If you’re looking for your next hotel card, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is a solid choice. Issued by Chase Bank, it offers a handful of perks when staying at Marriott properties. By themselves, these don’t really justify the annual fee. But the card does offer an annual free night, which is the main reason I hang onto it year after year, since this more than pays for itself.
I’ll cover the earning rates, card benefits, and how to ensure you get enough out of the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card. Any links in the text below are personal referral links.
Card Highlights
- Earns 6X points on Marriott purchases, 3X Marriott points on gas stations, grocery stores, and dining (on the first $6,000 in annual spending), and 2X points on everything else
- Annual free night
- 15 elite night credits toward Bonvoy elite status
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
Welcome Offer
Currently, you can earn 125,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months from the account opening with your Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® credit card. Note that the card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule (i.e. if you’ve opened 5 or more new personal credit card accounts in the past 24 months with any issuer, you’re highly unlikely to be approved).
Previous offers have been for three free nights worth up to 50,000 points apiece. If you use these well, you can technically get more out of that offer. But I vastly prefer the current offer which is for a solid number of points. I value the 125,000-point offer at $1,000.
Earning Rates
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card earns 6X points on purchases at participating Marriott properties, 3X points per $1 spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and dining on the first $6,000 in combined purchase among these categories each year. It earns 2X points on everything else.
I value Marriott points at 0.8 cents each, so this is either a 2.4% return or a 1.6% return on spend, depending on your earning rate. Given that you can earn 2% back with a cash back card with no annual fee like the Citi Double Cash, these are relatively average earning rates. For that reason, this card sees very little of my spending. The card benefits are why I keep it. These justify the $95 annual fee.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card Benefits
The benefits of the Marriott Boundless card are why I keep the card. The primary benefits is the annual free night that it provides. This certificate has a redemption value of 35,000 Bonvoy points, and you can use it to book any night of that number of points or fewer. Additionally, you can combine the free night award with up to 15,000 points, which means you can use it to book a property of up to 50,000 total points.
The value you can get out of the free night varies, obviously, depending on how you use it. But if we go with my average Marriott Bonvoy point value of 0.8 cents each, the free night award is worth around $280. For an annual card fee of $95, this alone justifies keeping the card.
In addition, you get 15 elite night credits each year. This gets you automatic Silver status and helps you on your way to a higher Marriott Bonvoy elite status. If you keep both a personal and business Marriott card (which I choose to do), this benefit stacks, so you get 30 elite nights per year. This puts you just 20 nights away from Platinum which offers a solid set of benefits, including free breakfast at many hotels.
If you spend $35,000 on the card, you’ll earn Gold status outright. But this benefit isn’t worth pursuing, in my opinion. Gold doesn’t offer enough more. You need a path to Platinum.
However, the card also provides 1 elite night credit per $5,000 spent. If you are going to fall just a few nights shy of Platinum, it could be well worth using the card for a good amount of everyday spending to get the credits needed. In 2023 I used this Marriott Boundless card benefit to help reach Bonvoy Platinum. Best of all, both the 15 annual elite night credits and elite nights you earn through card spending count toward Marriott Lifetime Elite status.
Finally, the card doesn’t levy foreign transaction fees.
Final Thoughts
As with many hotel cards, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card isn’t an ideal choice for everyday spending. But it does offer some solid benefits if you stay regularly at participating properties within the Marriott Bonvoy program. The bonus elite nights and ability to earn additional elite nights has helped me maintain Platinum elite status. With a value of well over $200, you can easily get 2-3X the annual fee via the free night the card provides. This alone makes the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card worth it to me. If you’re in the market for a new hotel card, it’s a solid choice.
