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The Bonvoy Brilliant is Marriott’s most premium co-branded credit card. I’ve had it for years, through fee and benefit changes, as well as many Marriott stays. This review puts all that into perspective.
This review is unsponsored and reflects my own experience. It’s not financial or legal advice, just my personal perspective! While I do have a PhD in Finance, the benefits of this card are simple enough that anyone can understand them. We also look at the Chase Ritz-Carlton, how to stack cash back with Rakuten, and much, much more.
Let’s dive in!
My history with the card
I got this card back when the benefits were totally different. It used to guarantee Gold Elite status and offered an annual statement credit for stays at Marriott hotels.
Today, it grants Platinum Elite status, and the old Marriott credit has been replaced with $300 in annual restaurant credits, split into twelve monthly $25 credits. The old benefits were simpler, but worse, since Platinum Elite status is substantially more valuable than Gold. As mentioned later, Platinum has gotten me into pool villas in Bali and The Grand Staircase Suite in London. (Those happened before I was writing hotel reviews on this blog, so it wasn’t Marriott noticing the reviews.)
What benefits does the Bonvoy Brilliant actually offer?
The card has a $650 annual fee, but it comes with a pretty substantial collection of benefits:
- Automatic Platinum Elite status, including the benefits that status provides at participating Marriott hotels.
- 25 Elite Night Credits every year, helping you qualify for higher Marriott status and work toward lifetime status.
- An annual 85,000-point Free Night Award certificate after your card renewal. You can also add up to 25,000 of your own points to redeem it at a more expensive property.
- Priority Pass airport lounge membership, subject to enrollment.
- Up to $300 in restaurant statement credits, distributed as $25 per month.
- 6x Marriott points on eligible Marriott hotel purchases, 3x at restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines, and 2x on other eligible purchases.
- Additional benefits, including qualifying Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis property credits, travel protections, and a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
- An earned choice award, if you spend over $60,000 on the card in one year.
Benefits can change, so be sure to check with Amex and Marriott! And, importantly, not everything people associate with the Brilliant comes directly from the card.
The 50% bonus Marriott points, 4 p.m. late checkout, increased upgrade opportunities, and complimentary breakfast or lounge access at participating hotel brands are Platinum Elite benefits. The Brilliant gives you that status automatically, but those benefits aren’t exclusive to cardholders. If you’re already a lifetime platinum elite, or travel so much you get the status regardless of the card you hold, I would actually slightly prefer the Ritz-Carlton card. But, if you don’t have Platinum, go Brilliant–Platinum is that valuable.
My experience with American Express
My experience has only been positive. I once had the card stolen, and someone tried to buy a couple of iPhones with it. I was notified (I hadn’t even realized the card was stolen at that point), the transaction was stopped, and I got a new card. Whenever I’ve had the card replaced, it’s been FedExed to me in one or two business days.
My experience with Marriott
Platinum Elite status is a huge benefit at international hotels, especially in Asia.
The biggest upgrades I’ve gotten are to the Grand Staircase Suite at the St. Pancras in London and to a pool villa at the St. Regis in Bali. I think it’s highly unlikely either would have happened without Platinum Elite, as I’m not a big spender or famous guest.
The everyday benefits can also be surprisingly valuable. Complimentary breakfast for two, club lounge access, and 4 p.m. checkout can make a real difference over a multi-night stay.
For a practical example, see my Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park review. It’s exactly the sort of hotel where Platinum benefits can make a nice stay substantially better.
What credit score do you need?
Reports suggest you need a pretty good credit score.
I probably had a score in the high 700s when I got this card, but I genuinely don’t remember, as it was about seven years ago and the card had a lower annual fee then.
There’s no publicly guaranteed minimum score, and American Express will consider other factors beyond your credit score.
The card design is fine
The Bonvoy Brilliant has a sleek metal design, mostly black, with a nice Marriott Bonvoy logo. It looks about as premium as the Ritz-Carlton card, although I think the Ritz looks slightly better because it’s more understated. It looks fine. Black, metal, corporate, and sort of sleek.
Is the Bonvoy Brilliant the single best Marriott credit card?
For most frequent Marriott travelers, yes.
The $650 annual fee is offset by instant Platinum Elite status, Priority Pass membership, and the breakfast and lounge benefits that Platinum gives you at places like Sheraton or Le Méridien hotels.
As mentioned elsewhere in this review, the effective fee is really about $350 a year if you fully use the $25 monthly restaurant credits. An 85,000-point certificate can easily be worth more than $350 with a good redemption. So you can potentially break even on the annual fee with the restaurant credits and certificate alone, before factoring in Platinum benefits.
Of course, this only works if you actually use those benefits. If you stay at Marriotts so often that you’ll always be Platinum anyway, the Ritz-Carlton Card is probably the superior card if you only want to hold only one. But if you are a Marriott mega traveler, you’d want both, since $350 for an 85k certificate is actually a good deal.
What about the Chase Ritz-Carlton Card?
It’s also a great choice.
Its $450 annual fee is effectively $150 after using its $300 airline incidental credit, and it also comes with an annual 85,000-point certificate. You additionally get three Ritz-Carlton Club Level upgrade certificates each year, each potentially covering a paid stay of up to seven nights at participating properties. The club lounges are actually nice and can save you money, assuming you eat breakfast and enjoy dinner, snacks, or drinks there.
The Ritz is also ridiculously overpowered in terms of airport lounge benefits. You get access to Chase Sapphire Lounges in addition to a Priority Pass membership. Even better, authorized users can get their own lounge access, and there is no annual fee for authorized-user cards. I’ve written a much more detailed review of the Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card explaining why it’s such an unusual product.
And these cards are ultimately tools to help you travel. If you’re wondering what you can actually do with them, check out my Ritz-Carlton Bali review or my comparison of the Ritz-Carlton and The Laguna in Bali. Both are excellent Marriott properties, but the experiences are surprisingly different.
Does this card help you chase Lifetime Platinum Elite?
Yes, and this is another big advantage. The Brilliant earns the most annual Elite Night Credits of any Marriott co-branded credit card, at 25 nights.
You’ll need 10 years of Platinum Elite status and 600 qualifying nights to get Lifetime Platinum. Holding the Brilliant for ten years could therefore contribute 250 of the 600 nights you need, assuming the benefits and program rules remain unchanged.If you stack the Bonvoy Business Card, also from American Express, you’ll get another 15 Elite Night Credits per year, bringing you to 40 annually.
Over ten years, that could be 400 out of the 600 nights simply from holding the two cards. That’s a very substantial head start. You’d only need 20 actual stays per year to slide into lifetime Platinum after a decade. And, points redemptions count, so not all of those stays have to be paid.
What are the best welcome offers for the Bonvoy Brilliant?
American Express regularly changes the Brilliant’s welcome bonus, and some offers are much better than others.
The card has historically offered bonuses of 95,000, 100,000, 185,000, and even 200,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. The 200,000-point offer, available in spring 2026, was particularly good. I think I had an offer around 100k to 150k range, but this was also over five years ago.
At a reasonable estimated value of 0.75 cents per Marriott point, 200,000 points are worth approximately $1,500 in hotel redemption value. That’s an enormous incentive to apply, especially if you were considering the card anyway.
Personally, I’d consider anything over 150,000 points or more a very attractive welcome offer. A lower offer isn’t necessarily bad, especially if you immediately need Platinum Elite status, but there’s a real argument for waiting. 140k or so gets you into the highest tier of Marriott redemptions, including the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Mandapa, where the cheapest rooms go for $1,000 USD minimum. 150k could also get you three nights at the Ritz-Carlton Bali, which is also easily worth $1,000. You could also easily spend 100k+ on a luxury hotel in Tokyo or New York in only a single night. I wouldn’t do that, but you could.
Pay attention to the minimum spending requirement, which has often been around $6,000 within the first six months, and make sure you can meet it naturally. Spending money unnecessarily to earn points defeats the purpose of this entire exercise.
Also, American Express has eligibility restrictions on welcome bonuses, including rules that can be affected by other Marriott credit cards you’ve held. Check the specific terms before applying.
What is the optimal points and cash back stack for Marriott frequent travelers?
The optimal points, cash back, Elite Status, and Elite Nights stack in its simplest form would be getting the American Express Bonvoy Brilliant card, and then booking directly with Marriott (to maximize bonus points and status). But you’d want to book directly with Marriott through Rakuten, an online cashback portal, which stacks 1.5%-4% cash back. The chart above explains the strategy, which will get you up to, perhaps $40 back on a $1,000 stay. (New users would get $90 back, as qualifying purchases over $50 get a $50 new user bonus).
Booking direct with Marriott (through a Rakuten account) gets you cash back, usually between 1.5%-4% cash back.
The Bonvoy Brilliant gets you 25 Elite Night Credits and Platinum Elite Status, which gives you 50% bonus points.
If you don’t use Rakuten yet, you can sign up with my code ALEX3954 or my affiliate link to Rakuten here. New users currently get $50 bonus cash after making a $50 purchase.
What are the best items to hit the Welcome Offer that you won’t regret buying?
Getting the welcome offer often depends on spending $3,000-$6,000 in three to six months. The best semi-luxury purchases that I think are actually worth the money are:
A nice sunscreen: This is non-negotiable if you’re going to the beach. You want something that feels nice, isn’t sticky or pasty, and actually works. I’ve tried a ton and prefer to use Elta MD or La Roche Posay
The Insta360 Luna Ultra: You can shoot stunning travel footage with this–actually incredible–small gimbal camera. The Luna Ultra also has a detachable remote for filming yourself. Love this thing. Great for memories even if you aren’t making videos. This is my strongest recommendation on the list, closely followed by a nice sunscreen and the Apple Studio Display.
Samsonite Proxis Luggage: The best mix of quality, lightness, and luxury. Better quality than your cheapest suitcase, but nowhere near as expensive as a Rimowa. Great balance of value and quality.
Apple Studio Display: Apple’s luxury computer monitor that seamlessly works with your MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mini, Studio, or even the MacBook Neo. Great sound from built in speakers, great picture from the 5k display, great webcam. Easy, minimalist, sleek. Expensive at $1599 base price, but worth it. Those seeking the absolute BEST display on the market can go even further, with the Studio Display XDR.
The MacBook Neo: Apple’s cheapest laptop is still great. Technology advances so quickly that only a few years ago it would’ve been among Apple’s best laptops. At only $699 for the base model, you can throw it in your backpack for trips and not worry about it.
The Cotopaxi Allpa 28L Backpack: This is the do-everything backpack that has an inside that feels like a suitcase. I prefer the 28L over the 35L, because I want to be sure it always fits as a carry on. I also think smaller individuals will find the more popular 35L too big.
Nice Sunglasses: I’m personally a cheap sunglasses person, and I like these Sojos ones for $15, but if you want a luxury pair, these Gucci sunglasses look pretty good to me.
Conclusion: Is the Bonvoy Brilliant worth it?
Yes. I think the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is a great card, and I recommend it for frequent Marriott travelers.
I’ve kept mine for years, and the benefits have genuinely improved my travel experiences. The automatic Platinum status alone has helped me get some incredible upgrades, and the annual certificate, dining credits, and Elite Night Credits make the card pretty easy to justify for someone who regularly stays at Marriott hotels.
But your financial situation and travel patterns will vary.
If you aren’t staying at Marriott properties very often, or you regularly forget to use monthly credits, a $650 annual fee is a lot of money. There’s no reason to get an expensive credit card simply because it offers a long list of impressive-sounding benefits.
I also wouldn’t recommend paying interest on a credit card to earn hotel points. That can wipe out the value of the rewards very quickly.
For me, the point of the Bonvoy Brilliant isn’t having an expensive black metal credit card. It’s using the card to make travel better and, ideally, less expensive.
A great upgrade, a complimentary breakfast overlooking the water, or a memorable night at a hotel I’d otherwise struggle to justify paying cash for — those are the things that make this card worth having.
The card is just a tool. The experiences are what matter.
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