Marriott Bonvoy Bold Review 2023

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The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is one of six Marriott credit cards currently available to new applicants, and it’s the only version that doesn’t charge an annual fee. This entry-level card is worth considering if you only stay at Marriott hotels occasionally or still want to earn points without incurring a yearly cost.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Review: Is It the Best Credit Card for You?

Through August 10, 2023, the 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of account opening plus 50,000 bonus points after you stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24 is offering an elevated welcome bonus offer of 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of account opening plus 50,000 bonus points after you stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24

Cardholders can earn 3x points on eligible purchases at Marriott Bonvoy hotels (in addition to the points you’d normally earn from the stay), 2x points on other travel purchases, and 1x points on everything else.

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card also comes with surprisingly good benefits for a no-annual-fee credit card, including no foreign transaction fees, 15 elite night credits a year (enough for Silver elite status), lost luggage reimbursement, baggage delay reimbursement, trip delay reimbursement, and purchase protection.

That said, unless you’re dead set against paying an annual fee, other Marriott credit cards have much higher welcome bonuses and are a better deal for most people — and it’s easy to offset their annual fees with the additional benefits they offer.

For example, the $95-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card currently offers 75,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of account opening plus 50,000 bonus points after you stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24. It comes with a free night certificate each account anniversary, valid at Marriott hotels that cost up to 35,000 points, which can be worth far more than the yearly fee.

If your main objective is earning Marriott points and you don’t care about perks at Marriott hotels, you might be better off opening a card that earns transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Amex Membership Rewards points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or American Express® Gold Card
. You can transfer points from these programs to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio, and you’ll have more flexibility in how you redeem your rewards.

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.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Rewards

Welcome bonus offer

The limited-time offer to earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of account opening plus 50,000 bonus points after you stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24 is more than double the card’s regular offer. It’s worth about $700 in Marriott stays according to Insider’s points and miles valuations, which is an excellent deal for a no-annual-fee travel credit card.

How to earn points

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card doesn’t have as generous an earning structure as other Marriott credit cards, but you’ll still have the opportunity to earn bonus points when you travel. Cardholders earn:

• 3 points per dollar at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels (this is in addition to up to 10x points for being a Marriott Bonvoy member and up to 1x point for having Silver elite status from the card)
• 2 points per dollar on other travel purchases (Chase defines the travel category very broadly — it includes airlines, hotels, travel agencies, cruises, buses, trains, taxis, ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft, and more) 
• 1 point per dollar on everything else

How to use points

Marriott Bonvoy points are useful even if you don’t stay with Marriott. Not only can you redeem them for stays at over 7,000 hotels worldwide, but you can also transfer them to nearly 40 airline partners, including most major US carriers and dozens of international airlines.

Award nights at Marriott Bonvoy hotels start at 5,000 points for off-peak redemptions at brands like Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites, and go all the way up to 120,000 points for a peak season night at luxurious hotels like JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton. According to Insider’s estimates, you can expect to get a value of 0.7 cents per Marriott point.

When you transfer Marriott points to airlines, in most cases the ratio is 3 Marriott points to 1 airline mile. However, if you transfer increments of 60,000 points, you’ll get a 5,000-mile bonus (so 60,000 Marriott points become 25,000 airline miles) with most partners. Some Marriott airline partners — like Alaska Airlines — don’t partner with any other major transferable points program, so if you need a few more miles for an award, transferring points from Marriott may be one of the only ways to top off your account.

You can also redeem Marriott points in other ways (including non-travel redemptions), but typically you’ll get a lower value:

• Airfare, car rentals, or air and car packages
• Exclusive events, experiences, concerts, tours, and more through Marriott Bonvoy Moments
• Gift cards or merchandise through Marriott Shop With Points
• Charity donations for disaster relief, including the American Red Cross and Unicef

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Benefits and Features

As you might expect from a no-annual-fee card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card doesn’t come with a lot of premium benefits, but it does offer some decent perks.

15 elite night credits each calendar year

As with other Marriott cards, Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card cardholders receive 15 elite night credits each year. That’s enough to qualify for Marriott Silver elite status, which gets you a 10% points bonus on paid stays and priority late checkout.

Lost luggage reimbursement

When you pay for your fare with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card and the carrier damages or loses your bags, you and your immediate family members could be covered for up to $3,000 per passenger. 

Baggage delay insurance

If your bags are delayed for six hours or more, you could be reimbursed for essential purchases (like clothing and toiletries) up to $100 per day for up to five days.

Trip delay reimbursement

Long delays are the worst, but if you paid for your ticket with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card and your trip is delayed overnight or by more than 12 hours, the card’s trip delay insurance can reimburse you and your immediate family for up to $500 per passenger for meals and accommodations.

Purchase protection

If an eligible item you’ve bought with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is damaged or stolen within 120 days of purchase, you could be eligible for up to $500 in reimbursement per claim, and up to $50,000 per account with the card’s purchase protection.

Visa Signature concierge

The Visa Signature concierge can help you arrange things like hard-to-get restaurant reservations or theater tickets. It doesn’t cost anything to use the service, but any third-party costs are your responsibility.

Complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership

If you have the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card, you can activate a complimentary one-year DoorDash DashPass membership, which usually costs $9.99 per month. DashPass gets you free delivery and discounted service fees on orders of $12 or more with DoorDash and Caviar delivery services. Activation of the benefit is required by December 31, 2024.

Gopuff credits

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card cardholders can get $10 per month in Gopuff credits by adding their card as the default payment method in the Gopuff app and making an eligible purchase. Gopuff is a fast delivery service that offers useful items like snacks, drinks, and other household supplies.

The credit will automatically appear on your card statement soon after making a qualifying Gopuff purchase. Keep in mind the minimum order amount is $10, and there’s a flat $3.95 delivery fee per order. 

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Annual Fee and Other Costs

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card doesn’t charge an annual fee, so it’s free to keep every year — and having a credit card open for the long term can potentially help improve your credit score.

It’s also a good choice if you’re traveling abroad or making international purchases, because it doesn’t add foreign transaction fees. Be aware if you carry a balance, you’ll be charged interest (currently a 20.99% – 27.99% Variable APR).

Like most other cards, there are fees for certain situations, including:

• Cash advance fees
• Late payment fees
• Balance transfer fees
• Returned payment fees

How the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Compares

Marriott Bonvoy Bold vs other Marriott credit cards

*Bonus points at Marriott hotels are in addition to the points members would normally earn from a stay

***the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card offers an annual free night award each year after your card renewal month for participating Marriott Bonvoy properties that cost up to 35,000 points

****the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card offers an annual free night award every year after your card renewal month for participating Marriott Bonvoy properties that cost up to 85,000 points.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold vs other no-annual-fee hotel credit cards

*Bonus points at Marriott, IHG, and Hilton hotels are in addition to the points members would normally earn from a stay

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Methodology: How We Reviewed the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card

Insider’s credit card experts compared the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card to other co-branded Marriott credit cards, as well as no-annual-fee hotel credit cards from other chains like Hilton, IHG, Wyndham, and Choice.

We considered these criteria in our review:

• Simplicity — Does the card make it easy to earn and redeem rewards? Do you have to navigate complicated rules and award charts, or jump through any hoops?
• Rewards potential — Is the welcome bonus offer competitive with similar travel cards, and does it come with useful bonus categories? And are any of the categories capped?  
• Fees — No-annual-fee cards may still add other fees or charges that can negate the value of your rewards, like foreign transaction fees or a high APR. With annual-fee cards, we look at whether or not the benefits justify the cost.
• Benefits — Are there money or time-saving perks built into the card? Are any unique?

Here’s a guide to how we rate credit cards at Insider for a closer look at our methodology.