For an introduction to Marriott Bonvoy, see our separate article. For just the bonus points, read below.

For two more weeks (until 14 November 2023), Amex is offering 40,000 Bonvoy points instead of 20,000 when signing up for the Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card. That’s increased to 43,000 when using the link below.

This is also a great time to join if you need to bump your Elite Night Credits to the next membership tier level before they’re reset (at the end of the year). More on that below.

Before applying for the card, make sure you have your Bonvoy account number handy. Join the Marriott Bonvoy program here if you’re not yet a member and get an extra 2000 points for your first stays.

The card has a fee of £95/year and to be eligible for the bonus you must not have had any personal American Express Cards in the past 24 months. You will get the other benefits, the night credits in particular, even if you’ve had other personal American Express Cards in the past 24 months.

Benefits

The most obvious benefit are the points. We’ll get to that in a bit. But perhaps a more important benefit are the 15 night credits that count towards your progress towards a higher membership tier. Since the end of the year is near, and this is when the Marriott status for next year is determined, the extra 15 nights can bump you to the next tier. If you already have 10 points, the extra 15 will bump you to Gold Elite, and if you already have 35 points you’ll be bumped to Platinum Elite, which easily justifies the £95 price tag.

The sign-up bonus points are a nice-to-have. In addition to the eligibility criteria above, a minimum spend of £3000 in the first 3 months applies. With the additional 2 points/£, that adds up to 49,000 points, which is enough for a 5 night stay in Spain, Dubai or Italy (these were the first I searched).

P.S. If you’ve noticed “1 Guest” in the screenshots and are wondering, the price is the same for 2 guests.