The Marriott Bonvoy Business^® Credit Card is a keeper card with great features and competitive point multipliers. You get a Free Night Award (up to 35,000 points) per year, which helps many people offset the annual fee. In addition, you get Bonvoy Gold status just by having the card.

Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. See rates and fees.

Point Multipliers

The Marriott Bonvoy Business^® Credit Card has a wide range of multipliers, including:

• 6X total points at Marriott
• 4X Points at restaurants worldwide
• 4X Points at U.S. gas stations
• 4X Points on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
• 4X Points on U.S. purchases for shipping
• 2X Points on all other purchases

Terms apply.

Value of Marriott Bonvoy Points

The value of Marriott Bonvoy points can vary depending on how you plan to use the points.. It can range anywhere from 0.5 cents per point (CPP) to 1.2 CPP or more.

If you’re staying in a city, you might only get 0.5 or 0.6 CPP. The value here is relatively fixed outside of events or very busy times (i.e., New Year's in New York).

For aspirational Marriott properties, like the Maldives or Bora Bora, you might get 1.2 CPP to 2 CPP in value given the high retail price relative to the points cost.

cents per point = retail price/points needed

Our target for redeeming points is typically 0.8 CPP; otherwise, it might make sense to pay cash (out of pocket).

At 0.8 CPP, the value of the point multipliers would be:

• 6X * 0.8 CPP = 4.8% value at Marriott hotels
• 4X * 0.8 CPP = 3.2% value on the 4X categories
• 2X * 0.8 CPP = 1.6% value on everything else

Travel Benefits

One of the big draws of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card is that it’s a keeper card. This means that for most people, tangible perks like credits or the free night award outweigh the annual fee.

Many people will “stack” keeper cards, especially if they get outsized value from the free night award.

Free Night Awards

Earn one Free Night Award each year after your card renewal month. 

The Free Night Award can be used for one night, with a redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. If you want a higher redemption, you can “top off” with up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points from your account if you want to stay at a property that’s between 35,000 and 50,000 points.

The optimal strategy is to use the Free Night Award at properties that cost more than the card’s $125 annual fee to get a positive expected value from the card.

For example, if you redeem the Free Night Award at a $150 or $200/night hotel, you’re coming out ahead just by holding the card.

You can earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60,000 in purchases on your card within a calendar year. We don’t recommend going for the second Free Night Award since that level of spending can be better allocated elsewhere.

Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status

Get complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status while your card is active. The main benefits of Gold Elite status include priority late checkout when available and 25% bonus points on stays. Enrollment required. Terms apply.

Elite Night Credits

Each calendar year, you receive 15 Elite Night Credit towards the next level of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status. It’s important to note that these are 15 elite night credits towards status and not “nights” you can redeem for stays. Terms apply.

When counting these elite nights, you’re starting with a blank slate at zero qualifying nights. A lot of people see the Gold status and think they’re starting at 25 nights, but that’s not the case. The Gold Elite status is being gifted to you with zero nights attached.

This means that if you want to earn Platinum Elite status, you would need to earn 35 more nights in addition to the 15 that come from the Marriott Bonvoy Business card.

7% Marriott Bonvoy® Room Rate Discount

Get a 7% discount off standard rates for reservations of standard guest rooms (excluding Premium rooms) at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties when you book directly on eligible bookings. Terms apply.

You generally get a “member” rate when booking as well, which might be 1 to 3%.

This means you’re choosing between 7% (specific to this card) and ~2% (everyone who makes an account). Given this, the “value” of the discount is likely closer to 5%.

How Does the Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card Compare?

Marriott has a wide range of cards from both American Express and Chase.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

If you’re a frequent traveler and stay at Marriott Bonvoy properties often, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is worth considering since it gives you automatic Platinum Elite status just by having an active card.

The Bonvoy Brilliant also comes with a Free Night Award each card anniversary worth up to 85,000 points.

It might be worth having both the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant and the Marriott Bonvoy Business cards, especially for premium travelers or if you want to do aspirational travel.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase is a personal card that offers automatic Silver Elite status and a Free Night Award for each card anniversary worth up to 35,000 points.

Other Marriott Bonvoy Cards

There’s also the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ credit card from Chase, but you don’t get Free Night Awards on your card anniversary. It’s harder to break even from the annual fee on these cards. You are very much paying a fee for Bonvoy Gold status.

Main Takeaway

The Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card is worth considering if you frequent Marriott Bonvoy properties. Most people can break even or get value from paying the annual fee solely from the Free Night Reward each card anniversary year.

The card is also the cheapest way to obtain Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, especially if you aren’t traveling enough to justify a super premium travel card.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card, please click here.