Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card — Full Review [2023]

Great Card If

• You enjoy staying at Marriott hotels
• You want a fast track to Marriott Bonvoy elite status
• You want a card with no annual fee

Don’t Get If

• You’re not a fan of Marriott-branded hotels or don’t travel much
• You visit Marriott hotels frequently enough that one of their premium card options would be more rewarding for you
• You prefer a card with more elite benefits like airport lounge access

Marriott Bold Card — Is It Worth It?

The Marriott Bold card is the ideal option for those looking for a hotel credit card who enjoy staying in Marriott-branded hotels but do not want to pay an annual fee.

Not only will the card help you earn more Marriott Bonvoy points during your stays and on everyday purchases, but it also gives you automatic Silver Elite status and 15 Elite Night Credits towards the next status level.

Marriott Bold Card Top Benefits

Silver Elite Status

The 15 Elite Night Credits you receive from this card will earn you Silver Elite status, and while that status may be the lowest in the Marriott Bonvoy program, it is certainly better than having no status at all.

Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite comes with perks including:

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

The most notable benefit here is the extra 10% in point earnings on your Marriott stays. However, the bonus applies to points earned through the hotel, not the credit card.

This bonus amounts to a total of up to 14 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 when you use your Marriott Bold card at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.

15 Elite Night Credits

So what are Elite Night Credits exactly? 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.

Since you’re starting each year with 15 nights just for holding the card, you’re automatically going to qualify for Silver Elite status — but why stop there? For example, Gold Elite status and Platinum Elite status require 25 nights and 50 nights a year, respectively.

This 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.

No Annual Fee

It is no secret that there are many great travel rewards cards available, but more often than not, they come with some sort of annual fee — usually ranging between $95 to $550!

So while the Marriott Bold card doesn’t offer as many benefits as cards that do offer annual fees, it’s a great option for casual travelers who don’t travel often enough to make an annual fee card worthwhile but still want to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

How To Earn and Redeem Your Marriott Bonvoy Points

While you can earn tons of Marriott Bonvoy points just by using your card, there are many other ways to earn lots of Marriott Bonvoy points. Some of these include booking Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities, dining with the Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy program, and utilizing travel partners.

Marriott offers thousands of hotels for you to redeem your points at, but all redemptions aren’t built evenly. If you’re wanting to get the most bang for your buck, read through some of our favorite ways to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points.

You’re not only limited to hotel redemptions, though, as Marriott also has over 40 airline transfer partners that you can transfer your points to at a 3:1 rate.

Alternative Cards to the Marriott Bold Card

Hilton Honors American Express Card

Perhaps you want a no-annual-fee hotel card but prefer Hilton as your favorite chain. In that case, the Hilton Honors card would be a great option for you.

The card offers 7x Hilton Honors points per $1 at Hilton hotels, 5x points at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations, and U.S. restaurants, and 3x points on all other purchases.

Couple that with complimentary Hilton Honors Silver elite status and the ability to upgrade to Gold by spending $20,000 in a calendar year and you’ve got a pretty compelling card for a $0 annual fee.

IHG® Rewards Traveler Credit Card

Another great option for those that want a no-annual-fee hotel card, but prefer IHG hotels, is the IHG Traveler card.

The card earns 5x IHG One Rewards points on IHG stays, plus 3x on dining, utilities, select streaming services, and at gas stations, and 2x everywhere else.

It also offers Silver Elite status with IHG hotels, 20% back on purchased points, and the fourth night free on all award stays.

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

For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, click here.