This post contains links to products from our advertisers, and we may be compensated when you click on these links. Our recommendations and advice are ours alone, and have not been reviewed by any issuers listed. Terms apply to offers listed on this page. Read our editorial standards.
Marriott is the largest hotel company in the world, with nearly 8,000 properties across 30 brands in 139 countries and territories. Marriott includes familiar favorites like Sheraton, Westin, and Residence Inn — but you can also redeem points for luxury stays at upscale brands such as St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, and W Hotels.
If Marriott Bonvoy is your hotel program of choice, it can make sense to have a co-branded Marriott card to enjoy perks like bonus points, complimentary elite status, free reward nights, elite night credits, and more. There are Marriott co-branded cards at various price points, from a no-annual-fee option to a $450-a-year premium card with annual statement credits. Several Marriott credit cards even offer a free night on your account anniversary, with a value ranging from 35,000 to 50,000 points, depending on the card.
Marriott points are worth, on average, 0.7 cents apiece based on Insider’s points and miles valuations. So if you’re getting that value or better when you redeem your points, you’re getting a good deal.
Here’s an in-depth look at the Marriott credit cards that are currently available to new applicants.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Best for luxury benefits during Marriott stays: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex
Best for occasional Marriott guests: Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card
Best for business travelers who prefer Marriott: Marriott Bonvoy Business card
Best Marriott card with no annual fee: Marriott Bonvoy Bold
Best for elite status: Amex Platinum card
Best for travelers who also like to stay at other hotels: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Best for travelers who also like to stay at other hotels and want premium benefits: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (jump to Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card details »)
If you know you’ll spend at least $300 with Marriott each year, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is definitely worth a look. It offers up to $300 in statement credits each year to use at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program — and this applies to room rates as well as incidentals like room service (offer ends 9/22/22 and will be replaced with a benefit of up to $25 in statement credits per month for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide).
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is currently offering: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card.
This can effectively reduce the annual fee to $150, and keep in mind that the Bonvoy Brilliant gets you a free night award each year for properties that cost up to 50,000 points — this can easily get you more than $150 in value.
If you have other premium credit cards that also offer benefits like Priority Pass airport lounge access** and a Global Entry application fee credit, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card really only stands out for its high-end Marriott benefits. But if you frequently stay at Marriott hotels, you’ll find those perks to be very useful for saving money and enjoying elite status perks. You’ll find more details about the card’s perks and benefits in our Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card review.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (jump to Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card details »)
If you want to book your next Marriott stay on points and enjoy a few extras but don’t stay at Marriotts enough to warrant paying Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card a year for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card is a great option.
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card is also offering a welcome bonus of Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.
Cardholders receive a free night certificate, valid at hotels that cost 35,000 points or less, each year on their card anniversary — which can be worth much more than the card’s Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card annual fee.
The card offers low-level Silver status with Marriott, and if you spend $35,000 on the card in a calendar year, you’ll be upgraded to Gold status. (You can also get Gold status as a complimentary benefit with Platinum Card® from American Express**.)
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card recently got a refresh, adding new bonus categories and the ability to earn one elite night credit for every $5,000 spent on the card. Read our Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card review to learn more.
Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card (jump to Marriott Bonvoy Business card details »)
If you travel for work and want to maximize your business purchases to earn Marriott points, the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card is a good option. It’s currently offering a great welcome bonus: Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card.
It offers helpful perks like complimentary Gold elite status and an annual free night award valid at hotels that cost up to 35,000 points. It also earns 4 Marriott points per dollar on a handful of business spending categories, like U.S. shipping purchases. Plus, it now offers a 7% discount on standard rates for standard guest rooms at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels when you book directly through Marriott, so it could help you save money if you frequently book paid stays.
If you have a small business (even a part-time venture or side gig counts), check out your best options in our guide to the best small-business credit cards.
The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex Card rewards high spenders with a second free night award each year after their account anniversary when they spend $60,000 or more in a calendar year. Learn more in our Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business card review.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (jump to Marriott Bonvoy Bold card details »)
The Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card has a decent list of benefits for a no-annual-fee card, so if you want to earn Marriott points without incurring a yearly cost, it’s worth considering.
There’s currently a welcome bonus offer of Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card, and cardholders receive 15 elite night credits per year (qualifying them for Silver elite status).
No-annual-fee credit cards are popular options for those who want to minimize their out-of-pocket costs, but in many cases, you can get benefits from cards with annual fees that make them well worth the expense.
You’ll also get perks like no foreign transaction fees, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement, purchase protection, and Visa Signature Concierge access. Check out our Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card review to learn more.
The Platinum Card® from American Express (jump to Amex Platinum details »)
The Platinum Card is a good option if you want to enjoy perks when you stay at Marriott hotels, but you aren’t necessarily a Marriott loyalist. That’s because it offers complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold status to cardholders — along with complimentary Hilton Honors elite status**.
Marriott Bonvoy Gold status gets you benefits like room upgrades, late checkout, a 25% points bonus on paid stays, and a welcome gift.
The Platinum Card earns American Express Membership Rewards points, and Marriott is an Amex transfer partner — so if you need to top-off your Marriott account, you can move Amex points over instantly.
Keep in mind that the Platinum Card is a premium card — with a $550 annual fee — so you’ll want to make sure you’ll take advantage of its many other benefits before applying.
It’s currently offering a sky-high welcome bonus of The Platinum Card® from American Express. Learn more about the many, many benefits you can take advantage of in our Amex Platinum card review.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card(jump to Chase Sapphire Preferred card details »)
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is our top card recommendation for earning travel rewards, because you can use the Ultimate Rewards points it earns to book travel with a great selection of partners — including Marriott Bonvoy.
Right now, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is offering a great bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Because you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1 ratio, you can consider this bonus as an equal number of Marriott points.
Chase Ultimate Rewards are among the most flexible points currencies because there are so many ways to redeem them — including non-travel options like gift cards, statement credits, merchandise, and more.
Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a strong pick because it earns bonus points on a wide variety of travel and dining purchases, and it gets you valuable travel coverage, all for a reasonable annual fee of Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Read more in our Chase Sapphire Preferred card review.
Chase Sapphire Reserve card (jump to Chase Sapphire Reserve card details »)
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is definitely a premium option with a $550 annual fee — but if you want a travel card with all the bells and whistles, it’s a top contender. It’s currently offering a bonus of Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
The card’s $300 in statement credits for travel effectively cuts the annual fee down to $250, and other benefits with DoorDash and Gopuff can add extra value. During the pandemic, Chase introduced a program called Pay Yourself Back through which you can use points for everyday purchases in popular categories, and with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® your points are worth 1.5 cents apiece when you redeem this way.
Torn between the Reserve and Preferred? Check out our post on how to decide which Sapphire card is best for you, and find out more about recent changes and new benefits on both cards.
As with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can transfer the points you earn with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® to Marriott Bonvoy. Learn more about the benefits and perks in our Chase Sapphire Reserve review.
Marriott Bonvoy credit card — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Are Marriott credit cards worth it?
If you like staying at Marriott Bonvoy brands and enjoy redeeming points for free stays, it’s definitely worth considering opening a Marriott credit card. Frequent Marriott guests can earn a lot of bonus points using a card to pay for stays, and if the card you open comes with elite status, you can get extra perks.
That said, if you’re not particularly loyal to Marriott or spread your travel among several brands, a travel credit card that earns transferable points is probably a better bet. You’ll earn flexible rewards you can use for hotels, flights, and other travel, without being locked into a single loyalty program.
What credit score do you need for a Marriott credit card?
As with many lucrative travel rewards cards, you’ll typically need at least good to excellent credit to qualify for any of the Marriott credit cards. That means a FICO score of at least 670, or a VantageScore of at least 700.
Read Insider’s guides to improving your credit score and using credit cards to boost your score if you’re new to credit or haven’t quite reached a good score yet.
Can you have more than one Marriott credit card?
The application restrictions around Marriott co-branded cards are a little tricky to navigate, because the cards are issued by both Chase and Amex.
For Chase-issued cards, the 5/24 rule applies, which means you won’t be approved if you’ve opened five or more cards (from any bank) in the past 24 months. And for Amex cards, you’re not eligible if you’ve received the bonus on the exact same card before (the “once per lifetime rule”).
In addition, each card has its own restrictions. Generally speaking, if you’ve recently opened or received a bonus on one Marriott card, you won’t be able to open a different one for a specified amount of time. You can find the card’s specific rules under “Offer and Benefits Terms” on the card application page.
For example, to be eligible for the bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, you can’t have or have had that exact card (or the Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card, which is no longer available to new applicants). You also won’t qualify for the bonus if:
You are a current cardholder, or were a previous cardholder within the last 30 days, of The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card from JPMorgan or J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit CardYou opened the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, or Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 90 daysYou received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card, Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, or Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 24 months
Do Marriott points expire?
Marriott points will expire if your account doesn’t have any qualifying activity in 24 months. That said, because of the COVID pandemic, Marriott has paused points expiration until December 31, 2022.
It’s relatively easy to keep Marriott points from expiring. Earning points from co-branded credit cards, stays, points transfers from flexible points programs, and converting points to miles can all reset the clock.