Last week, I wrote this article about how you can maximize Marriott Bonvoy’s latest promo. With the promo, you can potentially fast track to Marriott Bonvoy elite status. I plan to use the promo to fast track to Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status this year. Moverover, Chase is offering two limited time welcome bonuses on their co-branded credit cards with Marriott Bonvoy. One of them has an interesting new benefit that pairs nicely with Marriott’s latest promo. So does the Marriott Bonovy Bold card have a great value proposition for a no annual fee card? Let’s have a look.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold: $0 Annual Fee, 60,000 points and 1 free night
With this offer on the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card, you’ll earn a welcome bonus of 60,000 points and 1 free night certificate. You’ll earn the welcome bonus once you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months of card membership.
Here’s how the welcome bonus works. Once you meet the required spend, you’ll earn:
- 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
- 1 free night certificate capped at 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night. However, Marriott lets you ‘top up’ a max of 15,000 points per night. In essence, you can redeem the certificate for a property that charges up to 65,000 points per night.
This is an excellent welcome bonus and return on minimum spend for a card that charges no annual fee whatsoever.
Apply Now for the 60,000 points + 1 free night offer
Earning Marriott Bonvoy points
Once you’re approved for the card, you automatically get Silver Elite status. According to me, Platinum status and upward is where things get really rewarding with Marriott Bonvoy. However, having Silver Elite status means you also earn additional points on spend with Marriott:
- Up to 14 x points per dollar spent with hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio
- 1x points on all other purchases
One of the great things about this card is that you’ll earn 2x points for each dollar spent on all of these categories:
- Grocery stores
- Rideshare
- Select Food delivery apps (Doordash, Caviar, Uber Eats, Postmates, Grubhub, Seamless)
- Streaming, internet, cable and phone service purchases
The best part is that there is no upper limit on how many points you can earn in the the 2x category. That makes the card an amazing option for earning Marriott Bonvoy points on everyday purchases.
Elite Night Credits
| Elite Status Level | Elite Night Requirement per year |
| Silver | 10 |
| Gold | 25 |
| Platinum | 50 |
| Titanium | 75 |
| Ambassador | 100 (AND $23,000 in spend) |
Once you’re approved for the card, you’ll earn 5 elite night credits during each calendar year for simply keeping the card active. This can provide a handy boost if you’re chasing elite status and are aspiring a bump up to the next level.
Additional Benefits
In addition to strong points earning potential and elite night credits, you also earn the following ancillary benefits. While these aren’t flashy, they’re still very valuable for a card that charges no annual fee.
- No foreign transaction fee
- Baggage Delay Insurance (Up to $100/day, max 5 days for delays over 6 hours)
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement (Up to $3,000 per traveler for loss, damage or theft)
- Purchase Protection (Up to 120 days since purchase date and up to $500 per item)
New Benefit
Chase recently added a new benefit to this card. You can ‘Pay yourself back’ at a rate of 0.8 cpp, which is often better than some of the redemption rates that we’re seeing with Marriott Bonvoy points.
In essence, you can book any flight directly with an airline or book a stay with Marriott and then redeem up to a maximum of $750 per year (equivalent of 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points). This can be a great option to redeem points at properties that charge lower cash rates.
The Pundit’s Mantra
Overall, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card is a great option to add to your wallet. It charges no annual fee and it offering an amazing limited time welcome bonus offer. Moreover, you can use existing promos and card benefits to nicely stack up elite night credits if you’re chasing elite status.
Bear in mind that the qualification criteria for this card can be confusing, based on your previous history and current record with co-branded Marriott credit cards. You can refer to this guide to check if you qualify for this welcome bonus.
Which is your favorite co-branded hotel credit card? Tell us in the comments section.
Click here for the 60,000 points and 1 free night certificate offer
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