$450/yr AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant to $95/yr AMEX Bonvoy

[ljmiii]

Woohoo! When I called to cancel my $450/yr AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant CC (since AMEX dropped the $300/yr Marriott credit), they offered to downgrade me to the no-longer-offered AMEX Bonvoy CC. $95/yr, 35K FNC. Well worth the price.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I used my Bonvoy Brilliant card for my free night of 50,000 points. It was Courtyard by Maui airport. That was my free night for my annual fee. That night was (at the time) about $600 with taxes. Now the hotel is 55,000 points, not quite enough for a free night. I would have to use actual points next time for that hotel in the future. I am sort of bitter about the change. Then again, if I can save $400-500 on airfare by adding that night, that could be worthy of the points.

But I just booked a hotel room with Rick's free night for his $95 fee on his older AMEX, same one you have, I think. The night was free and it was Tampa Airport. It would be $300 with taxes/ fees. I am good with that.

I believe I can still get my value from the Bonvoy Brilliant 50K hotel points. I just have to work harder at the restaurant credit. The $25 per month, I am going to forget that benefit and use the wrong card. I could always make a point of walking into Outback to buy a $50 gift card each month. Mark the calendar...remind myself via phone, via email, via MSN calendar, via Alexa, etc. I am so going to forget!

 

[funNsun]

I also do not like the change on the Brilliant card to the monthly restaurant credit. I find the monthly part the most annoying (more so than the change to restaurant credit) for the reasons mentioned (chance of forgetting). I like the idea of just purchasing a gift certificate monthly (assuming that is covered).

Re the 50K certificate, note that Marriott added a feature to these where you can now top up with points. So, if you need to reserve a 55K room, you can still use the certificate together w/ 5K Bonvoy points.

 

[DRH90277]

What's so "Brilliant" about a credit card?

We must be in the dark ages as we have Marriott Bonvoy cards through Chase. The Marriott Sales person wanted us to change to the Amex card but it made no sense with a large fee and then a credit bringing it down to about the annual cost of our old Chase cards. Is there something I'm missing about the value of this new Amex card? Could it be that Marriott gets a fee from Amex for changing us over?

I don't need credit cards to impress anyone. If my wallet is stolen, the thief may just throw it away after he finds my $20 and my CCP card.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I used my Bonvoy Brilliant card for my free night of 50,000 points. It was Courtyard by Maui airport. That was my free night for my annual fee. That night was (at the time) about $600 with taxes. Now the hotel is 55,000 points, not quite enough for a free night. I would have to use actual points next time for that hotel in the future. I am sort of bitter about the change. Then again, if I can save $400-500 on airfare by adding that night, that could be worthy of the points.

But I just booked a hotel room with Rick's free night for his $95 fee on his older AMEX, same one you have, I think. The night was free and it was Tampa Airport. It would be $300 with taxes/ fees. I am good with that.

I believe I can still get my value from the Bonvoy Brilliant 50K hotel points. I just have to work harder at the restaurant credit. The $25 per month, I am going to forget that benefit and use the wrong card. I could always make a point of walking into Outback to buy a $50 gift card each month. Mark the calendar...remind myself via phone, via email, via MSN calendar, via Alexa, etc. I am so going to forget!

It's too bad one cannot find a hotel on the islands with just the certs anymore. It seems these companies incl. IHG now regularly price points just above the cert value to extract points...small paper cut devaluations.

Now that BONVOY points have been priced at nosebleed levels for stays at aspirational resorts, it seems the best use now is for cert plus points top-off for airport stays. However need less than 50k Bonvoy balance per year for that so wont use the card beyond MF.

Re $25 We travel and use take out regularly but if not, I plan to reload my Starbucks account. Dont need to step out of the house for that.

 

[Fallenone]

I used my Bonvoy Brilliant card for my free night of 50,000 points. It was Courtyard by Maui airport. That was my free night for my annual fee. That night was (at the time) about $600 with taxes. Now the hotel is 55,000 points, not quite enough for a free night. I would have to use actual points next time for that hotel in the future. I am sort of bitter about the change. Then again, if I can save $400-500 on airfare by adding that night, that could be worthy of the points.

You can top it off with 5k points. The new system introduced the top off approach with a max of 15k points to top your free night cert.

 

[Cornell]

Made the switch from dropping the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant to this....

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card review - The Points Guy

Even if you aren’t a Marriott loyalist, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is worth considering. It comes with a valuable welcome bonus, an annual free night and elite night credits but carries a lower annual fee than most other cards in the Marriott card lineup.

thepointsguy.com

 

[funNsun]

There is nothing particularly brilliant about the Amex Brilliant card. If you are able to use the entire $300 credit, the annual fee difference compared to the Chase Boundless card is $55 ($150-$95). For that $55, you get a free night certificate worth 50K instead of 35K. I am able to get $0.01 per point easily on Marriott redemptions so the extra 15K is well worth the $55 to me. YMMV.

Historically, you could also spend your way to Platinum status on the Brilliant card. I think you needed to spend something like $75K on the card in a given calendar year to get Platinum status. This would be good in the year it was spent, plus the next year and then a couple months after that. Not sure if this option is still available.

 

[rickandcindy23]

You can top it off with 5k points. The new system introduced the top off approach with a max of 15k points to top your free night cert.

I need to book another night for 3/26 at that Marriott, but I don't see an option to use additional points. Could be me.

 

[rickandcindy23]

There is nothing particularly brilliant about the Amex Brilliant card. If you are able to use the entire $300 credit, the annual fee difference compared to the Chase Boundless card is $55 ($150-$95). For that $55, you get a free night certificate worth 50K instead of 35K. I am able to get $0.01 per point easily on Marriott redemptions so the extra 15K is well worth the $55 to me. YMMV.

Historically, you could also spend your way to Platinum status on the Brilliant card. I think you needed to spend something like $75K on the card in a given calendar year to get Platinum status. This would be good in the year it was spent, plus the next year and then a couple months after that. Not sure if this option is still available.

Is it spend or is it points that gets one to that level. Spending would be tough, but Marriott/ Vistana points at 6X would be easy to build to that many points. $75K spend, holy moly. Our son could do it with his store.

 

[funNsun]

It was 75K spend

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Good to know the downgrade works.

Is Bonvoy Platinum (or gold) worth it? We have received nada with our Gold elite so far. We even tried late checkout which is a benefit and were denied.

I much prefer the Hilton Honors with free breakfast/food amenity and unlimited cert cap. We prefer Waldorf/Conrad so $48/day benefit helps pay for the $450 card. We will pick up another Aspire card next year for an extra hotel cert if they don't devalue by then.

 

[rickandcindy23]

What's so "Brilliant" about a credit card?

We must be in the dark ages as we have Marriott Bonvoy cards through Chase. The Marriott Sales person wanted us to change to the Amex card but it made no sense with a large fee and then a credit bringing it down to about the annual cost of our old Chase cards. Is there something I'm missing about the value of this new Amex card? Could it be that Marriott gets a fee from Amex for changing us over?

I don't need credit cards to impress anyone. If my wallet is stolen, the thief may just throw it away after he finds my $20 and my CCP card.

It's about the benefits, not brag worthy for me, anyway, to have a bunch of credit cards.

If I can get the value out of a card, I keep it, but if I cannot get benefits worthy of the card, I cancel the card or downgrade.

 

[funNsun]

Is Bonvoy Platinum (or gold) worth it?

Platinum is of course better than gold and gold is better than nothing. To your question, it depends what you need to get it. Gold is easily obtained simply by having the right credit card (Amex Platinum, Amex Brilliant or Amex Bonvoy Business). The perks aren't that great as you noted. You get a few more bonus points per dollar spent at Marriott properties and better internet. Super rare to get late checkout and room upgrade with gold in my experience.

Platinum is better but not great. You get higher bonus rate per dollar spent at Marriott properties. Also, you sometimes get free breakfast and late checkouts. Very occasionally you get room upgrades (but generally not to anything amazing). The problem is that you cannot count on these benefits so we don't expect them but are sometimes pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't go too far out of my way to obtain platinum but if you can somehow obtain it easily then it is worthwhile.

I agree that Hilton status is much better. Hilton Diamond is applied much more consistently than Marriott Platinum. On every Hilton stay, we either get free daily breakfast (usually for 2) or a daily credit (e.g., $18/day x2). Surprisingly, at least to me, this can be used on alcohol at the hotel bar. Hilton Diamond status is also easier to obtain via credit card spend or by having the right card. Hilton Amex business card gives Diamond status with $40K spend in calendar year. Hilton Aspire card gives Diamond status simply by having the card (as I think someone noted above). The only issue w/ Hilton is that there are far fewer hotels than Marriott.

 

[funNsun]

It's about the benefits, not brag worthy for me, anyway, to have a bunch of credit cards.

If I can get the value out of a card, I keep it, but if I cannot get benefits worthy of the card, I cancel the card or downgrade.

I agree 100% and would never keep a card for bragging purposes.

 

[ljmiii]

What's so "Brilliant" about a credit card?...

$150 ($450 - $300 credit) for a 50K Marriott Free Night Certificate is a good deal. I love @CalGalTraveler's idea of doing a $25 Starbucks charge each and every month since that is now the game AMEX wants you to play.

But for me $95 for a 35K FNC is actually a better deal. That gives me 3 of them (Chase Boundless + AMEX Business Bonvoy + AMEX 'plain' Bonvoy) and there are lots of places I can do a 2 or 3 night weekend in the 35K-50K point range. That 50-65K 'mid-range aspirational' one night stay doesn't come around that often...and Hilton offers me an unlimited redemption in a Conrad or Waldorf when the opportunity for a truly aspirational stay comes around.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I wish the Brilliant would automatically give a higher status than just the Gold. Do you know that Chase Sapphire Reserve already includes Marriott Gold status as an automatic benefit of the card?

 

[rickandcindy23]

By the way, Hyatt is a better card for redemption purposes. I hope they never change that. I booked a $450 night in Vancouver for 15,000 Hyatt points. I already used Rick's free night and had to use points, which he didn't have quite enough points. I transferred those needed additional points from his Sapphire Reserve. Transfer is immediate. So a $5,000 Vistana/ Marriott spend on that card gets 15,000 points at 3X points for travel, transfer to Hyatt for a night worth $450. YMMV.

I was able to book Hyatt Residence Club on Maui for one night in a 1 bedroom for 30,000 Hyatt points, transferred from Chase. We had an oceanfront one bedroom. The concierge kept trying to get us on a timeshare presentation.

As for the Priority Pass benefit with our Brilliant, there is no lounge at Denver's gigantic Airport, but there is kind of a restaurant. I assume I cannot use the benefit with my Brilliant at that restaurant (much of the food is grab and go for those in a hurry). They do have menu items, including fish and chips, and I am all about that for a sit-down meal. We will get some value out of it in October, when we all go to that restaurant with our Chase PP lounge benefit, which includes restaurants. There will be six of us with two cards, plenty of free food to fill us up before our flight into Tampa. I have it all figured out. I just told the kids they need to allow an extra hour [at least] to enjoy the restaurant before we go to the gate.

 

[Superchief]

I signed up for the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card a few years ago when there was a special promotion offer linked in when I bought 1000 VC points. The promotion was a great deal and I kept the card a second year due to the $300 cashback for my MF payments and the 50K free night. I have had a Chase Bonvoy card for several years and it was my primary credit card because I traveled and stayed at Marriott frequently. Since I am lifetime titanium, the status and nights credit aren't that valuable to me, and the Bonvoy point values have been greatly reduced. The $25 cashback for dining isn't that appealing because I use other credit cards for dining out. I'll likely keep my Chase Bonvoy primarily because I've had it for so long and the 35k certificate is worth the $95 fee. I really don't see any advantage of the Amex over Chase at this time so I'll cancel the Amex.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I wish the Brilliant would automatically give a higher status than just the Gold. Do you know that Chase Sapphire Reserve already includes Marriott Gold status as an automatic benefit of the card?

I did not know that! I already have CSR. Gold was one of the last remaining reasons to keep Brilliant vs. downgrade to a 35k $95 card. This decision after the double dip rest credit and remaining 50 cert received will be easy now.

 

[jwalk03]

I wish the Brilliant would automatically give a higher status than just the Gold. Do you know that Chase Sapphire Reserve already includes Marriott Gold status as an automatic benefit of the card?

CSR does not automatically include Marriott Gold Status as a regular benefit, but it is being offered as a "promotional benefit" currently. If you have a CSR card you can enroll in Marriott Gold Status for 3 months. If you complete 3 PAID Marriott stays during the 3 month period than the status will be extended until Feb 2024. (Bonvoy or UR points stays do not count toward the 3 stay requirement.)

 

[rickandcindy23]

CSR does not automatically include Marriott Gold Status as a regular benefit, but it is being offered as a "promotional benefit" currently. If you have a CSR card you can enroll in Marriott Gold Status for 3 months. If you complete 3 PAID Marriott stays during the 3 month period than the status will be extended until Feb 2024. (Bonvoy or UR points stays do not count toward the 3 stay requirement.)

I put my Marriott fees on the card, some of them anyway, and those keep me qualified. So I have it as a bonus on my card. We pay a lot of money to Vistana and Marriott. The fees count toward that gold status. 3X points is more valuable to me with CSR than Marriott. How many hotel points can I use each year, as much as we travel with our timeshares. Hotel points are just not worth much. The free nights with our cards are worthy of the fees.

@CalGalTraveler, the Marriott card is still good for that hotel night. A hotel that costs about $400 is about 50,000 points, which makes that night a good value. I will have to work harder to get that $300 restaurant credit. The Marriott credit was so easy. That is a pain! I know there will be months I will forget.

 

[Fallenone]

I need to book another night for 3/26 at that Marriott, but I don't see an option to use additional points. Could be me.

That's strange. I rebooked quite a few of my stays when this update went live and saved 10-20k points in total.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I put my Marriott fees on the card, some of them anyway, and those keep me qualified. So I have it as a bonus on my card. We pay a lot of money to Vistana and Marriott. The fees count toward that gold status. 3X points is more valuable to me with CSR than Marriott. How many hotel points can I use each year, as much as we travel with our timeshares. Hotel points are just not worth much. The free nights with our cards are worthy of the fees.

@CalGalTraveler, the Marriott card is still good for that hotel night. A hotel that costs about $400 is about 50,000 points, which makes that night a good value. I will have to work harder to get that $300 restaurant credit. The Marriott credit was so easy. That is a pain! I know there will be months I will forget.

Agree that there can be value, however it is 50k for just one night which is overkill for most airport nights but not sufficient time for a weekend at a resort. I have two other 35k cert Bonvoy cards (personal and 1 business) so downgrading Brilliant and adding one more 35k cert makes for a bunch of airport nights, or a college 3 day weekend visit in shoulder/off season.

The 50k will always be an orphan because we would apply for another Hilton Aspire card for 2 uncapped nights for $450 AF at a Waldorf or Conrad before we would add another $450 AF Brilliant for two nights at a mid-scale hotel. With Aspire certs we've had stays in Waldorf/Conrad (Rome, Beverly Hills NYC, Vegas and (this summer) Edinburgh Scotland. We also used to get great value out of the IHG uncapped nights at Intercontinentals (Beverly Hills, Geneva, SF) before they killed that benefit. I now have a hard time finding 40k IHG nights. Love the Staybridges, hate Holiday Inns.

 

[dougp26364]

FWIW, we have 2 of these cards in each of our names. We’ve managed to get more value out of each than the cost of the card. Switching to the restaurant credit will take a little more effort, but not that much. I would bet, with the pandemic, AmEx was losing more business on this card because a lot of people weren’t traveling, making using that $300 credit for the average traveler difficult. They need more than Marriott timeshare owners to hold this card to make it worth offering. Nearly everyone can use the restaurant certificate, regardless of travel habits. I’d bet far more people spend $25/month at Starbucks than spend $300 in Marriott branded hotels.

We have two hotel bookings this year on free night certificates that have saved us more than the cost of the card. One Autograph brand in Fort Meyers and we just completed a stay at the Gaylord Rockies Resort in Denver. I combined a suite nights award and was upgraded to a deluxe suite, worth a little more than $900. That one stay covered the cost.

I just posted a video of the upgraded suite. I’m not as polished as Dioxide, but it’s functional. It was a VERY nice upgrade. And yes, I noticed I said Opryland at the end. For whatever reason I had that hotel stuck in my mind the entire time I was trying to put the video together. Traffic coming down from Breck moved at approx 20 MPH, and then when we hit Denver, the had I-70 shut down and the detour traffic around the tunnel construction was just as bad. My brain was just a little tired.