I'm down to 5 AMEX cards, Platinum, Gold, Green, Aspire and Bonvoy Brilliant. The Bonvoy Brilliant AF turns up probably August 23, which won't give me time to use the next round of $300 travel credit on dining out... unless I take everyone from MyFICO out for a steak.
Last year I got an offer for 30,000 Marriott points, to keep the card open. Haven't been able to use the latest free night cert, which expires January 2021 now. This card was difficult to justify last year, with my Platinum and DGF has her own Bonvoy Brilliant, which was why I was somewhat happy to get the 30,000 retention. I transferred 100,000 points to her account, which we used the combined set for a stay in Beaver Creek CO for skiing. So that was a good usage.
Anyone have experience during the pandemic with Bonvoy Brilliant retention offers?
It's like every conversation has to be relevant to Pandemic, just like travel before / after 9/11 changed drastically.
@dogmeat wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:The Bonvoy Brilliant AF turns up probably August 23, which won't give me time to use the next round of $300 travel credit on dining out... .
Does the resort credit reset on the day the annual fee hits, or on your cardmember anniversary date (and, are they the same thing?) If cardmember anniversary date, there should be no 'probably' associated with that - Amex should be able to tell you the exact date. My point being that if there is any chance that "1 week left" could extend to "3 weeks left", that could very well make the credit achieveable.
I don't know anything about Bonvoy Brilliant retention offers but I know FT has forums for that. Since you already have Bonvoy Gold with Platinum it does weaken the value proposition for the Brilliant a bit. Moreso if you can't figure out how to use that free night.
There's no resort credit on the card (that's the Amex Hilton), but the $300 statement credit for qualifying spending (which is much easier to use since that's any spending including the nightly rate that is billed directly to the room, or even some other purchases like if the Starbucks in the lobby codes as Marriott - and for the time being also works for restaurant purchases) at Marriott properties resets on the cardholder anniversary date prior to the AF being charged on the following statement (unless they happen to be the same date, of course).
The annual free night certificate alone should more than offset the annual fee on this card; the $300 credit is just icing on the cake. If the 50k certificate can't be used, there really isn't much point in having the card.
I apologize for not being able to answer your question. But if it will help, I'll take you up on that steak dinner offer. 😂
Goal Scores: 700 across all three
