@K-in-Boston wrote:
@Remedios wrote:I cannot tell if this thread requires additional 🗒️ (there should be napkin emoji) or extra 🍿🍿🍿
Depends on how big you are writing the numbers? Also, since there's status involved here these will be those nicer napkins that are larger than standard so they can fit more maths.
It may only require 2.4 boxes of popcorn, or 2.18
This thread has been such a good read. A hotel card is on my list as my next card to acquire, but y'all have me rethinking this one as an option. I have the AmEx Platinum and my DH has the Gold. We could transfer MR points to the place with the best redemption value on an as needed basis. The Platinum card gives gold status at Hilton and Bonvoy, so that is covered. A lot of the other benefits are already covred by these two cards that you get with the Bonvoy one. Add to that that I now have the FNBO Getaway card, which pays 3X (reedemable as 3% cash back) back on travel, and I am running out of reasons to justify getting the Bonvoy Brilliant. Maybe it would be good for the multipliers on spend at Marriott, but would it make up for that gap between the property credit and the annual fee? Probably not for me.
I am wondering if the Hilton Aspire makes more sense, but that is a topic for anothe thread.
@RehabbingANDBlabbing wrote:... I am running out of reasons to justify getting the Bonvoy Brilliant. Maybe it would be good for the multipliers on spend at Marriott, but would it make up for that gap between the property credit and the annual fee? Probably not for me.
IMO, there are at least two reasons to still get the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, @RehabbingANDBlabbing, even if you have Platinum and Gold cards.
- $300 automatic property credit for any spending during the year at Marriott.
- Annual free night worth 50K Bonvoy points which is easily worth more than the remaining $150 of the AF.
The effective annual fee is $0.00 if you stay at Marriotts. All other perks and benefits of the card are just gravy, even if you don't need the Gold status, TSA Global Entry reimbursement, $100 Property credit, Priority Pass lounge benefits, travel insurances and protections, shopping protections, no FTF, or higher earnings (6x) at Marriott property bookings.
The kicker for me also is that not only do I stay at Marriott-branded properties often in my work travels, but they are in the top largest hotels worldwide regardless of whether you're considering size by number of rooms, country-presence, number of properties, or other statistics. Their footprint is hard to beat, regardless of where you travel. By number of rooms, they are by far the largest in the world with 1.4 Million rooms. And they have the largest country footprint with hotels in over 130 countries. Wyndham, Choice, IHG, and Hilton are among the others in the top five, but Marriott is largest by most parameters.
@Aim_High wrote:
@RehabbingANDBlabbing wrote:... I am running out of reasons to justify getting the Bonvoy Brilliant. Maybe it would be good for the multipliers on spend at Marriott, but would it make up for that gap between the property credit and the annual fee? Probably not for me.
IMO, there are at least two reasons to still get the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, @RehabbingANDBlabbing, even if you have Platinum and Gold cards.
- $300 automatic property credit for any spending during the year at Marriott.
- Annual free night worth 50K Bonvoy points which is easily worth more than the remaining $150 of the AF.
The effective annual fee is $0.00 if you stay at Marriotts. All other perks and benefits of the card are just gravy, even if you don't need the Gold status, TSA Global Entry reimbursement, $100 Property credit, Priority Pass lounge benefits, travel insurances and protections, shopping protections, no FTF, or higher earnings (6x) at Marriott property bookings.
The kicker for me also is that not only do I stay at Marriott-branded properties often in my work travels, but they are in the top largest hotels worldwide regardless of whether you're considering size by number of rooms, country-presence, number of properties, or other statistics. Their footprint is hard to beat, regardless of where you travel. By number of rooms, they are by far the largest in the world with 1.4 Million rooms. And they have the largest country footprint with hotels in over 130 countries. Wyndham, Choice, IHG, and Hilton are among the others in the top five, but Marriott is largest by most parameters.
You're right, I did forget about the annual night certificate. So let's say I get the $300 credit and the annual night, I would at least be breaking even on the card's annual fee. And I know I will use both of those every year. The other stuff doesn't make much of a difference to me. But you're right about them having a huge presence. I had the Chase Marriott Premier a few years ago, which I liked a lot. It was $95 a year for status, multipliers, and a free night. Chase took some AA against me a long time ago, so that card got closed. But it was a great value for the money. Maybe I'll wait and see if the increased bonus comes back for the Brilliant and then apply. I've got a couple months of meeting signup bonus requirements before I can open a new card LOL.
One big differentiator when comparing "should I get a hotel card" vs "should I just use Amex Platinum" is elevated status. If one is fine with just having Gold status or if you prefer to get a great 5x MRs booking through Amex Travel (although keep in mind that you will almost never receive elite benefits or rewards earnings when doing so), the hotel card may not be needed.
Obviously, the Hilton cards allow one to "buy" up to top-tier status by only paying a fairly reasonable annual fee, but with Marriott it isn't that easy. You can level up to Platinum status with $75k annual spend on Bonvoy Brilliant, but even that is mid-tier status. Marriott gives you 15 elite night credits on one personal and/or one business card, putting you only 20-35 nights away from Platinum status and 45-60 nights away from Titanium status each year. (Ambassador status isn't so easy; even with both business and personal cards you would need to both stay an additional 70 or more nights each year and spend at least $20,000 pre-tax and fees at Marriott annually.)
For anyone regularly staying at Marriott properties at least a few times each year, any of the annual fee cards should make financial sense to have, though.
@K-in-Boston wrote: ... Marriott gives you 15 elite night credits on one personal and/or one business card, putting you only 20-35 nights away from Platinum status and 45-60 nights away from Titanium status each year.
A great point, @K-in-Boston, and something I've only become aware of in the past few months. I knew that Marriott won't let you "double dip" on elite night credits with multiple personal cards such as my Chase Boundless and AMEX Brilliant, but I recently got an email informing me that the business card is considered separately. My plan was to downsize my hotel cards to that single AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant since my business hotel stays are employer-paid and my personal-paid stays are not huge. (Chase Boundless and Chase Hyatt are both on the chopping block even though they offer a free night in lieu of the AF; they pay for themselves but I see the overall value in my case beyond that as marginal. It was also tempting to upgrade the Boundless to the Ritz Carlton for the additional 50K free night, but again, I don't really need another hotel card.) However, in light of the extra 15 elite nights, that shakes things up a bit. If I can get to 30 nights with the cards putting Platinum within only 20 nights, it might be worth it! The $125 AF on the business is covered by the 35K annual free night, and I could use the card to earn 4x Bonvoy points at restaurants or gas stations to more quickly accrue points if I chose to do so. Plus, I see some nice benefits between Gold and Platinum: 50% (instead of 25%) points bonus on stays, lounge access including free breakfast, late checkout up to 4pm instead of 2pm, and access to the elite customer service support hotline. All of that might be worth adding the card.
This is definitely something that would benefit someone like myself who doesn't organically book enough hotel rooms to qualify for higher elite status.
Also there's the welcome gift for Platinum and higher. (Most properties it is a choice of points (default) or food & beverage credit.) Since those are done at check-in, if one tends to have frequent short stays those can add up very quickly. Using a cheaper $100 one night stay as an example and let's add $15 in for combined state and local taxes and tourism fees, I earn 1000 points as a welcome gift, 1000 (100x10) points for the stay, 750 bonus points (75% Titanium bonus), and 690 (115x6) points for using my Marriott card. That's 3440 total points for a $100 night, and Platinum would only earn 250 points less on that same stay. As rooms get more expensive and stays get longer, obviously those welcome gifts aren't adding quite as much value. But for a frequent one night booker, that can really add up.
There is also the annual choice benefits at 50 and 75 nights that can add a lot of value. I always grab 5 Suite Night Awards for the 50 night benefit and either 5 more SNAs or the 35k free night for the 75 night benefit depending on what I have planned.
When the merger was first completed and everything got ironed out with the credit cards, initially it was just 15 nights total credit per loyalty account, but they relaxed that a little soon after to be one business and one personal card earning 15 nights each.