Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card — Full Review [2023]

Great Card If

• You’re a Marriott loyalist
• You want a fast track to Marriott Bonvoy elite status
• You see value in the annual free night certificate
• You want to earn on Bonvoy points on everyday purchases

Don’t Get If

• You’re not a fan of Marriott-branded hotels, or don’t travel much
• You prefer a card with more elite benefits like airport lounge access
• You want a card with no annual fee

Marriott Boundless Card — Is It Worth It?

The Marriott Boundless card is a great option for those who are frequent travelers, prefer staying with Marriott-branded hotels, and can easily take advantage of the card’s best benefits.

For starters, you’ll earn up to 17x spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy, 3x spent on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining, and 2x on all other purchases.

If you’re looking to earn Marriott Bonvoy elite status, this card could be the perfect companion as it offers automatic Silver Elite status, and you’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each year to give you a head start toward higher status tiers. Now, you’ll also earn 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend.

Beyond that, you’ll also enjoy a free night certificate each year to help offset the annual fee, and you receive travel protections like trip delay insurance, baggage delay insurance, and lost luggage insurance.

Marriott Boundless Card – Top Benefits

Anniversary Free Night Certificate

The annual free night certificate is easily one of the most valuable benefits of this card, and can easily make up for the card’s annual fee. Each year, on your account anniversary, you’ll receive a free night award worth up to 35,000 points.

You have 12 months from the date that your free night was issued to use it before it expires, so don’t forget about it. It’s not uncommon for 35,000 point Marriott properties to be priced anywhere from $200 to $300 a night, so paying the $95 annual fee in exchange for a free night in one of these hotels can get you exceptional value. 

You can also add up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to the value of your certificate in order to redeem it at a more expensive property.

Silver Elite Status

While Silver Elite status may be the lowest status level in the Marriott Bonvoy program, it can still be a valuable perk if you didn’t have status with the chain otherwise. Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite comes with perks like:

• Priority late checkout, based on availability
• 10% bonus Marriott Bonvoy-point earnings on Marriott stays
• Access to exclusive phone lines for booking reservations
• Compensation if Marriott Bonvoy can’t honor your reservation

The most notable benefit here is the extra 10% in point earnings on your Marriott stays. It’s worth noting that this applies only to points earned through the hotel stay itself, not through the credit card.

This bonus amounts to a total of 17 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 when you use your Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.

The Marriott Boundless card also offers a fast track to Gold Elite status after spending $35,000 or more on the card each account anniversary year. Marriott Gold Elite status offers enhanced perks like a 25% point bonus, 2 p.m. late checkout (based on availability), and room upgrades.

15 Elite Night Credits

Speaking of elite status, Marriott Boundless cardholders automatically receive 15 nights of elite credit each year. Not to be confused with free night certificates, you cannot redeem these credits for award nights — they exclusively count towards your status. With that said, a 15-night jump towards the next status tier can be extremely beneficial.

Keep in mind that you’ll also earn 1 Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 you spend.

For example, Gold Elite status and Platinum Elite status require 25 nights and 50 nights a year, respectively. That means, with your automatic 15 Elite Night Credits, you will only actually need to stay 10 nights each year to earn Gold Elite status, and 35 nights each year to earn Platinum Elite status.

How To Earn and Redeem Marriott Bonvoy Points

If you thought the only way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is by staying at Marriott hotels, or through spending on your Marriott Boundless card, you’d be wrong. In fact, there are tons of great ways to earn lots of Marriott Bonvoy points.

Along with earning points, you might think that your only redemption option is to use your points for Marriott hotel stays — that isn’t true either!

Marriott offers over 40 different airline transfer partners through which you can turn your Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer.

This makes the Marriott Bonvoy program a great option when it comes to award flight redemptions, too!

Alternatives to the Marriott Boundless Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

If you’re looking for a great all-around rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a fantastic option.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 2x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent on dining and travel, no foreign transaction fees, and flexible redemption options (including transfer partners).

For a modest annual fee, you’ll be able to start earning Chase Ultimate Reward points, one of the most valuable loyalty currencies available. Chase Ultimate Reward points can be redeemed for incredible value through the Chase transfer partners.

Read more about how these 2 cards match up in our head-to-head comparison of the Marriott Boundless card vs. the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

The World of Hyatt Credit Card

For those looking for a competitor hotel-branded card, the World of Hyatt card makes a lot of sense. The World of Hyatt program is arguably one of the best hotel loyalty programs, with great elite benefits and a fantastic award chart.

The World of Hyatt card earns members 4x World of Hyatt points for Hyatt stays, plus 2x points at restaurants and on airline tickets, local transit, and fitness clubs. Cardholders get automatic Discoverist status, a free night each year, and 2 Elite Night Credits for every $5,000 spent on the card.

The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding The World of Hyatt Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.