Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Review: Free Night Award, Elite Status
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Our Take
4.0
The free night's stay each account anniversary more than makes up for the card's annual fee. The rewards and redemption options are grand, too.
on Chase's website
Quick Facts
Pros & Cons
Pros
Anniversary perk
High rewards rate
Automatic elite status
Cons
Has annual fee
Rewards have limited flexibility
This card earns bonus rewards in multiple popular spending categories, including travel and dining. Points are worth 1.25 cents apiece when redeemed for travel through Chase, or you can transfer them to more than a dozen airline and hotel programs, including Marriott.
Compare to Other Cards
Annual fee$95 | Annual fee$0 | Annual fee$95 |
Regular APR20.49%-27.49% Variable APR | Regular APR20.49%-27.49% Variable APR | Regular APR20.49%-27.49% Variable APR |
Intro APRN/A | Intro APRN/A | Intro APRN/A |
Recommended Credit Score |
Recommended Credit Score |
Recommended Credit Score |
Full Review
For travelers who stay at hotels often, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card is worth every penny — even at $95 a year.
The card comes stacked with top-shelf benefits: a free hotel night once a year, automatic elite status and plentiful redemption options. For travelers who stay at Marriott's huge portfolio of properties more than once in a while, it's a fine pick.
Key benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Card type: Hotel.
Annual fee: $95.
Sign-up bonus: Earn 100,000 Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Ongoing rewards:
6 points per $1 spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
3 points per $1 spent spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations and dining (up to $6,000 in combined purchases each year; 2 points per $1 spent thereafter).
2 points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases.
Rewards earned by using the credit card are in addition to points you earn as a member of the Marriott Bonvoy program.
Redemption options:
At hotels starting at 5,000 points per night for off-peak (lowest-demand) dates, 7,500 for standard dates, and 10,000 for peak dates. If your dates are flexible, you might be able to find PointSavers rates, or discounted award nights, for some properties. You can also combine points with cash to redeem for standard stays starting at $55 plus 1,500 points. When you redeem four nights' worth of points, you get the fifth night for free.
For flights or car rentals.
For travel by transferring points to multiple airline partners, usually at a 3:1 ratio (for every 3 Bonvoy points, you'll get 1 airline mile).
Foreign transaction fees: None.
Other benefits:
Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every year after account anniversary.
Automatic Silver Elite status and accelerated path to Gold status.
Earn 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend.
Why you might want the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Valuable ongoing rewards
In addition to the card's robust ongoing rewards, you can earn points for Marriott purchases just by being a Marriott Bonvoy member. You'll earn up to 10 points per dollar spent on qualifying charges, depending on the location. Combined with the 6 points per dollar earned with the card, that's up to 16 total points per dollar. With the Silver Elite status the card provides, you’ll also qualify for a 10% bonus on points earned through your Marriott membership. More on that later.
You'll also have plenty of opportunities to redeem those rewards. As of 2022, Marriott Bonvoy has over 7,000 hotels participating in its rewards program. The massive scale of this hotel network makes this card especially valuable for folks looking for plenty of redemption opportunities. Locations aren't limited to big cities, as is the case with some hotel brands.
Free anniversary night
This is perhaps the most valuable benefit on this card. Every year, the card gets you a free night award worth up to 35,000 points. That more than makes up for the annual fee of $95.
This free night expires after 12 months. If you travel less frequently but always stay at Marriott, this benefit alone might give you reason enough to get this card.
Automatic elite status
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card automatically comes with Silver Elite status. That status, which is one step up from basic membership, gets you a laundry list of goodies, including:
Priority late checkout, based on availability.
10% bonus on Marriott points.
Compensation if Marriott can’t honor your reservation.
The 10% bonus on points applies to points earned through the hotel, not through your credit card. Say you spent $200 on a hotel stay and earned 2,000 base points through Marriott and 1,200 points through the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The 10% boost would add 200 points to the points earned through Marriott, so you’d earn 3,400 points in total.
With this card, you can also earn Gold Elite status if you spend $35,000 or more each account anniversary year. After this threshold is reached, your Gold Elite status will be in effect through Dec. 31 of the following year.
Cardholders will earn one elite night credit per $5,000 spent on purchases on the card. Marriott's metric for earning elite status, elite night credits are typically earned through hotel stays. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card automatically gives 15 elite night credits per year, along with automatic Silver Elite status. But the card gives another avenue to earn elevated status just through credit card spending.
How the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card compares to other Bonvoy cards
In terms of perks and the annual fee, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card is the middle sibling of the Marriott Bonvoy family.
If you stay at Marriott Bonvoy properties often, you may wipe out the annual fee you would pay for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, between your typical spending and the cards’ additional perks. Infrequent Bonvoy guests or anyone who wants to cut back on annual fees may prefer the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
Here’s how they compare:
• 3 points per $1 spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. • 2 points per $1 spent on other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains). • 1 point per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases. • Silver Elite status. | |
• 6 points per $1 spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. • 3 points per $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining. • 2 points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases. • Earn 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend. • Free anniversary night (valued up to 35,000 points). • Silver Elite status. • Free premium Wi-Fi. | |
• 6 points per $1 spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. • 3 points per $1 spent at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. • 2 points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases. • Complimentary anniversary night (valued up to 50,000 points). • Gold Elite status. • $300 statement credit for Marriott purchases. (Effective Sept. 22, 2022, this Marriott credit will be replaced by a statement credit of up to $25 per month for eligible restaurant purchases.) • Terms apply (see rates and fees). |
Why you might want to go with another card
Annual fee
The perks on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card make it well worth its annual fee of $95. But if you can't picture going to Marriott properties often enough to use those benefits, a no-annual-fee general travel card might be your best bet.
Consider the $0-annual-fee Discover it® Miles. It earns 1.5 miles per dollar spent on all purchases. Miles are worth 1 cent apiece when used to cover travel purchases made on the card, including hotel stays. The card also includes a unique (and potentially quite lucrative) bonus offer for newcomers: "UNLIMITED BONUS: Only Discover will automatically match all the Miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year. For example, if you earn 35,000 Miles, you get 70,000 Miles. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match."
Locked into the Bonvoy system
If you frequent several hotel brands, not just Marriott brands, a travel card that lets you transfer points to multiple loyalty programs might be a better fit.
Try the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It offers bonus rewards in several popular categories, including travel and dining. Those points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to several airlines and hotel loyalty programs, including Marriott. Like the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. It also features a valuable sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. The annual fee is $95.
Check out other great offers on NerdWallet's roundup of the best credit cards.
Is the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card right for you?
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card isn't a good pick for people who are on a tight budget or don't travel much. If hotel rewards may not be a good fit, consider which credit card is best for your style. But it's a perfect fit for travelers who prefer Marriott or want to join a hotel loyalty program that offers abundant choice.
on Chase's website
