Air France is bringing back a popular link to Europe from Orlando International Airport (MCO) next summer.
Why I want this Marriott credit card — even though the annual fee is high
30.10.2024 - 18:43 / thepointsguy.com
Many years ago, there was really only one major rewards card that cost more than around $100 per year — and that was the ubiquitous Platinum Card® from American Express. If you wanted to get into a Centurion Lounge — which at the time was in a league of its own — you didn't leave home without it.
But that was then. Now, many rewards cards cost several hundred dollars per year. And the top-tier cobranded Marriott credit card, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, comes to a somewhat jaw-dropping $650 per year (see rates and fees) — just barely below the Amex Platinum's $695 annual fee (see rates and fees).
Here's potentially the even crazier part — I see enough value in the card, despite the high annual fee, to want it in my wallet.
And no, this is not because of some weird and deranged desire to have the most premium of credit cards. It's because it would save me more money than the other Marriott cards.
Here's how that math works out — and why I really want to get my hands on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.
Related: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card review
I travel a lot, but with a largely remote job, two kids, a spouse, a dog and a cat back home, I don't live for months of the year on the road. This makes keeping top-tier elite status in multiple programs somewhere between a stretch and an impossibility.
On paper, Marriott requires 50 eligible nights in a hotel per year to earn and maintain Platinum status. But there are ways to reduce that true number down, such as by getting a 15- to 25-night head-start on elite status by having a personal Marriott card such as the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card — and potentially another 15 elite nights credited by holding a small-business card such as the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.
I've currently got a couple of Marriott credit cards — but both are of the small-business variety, so I only get 15 nights per year credited out of the 50 I need. If I was able to add the Bonvoy Brilliant to my arsenal, my Marriott elite status work would be done — not just for this year, but every year.
I get well over $1,000 in tangible value out of having Marriott Platinium status every year between the additional points earned on paid stays, the breakfast benefit, lounge access and suite upgrades.
While Marriott Platinum status admittedly doesn't matter much at a random Fairfield Inn, it makes a whole lot of difference somewhere like the St. Regis New York, the Autograph Collection property in Vail or even the Swan Reserve at Walt Disney World.
While I don't have those higher-end Marriott stays all the time, I do usually have a few a year where status makes a big difference in terms of breakfast, amenities and suites.
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