Get 40000 Marriott Points & Gold Status With The Marriott Bonvoy Amex

American Express has recently relaunched an increased welcome bonus which ran on the Marriott Bonvoy Amex last year. The sign-up bonus has doubled from 20000 Marriott points to 40000 Marriott points. Alongside this, you will also get Gold Elite status with Marriott (normally Silver Elite) just by taking out the card. These increased benefits are on offer if you apply for a Marriott Bonvoy American Express card before the 3rd of May 2022. You can apply here – https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/marriott-bonvoy-credit-card/

Representative example: This card has an APR of 41.9% (variable) and a purchase rate of 24.7% (variable) with an assumed credit limit of £1,200. There is an annual fee of £75 which is pro-rata refunded on cancellation.

This is my experience using the points system and is not a recommendation of any financial product. There are other credit cards that can earn you travel points including IHG credit card, Tesco Credit Cards (by exchanging Clubcard points for Virgin points, hotel stays and more) & Virgin Atlantic credit card.

How do I get the 40000 Marriott Points?

If you apply before the 3rd of May 2022 the welcome bonus has increased to 40000 Marriott Points. That’s double the normal amount of 20,000! To get the welcome bonus you would need to spend £3,000 within 3 months.

Remember welcome bonuses are generally only applicable for customers who have not held an American Express card for at least 24 months. There are some exceptions to this, you can read these here – https://pointsuncovered.com/american-express/amex-changes-sign-up-bonus-eligibility/

If you are new to American Express or are rejoining after a 24-month ‘break’ taking out the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card would still allow you to get the bonus on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus & on The Platinum Card. This is potentially the most lucrative way into point collecting as you can see in our article about fast-tracking yourself to 250,000 Marriott points.

What can I do with 40000 Marriott points?

We have an article about what hotels you can stay at for 40000 Marriott Points here. In addition to this, you can convert your Marriott points into 13,333 miles with over 40 airlines including British Airways, Emirates, Qatar, and Virgin Flying Club. You can view the airline partners here – https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/redeem/travel/points-to-miles.mi. Many of these programmes have no other way in the UK to collect points with them other than flying with them! Which makes Marriott the only choice if you want to collect or top-up your account for a redemption.

What other benefits does the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card have?

In addition to the increased welcome bonus, ALL new cardholders (doesn’t matter if you have an existing card) who apply under this offer will receive Gold Elite status with Marriott until February 2024, rather than the usual Silver status the card usually offers. Even if you aren’t interested in any of the other benefits you can in effect buy Gold Elite status for £75 for the year. You can read more about that below.

The card offers 2 points for every full £1 spent on your Card. At eligible Marriott properties, the card offers 6 points for every full £1 spent on your card.

You will also receive a free night award each year when you spend £25,000 on the card. This can be redeemed for a Marriott stay of 25,000 points or less per night

You get 15 elite night credits every year. This is enough to get Silver status with Marriott. (we cover the benefits of silver below.) But where it gets interesting is that you now only need 10 nights for Gold Elite status (covered below.) Alternatively you would need 35 nights for Platinum Elite. Platinum Elite is the sweet spot in the programme in terms of benefits/nights required and comes with Executive Lounge access, room upgrade including suites if available, free breakfast & guaranteed 4pm check-out at most hotels. You can read more about the Marriott status levels here – https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/member-benefits.mi

You can read more about the benefits on offer on the application page here – https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/marriott-bonvoy-credit-card/

What’s the difference between Gold & Silver Status?

You can view the differences on the Marriott website here (scroll down to the table) – https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/member-benefits.mi. The main points however are…

Silver Status

• 10% bonus on base points earned
• Priority late check-out (not guaranteed)

As you can see with Silver status you don’t really get a lot but should help you avoid the ‘worst’ rooms.

Gold Status

• 25% bonus on base points on all Marriott stays
• A welcome gift of 250 or 500 points depending on the brand you are staying at
• An enhanced room upgrade, subject to availability
• 2pm late check-out, based on availability
• Complimentary enhanced in-room internet access

With Gold status, it starts to get a little more interesting! You have the potential of a 2pm late check-out and an enhanced room upgrade. Now neither of these are guaranteed but from our experience, we’ve had excellent results! We’ve often been upgraded to executive rooms & sometimes suites & generally have no problem checking out around 1pm.

After February 2024 you will be downgraded to Silver status. Your annual 15 elite night credits would only be enough for Silver status with Marriott. To get Gold Elite status again you would either need to spend £15,000 in a year or stay 10 nights. Gold elite requires 25 nights and you would already have 15 elite night credits from your card.

Is it still worth getting with Marriott’s move to dynamic pricing?

As you may already know Marriott’s move to dynamic pricing starts from the 29th March 2022. Thankfully most hotels aren’t changing their cost in 2022 with the real damage happening next year. So you may still find the sign-up bonus worth having! Take a look at what the change to dynamic pricing means for you here – https://pointsuncovered.com/marriott/marriott-dynamic-pricing-for-points-stays-starts-29th-march/

Conclusion

The increased welcome bonus means the Marriott Bonvoy card is definitely worth considering if you are new to American Express or rejoining after a break. If you aren’t eligible the 18-ish months of Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy & the 15 elite night credit make it attractive to anyone who stays in Marriott Hotels at least semi-regularly. Are you tempted to sign-up for the increased benefits?

You can apply here – https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/marriott-bonvoy-credit-card/