As a card with a $250 annual fee, you’d expect the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ credit card to have plenty of benefits.
What Is the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card?
The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card is co-branded with Chase bank, and offers automatic Gold Elite status, a sign-up bonus and additional benefits.
New applicants can earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening.
This card earns up to 18.5X total points for every dollar spent at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy. This is broken down as 6X points with the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card, 10X for being a Marriott Bonvoy member and 2.5X with Marriott Gold Elite Status (which you earn with this card). You will also earn 4X on the first $15,000 in combined purchases each year on grocery stores and dining. On all other purchases, you earn 2X.
This card comes with automatic Gold Elite status, which gives you room upgrades when available, 2 p.m. checkout and 25% more bonus points on eligible hotel purchases. You will also get 15 Elite Night credits, which gets you part of the way toward Platinum Elite status. Plus, with this card, you will earn 1,000 bonus points per eligible stay at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
Plus, you can get purchase protection and access to a Visa concierge. Additional cardmember benefits include baggage delay insurance of up to $100 a day for five days, lost luggage reimbursement up to $3,000 per passenger and trip delay reimbursement up to $500 a ticket.
If you spend $15,000 on the card in one calendar year, you can earn one Free Night Award, which is valid for a one night hotel stay at a property with a redemption level of up to 50,000 points. Free Night Awards start at 7,500 points. Certain hotels have resort fees.
This card charges an annual fee of $250, but there’s no foreign transaction fee.
What Sets the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card Apart?
This card has several features that help it distinguish itself from other credit cards in its category.
- Sign-up bonus. You can earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening.
- Gold Elite Status. The card gets you automatic Gold Elite status, which gives you room upgrades when available, 2 p.m. checkout and 25% more bonus points on eligible hotel purchases.
- Travel Benefits. This card offers several travel benefits including baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and trip delay reimbursement.
Key Features of the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card
The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card offers a sign-up bonus, the ability to earn rewards and several additional benefits.
Sign-Up Bonus
Earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Earning Rewards
This card earns up to 18.5X total points for every dollar spent at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy. This is broken down as 6X points with the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card, 10X for being a Marriott Bonvoy member and 2.5X with Marriott Gold Elite Status (which you earn with this card).
You will also earn 4X on the first $15,000 in combined purchases each year on grocery stores and dining. On all other purchases, you earn 2X.
Redeeming Rewards
You can redeem your points for stays at eligible Marriott hotels. You can also transfer your points to over 35 airline partners at a 3:1 ratio.
Points won’t expire, as long as you make purchases on your credit card every 24 months.
0% Intro APR Promotion
There is not currently a 0% intro APR promotion available. The current APR is 21.49% to 28.49%. The cash advance APR is 29.99%.
Important Fees
There’s a balance transfer fee of either 5% of the amount of each transaction or $5, whichever is greater. The card also charges a cash advance fee of 5% of the amount of each transaction or $10, whichever is greater. There is a late payment penalty fee of up to $40 and a return payment penalty of up to $40.
The annual fee is $250. There are no foreign transaction fees for this card
Additional Benefits
The card offers several additional benefits, including automatic Gold Elite status, which gives you room upgrades when available, 2 p.m. checkout and 25% more bonus points on eligible hotel purchases. You will also get 15 Elite Night credits, which gets you part of the way toward Platinum Elite status. Plus, with this card, you will earn 1,000 bonus points per eligible stay at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
Although this isn’t a luxury travel card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card offers several travel-related benefits, including baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and trip delay reimbursement.
If you spend $15,000 on the card in one calendar year, you can earn one Free Night Award, which is valid for a one night hotel stay at a property with a redemption level of up to 50,000 points. Free Night Awards start at 7,500 points. Certain hotels have resort fees.
Credit Required
This card requires good credit or better to qualify. If your FICO score is much below 690, then you may have trouble being approved.
Pros & Cons
This card offers several advantages that help to justify its costly annual fee.
Pros
- Lots of bonus points. Earn up to 18.5x at Marriotts, but also 4x points on your first $15,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores and on dining. You also receive an additional 1,000 points per stay at Marriott properties.
- Annual free night award. Use your card to spend $15,000 in a year, and you’ll earn a free night award worth up to 50,000 points.
- Elite status. Receive automatic Gold status and 15 night-stay credits towards the next level.
Cons
- Very expensive. The $250 annual fee is very pricey for a card like this, and there are no fee credits or other ways to directly justify this cost.
- The Marriott Bonvoy program is weak. This is an extremely popular program, due to the sheer number of Marriott properties around the world. But Marriott charges a lot of points for free night stays, and still imposes expensive “resort fees” when you use your points.
- Free night award requires spend. Some hotel cards offer a free night each year, just for having their premium rewards card. But this one requires $15,000 in annual spend to earn the free night certificate.
How the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card Stacks Up
The card’s closest competitor is probably the World of Hyatt card from Chase. Here’s how the two cards compare:
| Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful credit card | World of Hyatt card from Chase | |
| Annual Fee | $250 | $95 |
| Sign-Up Bonus | 85,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening | Up to 60,000 bonus points: 30,000 after spending $3,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening, and 30,000 more after spending up to $15,000 |
| Rewards Rate | Up to 18.5X | Up to 9X |
| 0% Intro APR | None | None |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | None | None |
| Credit Needed | Good or better | Good or better |
Final Word
This card has the rewards and benefits to make it worthwhile, except for one thing. The $250 annual fee just doesn’t seem to fit. With an annual fee of $95 or even $150, this card would be easy to recommend. But at $250, it only seems to work for die-hard Marriott Loyalists.