Amex and Marriott Add Stricter Bonus Eligibility Rules to Credit Cards

This week, we saw 2 of Marriott’s credit cards launch best-ever welcome bonus offers. What was announced, though, was that these cards now have stricter rules about who is eligible for the welcome offer.

Marriott issues credit cards through both Chase and American Express in the U.S., due to the merger of Marriott and SPG years ago. This creates a confusing web of rules like “if you had x card from this other bank, you aren’t eligible bonus on this card from a different bank.”

Now, those rules have become even more confusing. Let’s look at what changed and how to understand it simply.

A Quick Recap on Welcome Bonus Rules for Marriott Credit Cards

There are multiple Marriott Bonvoy credit cards available in the U.S., some issued by American Express and others by Chase. That’s the simple part.

Over time, we’ve seen Chase and Marriott implement application rules restricting welcome offers not just related to your previous activities with that issuer but also which Marriott credit cards you have — or had in the past — from the other issuer. If you had a particular Marriott credit card from Chase in the past, it might make you ineligible for the welcome bonus offer on a Marriott credit card from American Express. Depending on the card and the rule, you might be ineligible forever or just ineligible for a mandatory waiting period.

Sounds easy, right? Yeah, we don’t think so either. And now it’s even more complicated.

New Marriott Credit Card Eligibility Rules

Technically, you could be eligible to open these credit cards without earning the welcome offer. However, we’ll assume you’re interested in earning the advertised welcome bonus, which is available after meeting the introductory spending requirement. And that’s where these rules really come into play.

This week, we saw new welcome offers launch on several Marriott credit cards, and these came with new rules attached to both the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy^® American Express^® Card and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card regarding who qualifies for the introductory welcome bonus offer on either card.

Let’s look at the rules (which are lengthy) and then cut them down to the part that actually matters.

Previously, the rules said this:

Welcome offer not available to applicants who (i) have or have had The Ritz-Carlton^™ Credit Card from JPMorgan or the J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards^® Credit Card in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^™ Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^™ Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^™ Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^™ Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase or the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a new Card Member bonus or upgrade offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^™ Credit Card from Chase, Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^™ Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^™ Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^™ Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase or the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 24 months.

Now, the rules say this:

Welcome offer not available to applicants who (i) have or have had The Ritz-Carlton^® Credit Card from J.P. Morgan, the J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards^® Credit Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^® Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^® Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy^® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Rewards^® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Business^® Credit Card from Chase, or the Marriott Rewards Business^® Credit Card from Chase in the last 30 days,
(ii) have acquired the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card from Chase in the last 90 days, or
(iii) received a new Card Member bonus or upgrade offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card from Chase, or the Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card from Chase in the last 24 months.

We agree, that’s a lot of words. The part that matters is the rule about not being eligible based on cards you had in the past 30 days has gotten much longer, including numerous new cards. New additions to that list include the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card, and several old credit cards from the days of the former Marriott Rewards program.

Moreover, the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card wasn’t mentioned at all in the old version of these rules.

So far, the Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card isn’t showing any stricter rules.

Why Does This Matter?

This matters for customers who are interested in new welcome bonus offers or see a great offer and think now could be a good time to add a particular credit card to their wallet.

Every credit card issuer has rules about credit scores, responsible behavior in your dealings with the bank, and whether you can get a credit card again if you had it in the past. None of that is new.

What is new, however, is that Marriott credit cards issued by 2 different issuers continue to make getting them more and more difficult. At this point, American Express and Chase seem to be saying customers must declare loyalty to one or the other. Getting Marriott Bonvoy credit cards from both is increasingly difficult.

Final Thoughts

Amex has added new welcome offer restrictions to both the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. These new rules restrict who can earn the welcome bonus by applying for these cards and completing the initial spending requirement.

The new rules make you ineligible not just based on your past relationship with American Express, but also on which Marriott Bonvoy credit cards you’ve had from Chase in the past 24 months, ranging from bonus details to simply having the card in your wallet in the past few weeks.