Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card review

How to apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card

To apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, you must be at least 18 years old and a US resident. You’ll also need to provide information such as your name, email and phone number, Social Security number and date of birth, your home address, and your total annual income and income source.

1. Go to the provider's site and select Apply now.
2. Fill out the application form with details like your name, contact information, Social Security number and total annual income.
3. Review your application and submit it.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card benefits

• Welcome offer: Earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you spend $5,000 in eligible purchases using your new card within the first 3 months of card membership.
• Rewards: Up to 6x points. Earn 6x points at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. This was the rate you’d receive before SPG and Marriott Rewards merged in August 2018, and it’s still a strong one. Earn 3x points at US restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. On other eligible purchases, you’ll earn 2x points. Redeem points for reward nights at Marriott Bonvoy hotels, as well as car rentals and flights through the airline program. For all of your redemption options, check out our Marriott award chart. Plus, transfer points to miles with over 40 airlines, including Delta, Emirates, United and more.
• $300 credit on restaurants. Each card year you’ll receive Up to $300 in statement credits per calendar year, up to $25 per month, for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide.
• Shopping and entertainment benefits. Access ticket presales and select events in your area.
• ShopRunner. You’ll receive free two-day shipping on eligible items at over 140 online stores in the ShopRunner network with this complimentary membership. Access Shoprunner by enrolling in your Amex account.

Hotel perks

• Free Night Award. Each year after your card renewal month, you’ll receive a Free Night Award. You can use it for a night at a participating hotel that has a redemption level at or under 50,000 points. At the time of writing, complimentary nights range in cost from 7,500 to 85,000 points. There are no blackout dates and your award covers your room rate and applicable taxes. However, you may need to pay resort fees and incidental charges.
• Complimentary Elite status. As a baseline perk, you’ll enjoy Gold Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy® program. Gold Elite comes with a 25% points bonus, 2 p.m. late checkout based on availability, a dedicated elite reservation line, welcome gifts and enhanced room upgrades based on availability. Normally, you’d need to stay 25 nights a year to attain it.
• Credits toward higher Elite status. Each calendar year, you’ll receive a 15-night credit to help you reach the next level of Elite status.You’ll need to link your card account to a Marriott Loyalty Program in your name.

General travel perks

• Travel insurance. Enjoy car rental insurance and lost luggage insurance. Get access to the Premium Global Assist Hotline as well, which can connect you to medical and professional services when you’re in a pinch on vacation.
• No foreign transaction fees. Use your card abroad or at foreign websites without paying a fee. This is standard across travel cards.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi. After enrolling, you’ll receive unlimited Wi-Fi through more than a million Boingo hotspots around the world. You’ll also receive complimentary in-room, premium Internet access when you stay at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• Priority Pass™ Select membership. You’ll receive a complimentary membership in Priority Pass Select. Once you enroll, you’ll enjoy complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges around the world. At Priority Pass lounges that allow guests, you can bring two along without paying extra.
• Statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Every four years, you’ll receive up to a $100 statement credit for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, which cost $100 and $85 respectively. If you’re approved for Global Entry, you’ll automatically receive a TSA PreCheck membership at no additional charge.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card drawbacks

• $650 annual fee. This card is priced at a premium. To its credit, however, it offers impressive benefits for its annual fee that can easily make up the cost.
• Potentially high APR. You could receive a purchase APR as high as 27.74% variable, depending on your credit. That’s much higher than the average credit card APR of around 16%.
• Penalty APR. American Express may apply a 29.99% variable APR to all balances if you pay late or make a returned payment. This rate will apply for at least six months, but you may be stuck with it indefinitely.

Silver Elite vs. Gold Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy® program

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers complimentary Silver Elite status. Meanwhile, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card offers complimentary Gold Elite status. Here’s how the tiers stack up, with base-level Member perks to compare.

	Member	Silver Elite	Gold Elite
Complimentary in-room Internet access
Member rates
Mobile check-in and mobile services
Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
Points bonus		10% bonus	25% bonus
Priority late checkout			Until 2 p.m., based on availability
Dedicated Elite reservation line
In-hotel welcome gift			Typically points
Enhanced room upgrade, based on availability

Here’s how to make up for the annual fee of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card

Given the breadth of perks and benefits offered by the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, it’s pretty simple to make up for the cost of the card each year by ensuring you’re using all of the available perks. Here are a few of the easiest ways to do it.

• Stay at a Marriott Bonvoy property a few times a year. It sounds redundant, but this is important because it uses your annual Free Night Award. A free night award is worth a room redemption of 50,000 points or less, which is worth anywhere from $200 to $500 depending on the location and season.
• Take advantage of your Gold status. Typically, reaching Gold status in the Marriott Bonvoy® program requires you book 25 nights at an eligible Marriott Bonvoy property. This would cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in normal circumstances and the perks Gold status, such as room upgrades, are also worth hundreds in value.
• Enroll in Priority Pass. An annual Priority Pass membership that allows for unlimited lounge visits is $429 as of September 2022.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card customer reviews and complaints

The American Express Company is accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), earning an A+ rating from the agency as of August 2021. It currently has over 3,000 complaints. However, according to the BBB, most of the complaints have been answered by the company or resolved to customers’ satisfaction.

Compare Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant to similar credit cards

Compare the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card vs. The Platinum Card® from American Express vs. the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Looking at these similar cards’ annual fees, welcome offers and other features can help you decide which is right for you.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card	The Platinum Card® from American Express	Chase Sapphire Reserve®
★★★★★ Finder rating 4.6 / 5	★★★★★ Finder rating 4.4 / 5	★★★★★ Finder rating 4.6 / 5
Read Review Terms apply, see rates & fees	Read Review Terms apply, see rates & fees	See offer on Creditcards.com's secure site Terms apply, see rates & fees
Minimum Credit Score 670	Minimum Credit Score 670	Minimum Credit Score 740
Annual Fee $650	Annual Fee $695	Annual Fee $550
Purchase APR Up to 27.74% variable	Purchase APR See Pay Over Time APR	Purchase APR Up to 26.24% variable
Balance transfer APR N/A	Balance transfer APR N/A	Balance transfer APR 19.24% to 26.24% variable
Rewards Up to 6x points	Rewards Up to 5x points	Rewards Up to 10x points
Welcome offer 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months	Welcome offer 100,000 points after spending $6,000 in your first 6 months	Welcome offer Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®

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Bottom line

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is priced at a premium, but it packs tremendous value for its cost. If you frequent Marriott Bonvoy properties and love traveling in style, this card could be an automatic winner.

If you’re not sure the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is for you, compare other great travel cards before you decide.

How has this card changed over time?