• With complimentary Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status, earn up to 2.5X points from Marriott Bonvoy® on eligible hotel purchases with the 25% Bonus Points on stays benefit.
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® Free Night Award: Earn 1 Free Night Award after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases on your Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card in a calendar year. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at a participating hotel. Certain hotels have resort fees.
• 15 Elite Night Credits: Each calendar year, receive 15 Elite Night Credits towards the next level of Marriott Bonvoy® Elite status. Limitations apply per Marriott Bonvoy® member account. Benefit is not exclusive to Cards offered by American Express.
• Marriott Bonvoy® 1K Bonus Points Per Stay: Earn 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points per paid eligible stay booked directly with Marriott for properties participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Terms apply. See www.marriott.com/loyalty/terms/default.mi for more information.
• If a round-trip is paid for entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason delays your trip more than 12 hours, Trip Delay Insurance can help reimburse certain additional expenses purchased on the same Eligible Card, up to $300 per trip, maximum 2 claims per Eligible Card per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
• Plan It® is a payment option that lets you split up large purchases into monthly installments with a fixed fee. A fixed monthly fee is shown upfront so you'll know exactly how much you’ll pay. Plus, you'll still earn rewards for the purchases you plan the way you usually do.
• Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
• Terms Apply.

[.dontreco] We don't recommend: Chasing the Free Night Award if you aren't already close [.dontreco]

$15,000 in a calendar year works out to about $1,250 a month. If your natural spending gets you there, great. If it doesn't, increasing your spending just to hit the threshold usually means putting purchases on this card that would earn more somewhere else. Run the numbers on your own spending before you commit to the chase.

[.sometimesreco] We sometimes recommend: Routing restaurant and U.S. supermarket spend here [.sometimesreco]

4X on those two categories is strong, and the $15,000 combined annual cap is generous enough that most households won't bump into it. The tradeoff is that you're earning a currency you can only really use at Marriott. If you'd rather keep your options open, a card earning a transferable currency may suit you better.

[.alwaysreco] We always recommend: Using it for every Marriott stay [.alwaysreco]

This is where the card is unambiguously good. Between the Card's 6X, your base earning as a Bonvoy member, and the Gold Elite bonus, eligible Marriott purchases stack up faster here than almost anywhere else.

Don't forget to stack: The 18.5X figure isn't one rate, it's three layers sitting on top of each other. The card contributes 6X. Marriott contributes up to 10X for being a member. Gold Elite status adds up to 2.5X more through the 25% bonus points on stays benefit. Book direct so all three layers actually apply.

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1. The Marriott Regular

You already stay at Marriott properties several times a year and you're not shopping around. Between the card's earning at participating hotels, 1,000 bonus points per paid eligible stay booked direct, and Gold Elite perks like room upgrades when available, you're getting paid for behavior you were going to do anyway.

2. The Status Climber

15 Elite Night Credits a year is the real draw here. If you're stalled somewhere below Platinum and you're close on nights, this card closes some of that gap without you sleeping in a single extra hotel room.

3. The Household That Spends

If $1,250 a month on a single card is a normal month for you, the $15,000 threshold stops being a stretch goal and becomes a thing that just happens in the fall. That's when the annual fee math starts working, because you're getting the Free Night Award on top of everything else.

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The honest answer is most casual Marriott guests. If you stay twice a year, you're paying $250 for a status tier and an earn rate you won't use enough to justify, and you're leaving the Free Night Award on the table.

You should also skip it if you want flexibility. Marriott Bonvoy points are largely confined to Marriott, so if your travel plans tend to shift between brands, a card earning a transferable currency will serve you better.

And the usual rules apply. If your credit score isn't in good shape, work on that first. If a new card is going to tempt you into spending you can't pay off, the rewards will never outrun the interest. Credit cards are a tool for earning points, not a reason to spend more.

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A good to excellent credit score is recommended. If your credit is in solid shape and you're ready for a new card, don't let fear of a denial stop you from applying.