rules have been reproduced at the end of this article).
Earnings (terms apply)
- 6 points/dollar at Marriott Bonvoy properties worldwide
- 4 points/dollar on spending at restaurants worldwide
- 4 points/dollar on spending at U.S. gas stations
- 4 points/dollar on spending on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
- 4 points/dollar on spending on U.S. purchases for shipping
- 2 points/dollar on eligible spending in all other categories
Key benefits (terms apply and enrollment may be required)
- An annual free night certificate valid at properties costing up to 35,000 points/night
- 15 elite night credits towards elite status every year
- Get a 7% discount off standard rates for standard room reservations at all Marriott Bonvoy properties
- Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
- No foreign transaction fees
- Access to Amex Offers
Why this is a good card
The welcome offer (terms apply)
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is, effectively, currently offering successful new applicants up to 150,000 bonus Bonvoy points when they make $9,000 in eligible purchases with their card within the first 6 months of card membership, and that’s not bad at all.
At TFM, we value Bonvoy points at 0.6 cents each (based on the value we know we can get out of them without going to too much trouble), so to us, the bonus points on offer here are worth $900.
But you should be able to do better than that if you put in a little effort because even though Marriott now uses dynamic award pricing to set the cost of reward nights, 150,000 points can still be put to very good use.
150,000 Bonvoy points will still get you at least one free night at almost every high-end Marriott property around the world (often with change) …
… and you may even squeeze two high-end nights out of your points haul.
That’s very good going for a card which you can, effectively, try for a year for a net zero annual fee.
The earning rates (terms apply)
Quite simply, no Marriott Bonvoy card (not even the high-end Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card) earns more points per dollar at Marriott properties worldwide, and no Bonvoy card can match the Business Card’s earning rates at restaurants and US gas stations (two key spending categories for a lot of people).
If you’re looking to add to your Marriott Bonvoy points balance, the earning rates that the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card are among the best rates that you’ll find.
If, however, if you’re looking to maximize your effective return, other cards may be preferable.
Based on the value that we place on Bonvoy Points (discussed earlier), the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers an effective rebate of between 1.2% and 3.6% (depending on the spending category), and you’ll do better than that with a variety of other credit cards that are readily available (the Chase Sapphire® Preferred Card being one such example).
Elite night credits (terms apply)
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers cardholders 15 elite night credits every year (terms apply), but it’s also a card that can help Bonvoy members do even better.
Way back in March 2020, Marriott resurrected an old policy of awarding elite night credits for a personal co-branded credit card as well as elite night credits for a business co-branded credit card.
However, as American Express is the only US card issuer that currently has the right to offer new Marriott Bonvoy Business cards, anyone who doesn’t hold a legacy Bonvoy business card and who wishes to make the most of this policy, has to hold the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.
There is no other option.
Someone pairing the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card with another card that offers 15 elite night credits (e.g. the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card), will collect 30 elite night credits – enough for Bonvoy Gold Elite status.
However, as this business card already grants cardholders Gold Elite status, that isn’t really a big deal.
A slightly bigger deal is the fact that 30 elite night credits will get a Bonvoy member to within 20 credits of valuable Platinum Elite status and benefits like complimentary breakfasts, nightly upgrade awards, and 50% bonus points on all stays.
Better yet, someone pairing the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card will enjoy Platinum elite status (courtesy of the Brilliant card) and, thanks to the Brilliant card’s 25 elite night credits, will be just 10 elite night credits away from earning 5 nightly upgrade awards.
Think about that for a moment.
Just by holding two credit cards and crediting just 10 elite nights to your Bonvoy account in a whole year, you can unlock Marriott’s Nightly upgrade awards (more about those on this Marriott page).
Annual free night certificate (terms apply)
On every anniversary, holders of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card receive a free night certificate which can be used to book standard rooms costing up to 35,000 points/night (terms apply) and this certificate can be topped up by using up to a further 25,000 points from a cardholder’s Bonvoy account.
Sure, this isn’t going to book you the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, but even if you disregard the good welcome offer and the strong earnings rates at Marriott properties that this card offers, the free night certificate alone should still be enough to cover the card’s annual fee year after year.
7% discount (terms apply)
One of this card’s many refreshes came back in July 2022, and it was at that point that it started to offer a 7% discount on the standard rate for standard room bookings.
It’s important to note that the standard rate offered by a property may not be the cheapest rate that’s available – early booking rates and special rates like the AAA rate may be cheaper – but as standard rate bookings are usually flexible and some of the cheaper rates are often not, this discount may work for travelers who like to keep an element of flexibility to their plans.
The key thing to keep in mind is that cardholders should always explore all the available rates that a property offers and not assume that the rate discounted by 7% is the one to go for.
Bottom line
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is an excellent card for anyone who’s looking to earn the maximum number of Bonvoy points on their spending and an easy 15 elite night credits without splashing out on a high-price credit card.
It’s also the only card that can help a Bonvoy member earn up to 40 elite night credits every year without setting foot in a Marriott property.
Right now, and for a limited time, the card is offering a welcome bonus of up to 150,000 bonus Bonvoy points when a new card holder makes $9,000 in eligible purchases on their card within the first 6 months of card membership (terms apply) and to us, that looks like a pretty good deal.
Offer terms per American Express:
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, or the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
Welcome offer not available to applicants who (i) have or have had the Marriott Bonvoy® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card from Chase, or the Marriott Rewards® Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card from Chase, in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a new Card Member bonus offer in the last 24 months on the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase, or the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card from Chase.
