[Expired] New Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card Launch [Is It Worth It?]

The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

fA new member is being added to the Marriott family of co-branded credit cards today; the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card.

If you’re a fan of the hotel chain, read on to learn all of the details of this new card, including its welcome bonus, earning rates, benefits, and some analysis of how it stacks up against the other Marriott cards.

Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card Welcome Offer

First, let’s look at one of the most exciting aspects of a new card: its welcome bonus. New eligible Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card from Chase members can earn 125,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after they spend $4,000 in eligible purchases on the card in the first three months.

We value Marriott points at 0.7 cents apiece, making this bonus worth $875. This is roughly in line with previous welcome bonuses we’ve seen offered on the Marriott family of cards.

To be eligible for the welcome bonus on the card, more than 24 months will need to have passed since you received a welcome bonus on any of the following cards: Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card, and the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card Earning Rates

Here’s a look at how you will earn Marriott points with the new card:

• 6x points per $1 on purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy
• 4x points per $1 on up to $15,000 in combined purchases per year at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets
• 2x points per $1 on all other eligible purchases

Earning 6x points on Marriott stays and 2x points on all other purchases is typical for Marriott co-branded cards, but 4x points per $1 on dining and at U.S. supermarkets is a slight improvement over the 3x points that the Marriott Boundless card offers on these purchases.

That said, it’s strange that the 4x earnings is limited to $15,000 in combined purchases. After all, you could use the American Express^® Gold Card to earn 4x points per $1 on worldwide dining, and U.S. supermarket purchases (on up to $25,000 in grocery spend), and transfer those points at a 1:1 rate to Marriott if you so choose — or to any of the 20 other Amex transfer partners.

Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card Benefits

The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful card comes with a $250 annual fee, and with that, you’ll receive the following benefits:

• Complimentary Marriott Gold Elite status
• 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year toward higher Elite status
• 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Bonus Points with each qualifying stay
• A Free Night Award (redemption level at or under 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) after making $15,000 in purchases per year.

Given the relatively high cost of this card, these benefits are puzzling. For starters, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status offers little more than additional bonus points on stays and 2 p.m. late checkout (if available). And, 15 elite night credits are offered on most other Marriott co-branded cards. Further, 1,000 bonus points per stay aren’t going to move the needle for most travelers.

Those items aside, what’s arguably most strange is that not only does the card not offer any sort of statement credit to help offset the annual fee, but it also doesn’t offer a complimentary Free Night Award (as is standard across the other Marriott cards) unless you spend $15,000 on the card each year.

Hot Tip: Take a look at our favorite credit cards for Marriott Bonvoy loyalists!

Final Thoughts

We must admit that we’re scratching our heads here — there’s frankly little to be excited about with this new offering.

Given the limited value added and a higher annual fee, most Marriott travelers would be better off with the lower annual fee Marriott Boundless card or springing for the higher annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card.