- Joined
- Nov 20, 2012
- Messages
- 3,429
- Reaction score
- 1,528
- Points
- 399
- Location
- San Jose, Ca
- Resorts Owned
- HGVC Kings Land, Elara, and Marriott Destination Club Points
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.
I do both, but have changed my prepaid Starbucks card to use the Bonvoy Amex as the default for reloading. That should do a good job of making sure i use the monthly credit. You should be able to do that with any place that offers a prepaid card. I will see how that works.
As for the Free Night certs, i have combined these with cash or points weekends in Wine Country or nights near the airport before early flights.