[Expired] New Welcome Offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card [100k Points + 1 Free Night]

Update: The offers mentioned below have expired and are no longer available.

If you’ve had your eye on the high-end Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card, now may be the time to apply.

This card features a number of valuable perks for the discerning traveler. And right now it’s offering an elevated welcome bonus that could help ease the pain of the card’s high annual fee.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Offer Details

As we mentioned above, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card has a full suite of perks for Marriott loyalists in exchange for a $650 annual fee (rates & fees). And now, there’s a welcome offer that’s certainly worthy of your consideration if you’ve been on the fence about this card.

You can earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points and 1 Free Night Award after you use your new card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. The Free Night Award is worth up to 85,000 points.

Pair this 100,000-point bonus with the card’s standout perks — including $300 in annual travel credits — and it may be a product that stays in your wallet for a long time.

Is It Worth It?

The current elevated offer is far superior and provides many more Marriott Bonvoy points than the previous offer when you combine the bonus points and the Free Night Award.

But, Marriott Bonvoy dropped its category-based award chart in favor of a dynamic pricing system in March of this year, making the cost of a reward night volatile — and in some cases, much more costly.

There’s also the sticky point of that free night certificate. A certificate worth up to 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points can get you a night at most hotels within Marriott’s portfolio, but in order to maximize your certificate, you’ll want to redeem it at the most expensive eligible property you can find.

Here’s a 1-night stay at the Wailea Beach Resort – Marriott, Maui, where you can redeem your 85,000-point certificate for a room costing upwards of $1,200 per night:

So, what happens when your free night certificate is used up? You can, of course, use 85,000 points of your welcome bonus for a second night, but that’ll eat up most of your points and leave you no room for longer stays.

You could also opt to redeem that certificate at a location charging fewer than 85,000 points per night, but then you wouldn’t be getting the maximum value for the certificate.

A best-case scenario for using this welcome offer would likely include 2 trips: a 1-night stay at a high-end hotel for the free night certificate, and then another, longer stay at a more affordable hotel nearby where you can take advantage of Marriott’s fifth-night free policy.

Of course, if you have an existing balance of Marriott Bonvoy points, you can combine those with your welcome bonus for a fancy vacation.

Hot Tip: Looking for ways to redeem your points? Check out our guide on the best ways to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points at hotels for maximum value.

Final Thoughts

While it’s great to see an elevated welcome offer from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, it’s made less valuable than it would have been a month ago due to Marriott’s elimination of its award charts. Still, with some flexibility, you can find plenty of value in this bonus, making it a great time to apply if you’ve been on the fence about this card.