5 Reasons You Should Consider a Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

Marriott topped BW’s 2026 best hotel rankings due to their massive footprint, a solid rewards rate for paid stays and strong ratings from BW’s travel team. Since Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world, Marriott Bonvoy points can truly take you almost anywhere you want to go.

At BW, we never recommend opening a new credit card just for an enticing new cardholder welcome offer. You should choose a card based on the rewards, benefits and value you’ll earn over time. However, when we recommend opening a new credit card, we recommend the time when the offer is most valuable.

And if you’re even an occasional Marriott traveler, that right time is right now. That’s because a brand-new, super generous welcome offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card just dropped:

Earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points plus a $250 statement credit after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 09/30/2026. Terms Apply.

Over the past few years, this card has often offered 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for similar spending requirements. With this new offer, you can earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points plus a $250 statement credit after you meet spending requirements.

Better yet, there’s now a $250 statement credit. You don’t have to spend a certain amount in specific categories, you don’t have to shop at a particular merchant, you don’t have to jump through any hoops. You can earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $6,000 in the first 6-months on your card. Terms apply.

Complimentary elite status from a credit card that’s actually worth something?! We give this a resounding yes.

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card comes with complimentary Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status!

Marriott Platinum Elite status offers tangible, valuable benefits for me every single time I stay.

Here are your core daily benefits with Marriott Bonvoy Platinum elite status:

(Perks like late check-out, room upgrades and lounge access are subject to availability at hotel participating in Marriot Bonvoy when booked with a Qualifying Rate.)

Personally, I choose free breakfast for two as my welcome amenity most times. That adds up to substantial savings for my family when we stay at Marriott hotels and properties, even a few times a year.

Depending on the hotel, there’s often a dedicated check-in line for Marriott elite members. Being able to skip the regular line for this “VIP” option has saved me time on countless occasions.

On top of the solid amount of Marriott Bonvoy points you can rack up after you open a new card and meet spending requirements, you’ll receive another valuable benefit each year you hold the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.

An up to 85,000-point Marriott Free Night Award which can be used for one night at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®, could cover nearly the entire annual fee of the card if used for good value.

Plus, you can add up to 25,000 of your Marriott Bonvoy points to it to make it worth even more. That means you can add your points to top it up to a value of up to 100,000 for really special stays – a feature often not available on other hotel chain’s annual night certificates. Resort fees and terms apply.

This is a huge perk, and one that I love to save every year for an extra special occasion stay. One such trip was to a fabulously unique Marriott hotel that our kids still talk about with excitement.

Marriott has a huge portfolio of properties that span from classic conference hotels, reliable select-service brands, over-the-top luxury, and even a roster of reimagined historic buildings. The Liberty Hotel in Boston is a national historic landmark circa 1851 and, famously, a previous jail.

We used our annual Free Night Award earned from holding the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card here, at “the jail hotel” as my kids call it.