AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Bevy credit card review (Update 2026.3: 175k offer!)

2026.3 Update: New welcome offer is 175k! This is the best offer ever offered on this card. Offer expires 05/13/2026.

2025.8 Update: 155k offer returns. [2025.10 Update] The top offer has expired. There are currently only 85k on offer.

2025.3 Update: 155k offer returns. [2025.5 Update] The top offer has expired. Currently there is only 135k donation.

Application link

Benefits

1. 175k Offer: Earn 175,000 Marriott points after spending $5,000 in purchases in the first 6 months. This is the best offer ever offered on this card.
2. We estimate the value of a Marriott point at 0.7 cents/point, so a 155k welcome offer would cost about $1,225.
3. Earn 6x Marriott points at Marriott hotels (including Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and SPG brands). Earn 4x Marriott points on the first $15,000 spent on combined purchases each year at grocery and dining stores. Earn 2x Marriott points on everything else.
4. Earn 1,000 Bonus Points for each stay at a participating Marriott Bonvoy hotel. Note that bookings from OTAs (such as priceline/expedia) are not counted.
5. Earn 15 special nights each calendar year (special nights are conditional, not free nights). You will only earn Elite Night Credits on ONE Marriott co-branded credit card even if you have more than one Marriott/SPG/Ritz-Carlton credit card. You can earn an additional 15 Elite Night Credits if you have a Marriott-branded business credit card.
6. Marriott Gold compatible status.
7. Throughout the calendar year, after spending $15,000, you will be credited with a free night (FN) with a spend level of up to 50,000 points.
8. With this card, you can get access to the Amex Offer, which often offers great discounts at other stores, such as: spend $15 or more and get $5 back at Walmart; spend $75 or more and get $25 back at Amazon.com.
9. There is no foreign currency.

Evil

1. $250 annual fee, NOT due the first year.

Introduction to Marriott Points

• Marriott points are the most flexible points (After the merger with SPG, Marriott acquired all of its airline partners).
• You can earn Marriott points with Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold, AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, AmEx Marriott Bonvoy Business, and the following cards that do not accept new applications but do accept brand changes: Chase Ritz-Carlton, and AmEx Marriott Bonvoy.
• Marriott points are stored in your Marriott account, not on your credit cards, so you won’t lose your points by canceling credit cards.
• Your Marriott points will expire if you do not earn or use any Marriott points in 24 months. As long as you make purchases with compatible credit cards or stay at a hotel, or use certain points during the time frame, the point expiration date will be postponed accordingly.
• Marriott points can be transferred to most airline miles (you don’t have to have a Marriott-affiliated credit card to transfer), and the ratio is 3:1.25 (that’s a 3:1 transfer rate, and you get 5k bonus miles for every 60k Marriott points you transfer at a time). Good options are: Alaska Airlines (AS) (Non-alliance), Japan Airlines (JL) (Oneworld), United Airlines (UA) (Star Alliance), American Airlines (AA) (Oneworld), All Nippon Airways (ANA, NH) (Star Alliance), Korean Air (KE) (SkyTeam), etc. If you use Marriott points this way about a cent/7 is the price.
• Marriott points can also be used for hotel stays of course. Here’s a redemption chart: Marriott redemption chart. Generally, you can get a better salvage value from the lower categories. If you use Marriott points this way, the value would be 0.7 cents/point.
• In summary, we estimate that Marriott points are worth about 0.7 cents/point.

Recommended Application Period

1. [Once per lifetime language] You can only get a welcome bonus once in a lifetime, so be sure to apply when the historically highest offers appear.
2. [New] [Family language] AmEx is starting to add family language: cards with higher annual fees will apply to welcome offers at lower annual fees in the same family series. Specifically, holding a Marriott Brilliant makes you ineligible for the Marriott Bevy welcome offer. So if you want both, you should apply for Marriott Bevy first.
3. Acceptance offers are not available to prospective applicants
   1. have or have had a Chase Ritz-Carlton, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold, Old Chase Marriott Premier, or Old Chase Marriott Business last 30 days,
   2. get Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, or Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold at the end 90 days,
   3. or receive a new Card Member bonus or upgrade offer for Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, or Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold at the end 24 months.
4. AmEx generally doesn’t care about the amount of hard withdrawals.
5. You can try to apply if you have a credit history of 6 months.
6. Only 2 AmEx credit cards can be approved within 90 days, but this rule does not apply to charge cards. Multiple cards approved on the same day will only have one Hard Pull.
7. You can keep a minimum of 5 AmEx credit cards, but this rule does not apply to charge cards.

Summary

With an annual fee of $250, this card isn’t too powerful. It doesn’t even come with free nights every year like other hotel-branded cards. The only unique feature is 1,000 Marriott points per stay (worth about $7). This card is not worth carrying. The only attraction will be the welcome offering. I suggest I wait for a better reception offer.

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After applying

• Click here to check the status of an AmEx application.
• AmEx reconsideration hotline number: 877-399-3083. The “real” Amex backdoor number is well protected. Unlike Chase, representatives from this backdoor AmEx reconsideration number are only authorized to help you submit applications.

Historical Supply Chart

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