Do I need Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

[AyaMai]

I do have American Express Platinum, Gold and Green, Hilton Honors Card "No Annual Fee" & Blue Cash Preferred. Is it worth it to get the card. I tend to stay at hotels which gives me the best value, I do not mean the cheapest, my stay usually are 1-3 nights as i do road trips & plus enrolled in loyalty programs. Your thoughts are appreciated and thank you in advance. Note I can not apply for any Chase Cards for the next 24 months.

[DONZI]

If you want to cover all the personal travel card bases from American Express then you also will need a Delta card.

Seriously though, think about it.. "I tend to stay at hotels which gives me the best value" -- that is based on your criteria as is the answer to your question about the Marriott card.

The amex platinum provides gold status for Marriott which would otherwise be 25 nights in 1 year (or via the amex marriott card).

The amex marriott card offers some nice benefits, but also is a means to spend one's way up the elite status ranks.

Despite my itch to get the Bonvoy Brilliant card I saw more overlap to the amex platinum that I cared for. Also, I am not particularly attached to Marriott or any other hotel/resort brands.

[redpat]

Stick with Hilton.  With Hilton gold you at least get free breakfast if you are looking for value.  

[AyaMai]

 based on your history with credit card balance transfers, American Express welcome offers, introductory APR offers, or the number of Cards you have opened and closed, you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees.

[pizzadude]

Hi @AyaMai , I've merged your posts on AMEX together.   Please refrain from cross-posting in mutiple forums on the same topic. 

[mkhan1093]

To answer the original Bonvoy Brilliant question, I'd say it's worth it actually as a card that kind of pays for itself. $450 AF for a $300 credit + 1 high-end night means you basically pre-pay $150 for a night that can be worth much more. You didn't say you're loyal to Hilton or anything, so I would say on the off-chance that for at least one of your trips, the "best" hotel might be in the Mariott family and you could utilize both of these.

Regarding that second question, does that pop-up before you apply and get approved? Or are you actually applying and getting rejected for no AF cards?

[jetsfan2013]

I personally prefer the Marriott brand over Hilton, which is why I opted for the card. I have friends that prefer Hyatt, or in some cases have zero preference, and just utilize the Platinum card.

[notmyrealname23]

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@AyaMai wrote:

I do have American Express Platinum, Gold and Green, Hilton Honors Card "No Annual Fee" & Blue Cash Preferred. Is it worth it to get the card. I tend to stay at hotels which gives me the best value, I do not mean the cheapest, my stay usually are 1-3 nights as i do road trips & plus enrolled in loyalty programs. Your thoughts are appreciated and thank you in advance. Note I can not apply for any Chase Cards for the next 24 months.

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Do you find yourself staying in Marriotts? The $300 of Marriott charges that will be rebates per year aren't useful if you don't actually stay in a Marriott.

The card should pay for itself in year one based on signup bonus, assuming you use the points that year. Note that there are rules on Marriott signup bonuses you need to be aware of if you carry a Chase Marriott card. This may be why you are getting that message. Without a signup bonus it is not as good a deal (you are paying $450 for $300 of Marriott stays + mostly overlapping benefits with your Amex Platinum).

Subsequent years on renewal of annual fee will yield a free night certificate good up to 50,000 points per night. Given the $300 rebate you are essentially prepurchasing a room night at a hotel you might pay $300-400 for $150 annual fee. The Marriott Bonvoy program is significantly changing in 2022/2023, away from award charts and to having variable values for points required for hotel rooms (2022 is a transition year).

Generally the hotel cobrand credit cards are a reasonable deal for someone who travels and stays with the chain, but you are trading certificates that expire for cash that doesn't in annual fee (the chain uses surplus inventory to supply the rooms).

[AyaMai]

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@mkhan1093 wrote:

To answer the original Bonvoy Brilliant question, I'd say it's worth it actually as a card that kind of pays for itself. $450 AF for a $300 credit + 1 high-end night means you basically pre-pay $150 for a night that can be worth much more. You didn't say you're loyal to Hilton or anything, so I would say on the off-chance that for at least one of your trips, the "best" hotel might be in the Mariott family and you could utilize both of these.

Regarding that second question, does that pop-up before you apply and get approved? Or are you actually applying and getting rejected for no AF cards?

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The pop-up before I apply and get approved, I just cancel.

[NRB525]

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@AyaMai wrote:

I do have American Express Platinum, Gold and Green, Hilton Honors Card "No Annual Fee" & Blue Cash Preferred. Is it worth it to get the card. I tend to stay at hotels which gives me the best value, I do not mean the cheapest, my stay usually are 1-3 nights as i do road trips & plus enrolled in loyalty programs. Your thoughts are appreciated and thank you in advance. Note I can not apply for any Chase Cards for the next 24 months.

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With Platinum, you get the same Marriott Gold status. 
Paying for the Marriott stay with AMEX Green gets you 3 MR points, which compares quite favorably to the Marriott low-value 6 points on the card. Plus you avoid another AF card.