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Best Credit Cards For Marriott Bonvoy Points

Earn more Marriott points with the right credit card. Our calculator helps you find the best options for your spending habits and travel preferences.
By Robert Flowers III - 2023-12-31

Marriott offers several credit cards that offer excellent benefits to anyone that frequents Marriott properties including bonus points on spend, annual free nights, complimentary elite status, and more. You can also earn points by transferring rewards from Marriott's partners directly to your Marriott Bonvoy account.

Here's our top credit card picks for earning Marriott Bonvoy points:

Use Our Calculator To Maximize Your Marriott Points

Discover personalized credit card options that match your spending habits and maximizes your points.

Simply input your monthly and yearly spend amounts into our easy-to-use calculator to find the best Marriott credit card options for you!


Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card

Best For Occasional Marriott Travelers
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
  • Earning Rate: Earn 6X Marriott Bonvoy points at Marriott properties, 3X on the first $6,000 in combined grocery store, gas station, and dining purchases, and 2X on all other purchases.
  • Main Highlights: Annual 35K-point free night award, complimentary Silver Elite status, and 15 elite nights annually towards achieving a higher status.
  • Annual Fee: $95.
  • Summary: This is generally the best option for most Marriott travelers. Great for maximizing your rewards on Marriott purchases and the annual free night award will offset the card's fee. The 3X categories are solid, but you can use AMEX's credit cards to earn more across those categories.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

Best For High-End Marriott Travelers
  • Earning Rate: Earn 6X Marriott Bonvoy points on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 3X points at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines, and 2X points on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $300 in dining statement credits ($25 per month).
  • Main Highlights: Annual 85K-point free night award, complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, Choice Award benefit after spending $60K, unlimited $100 luxury property credit, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit, 25 Elite nights annually towards status, and Priority Pass Select.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 185,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $695. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: This card provides the most value to those who plan on using the card to pay for daily purchases and those who frequent Marriott's high-end properties at least a few times per year due to the annual 85K-point free night award and the unlimited $100 in luxury property credits. If neither of these apply to you, it's still possible to get value out of the card (especially with the intro bonus).

The Platinum Card® from American Express

Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Travel
  • Earning Rate: Earn 5X points on airfare booked direct or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per year) and 5X points on prepaid hotel bookings through American Express Travel. All other purchases will earn you 1X.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $300 in Equinox statement credits, up to $240 in digital entertainment statement credits, up to $200 in airline fee statement credits, $200 in Uber Cash (up to $15 per month and up to $35 in December), up to $200 in statement credits for purchases made with Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection credit on 2 night minimum bookings, $189 CLEAR® Plus statement credit, $155 Walmart+ statement credit (up to $12.95 per month, subject to auto-renew), and up to $100 in statement credits for Saks Fifth Avenue ($50 credit bi-annually).
  • Main Highlights: Global lounge access (Centurion lounges, Delta SkyClub lounges, Airspace lounges, Escape lounges, and Priority Pass lounges), superb purchase insurance, complimentary elite status with Hilton and Marriott, and up to a $100 statement credit every 4 years for Global Entry or up to $85 statement credit every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck application fee.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $695. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: If you frequent Marriott (or Hilton), this is an excellent luxury card to have. Not only can you enroll in complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status (and Hilton Honors Gold), points earned in the program can also be transferred directly to both programs. If you're in need of airline miles, AMEX has a large selection of frequent flyer partners including Delta airlines (in which this card offers complimentary access to Delta Sky Clubs too).

American Express® Gold Card

Best For Restaurants & Supermarkets
  • Earning Rate: Earn 4X Membership Rewards points on restaurant purchases worldwide, 4X at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1X), 3X points on airfare purchased direct or through American Express Travel, and 1X points on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $120 in annual dining credit ($10 per month) and up to $120 in annual Uber Cash ($10 per month).
  • Main Highlights: Book hotels through The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel and receive a $100 hotel credit and room upgrade upon arrival (when available) when booking at least a two consecutive night stay.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $250. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: The high earning rates on restaurant and supermarket purchases makes this the best flexible travel rewards card for Marriott as well as AMEX's other hotels and frequent flyer partners. If you're able to make use of the annual credits, this card will offer superb value and a lot of Marriott Bonvoy points.

American Express® Green Card

Best For Travel Purchases
  • Earning Rate: Earn 3X Membership Rewards points on travel, transit, and at restaurants, and 1X on all other purchases.
  • Annual Credits: Up to $189 in CLEAR credit and up to $100 in LoungeBuddy credit.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express® Green Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Annual Fee: $150.
  • Summary: The Green Card is often slept on as it lives in the shadows of The Platinum Card and the American Express Gold Card. It's a great card for earning the equivalent of 3X Marriott Bonvoy points on travel which is slightly better than the 2X you'll earn with most co-branded Marriott credit cards.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Best For High Value & Travel Benefits
  • Earning Rate: Earn 10X points on Chase Dining and both hotel and car rental purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5X on airfare through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3X on dining and other travel purchases, and 1X on everything else.
  • Annual Credits: $300 travel credit.
  • Main Highlights: Priority Pass Select membership, up to $100 towards a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application, top-notch travel insurance, and a 50% boost to point value on travel redemptions made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Transfer Ratio: 1,000 Ultimate Rewards Points = 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
  • Intro Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
  • Annual Fee: $550.
  • Summary: If you're looking for flexibility, luxury perks, and unbeatable travel insurance, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a top-notch choice. One of the best things about the card is that if you can't find a solid Marriott redemption, you can book travel directly through Chase and get an instant 1.5 cents in value per point.

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

Best For Marriott Business Spend
  • Earning Rate: Earn 6X Marriott Bonvoy points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, 4X on restaurant, wireless phone providers, gas station, and shipping purchases all within the U.S., and 2X on everything else.
  • Main Highlights: Annual 35K free night reward, complimentary Marriott Gold status, and 15 elite nights towards achieving higher status.
  • Intro Bonus: Welcome Offer: Earn Five Free Night Awards after you use your new Card to make $8,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points for each bonus Free Night Award, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees. Offer Ends 3/20/24.
  • Annual Fee: $125. (See Rates and Fees)
  • Summary: If you want to maximize your points on spending at Marriott, this is the best business credit card for the job. The free night award can land you at a low-to-mid category hotel, plus you can top off the certificate using points from your account. The 15 elite nights earned with this card stacks with the elite nights from Marriott's personal cards meaning you can start the year with 30 or 45 elite nights which is fantastic if you're going for Marriott Bonvoy status.

Marriott Points Calculator: Which Card Is Best For You?

Use the Marriott Points Calculator to find out which cards will earn you the most points based on the spend amounts you enter into the tool.

Results will include credit cards that earn Marriott Bonvoy Points directly and credit cards that earn rewards that are transferable to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

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Calculator Options
What Type of Rewards Do You Want To Earn?
This calculator can output the best credit cards for a general rewards type or compile a list of the best credit cards for earning rewards with a specific loyalty program.
Frequent Flyer Programs
Select the frequent flyer program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected airline and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected airline.
Hotel Loyalty Programs
Select the hotel loyalty program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all co-branded credit cards offered by the selected hotel program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected hotel program.
Other Loyalty Programs
Select the program that you want to earn rewards for. Results will include all credit cards offered by the selected program and all credit cards partners that allow you to transfer rewards to the selected program.
Personal Or Business?
Are you looking for personal (consumer) credit card or business credit cards? You can also include both in the results.
Include Intro Bonuses?
If set to yes, intro bonuses will be included for a card's calculation ONLY IF you have met the monthly spend criteria based on what's entered into the tool.
Do note that we do not have intro bonuses for all credit cards and we cannot calculate intro bonuses for some cards due to the complexity of some spend requirements.
Enter Your Monthly & Yearly Spend Amounts
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Search for categories and click 'Add Category' to add it to the calculator. If you want to be more specific, you can specify domestic or international spend.
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Results

These estimates are to help guide you towards making the best decision when it comes to picking up a rewards credit card. They should be used for illustrative purposes only.