To the point
An easy way to earn many Marriott Bonvoy points, in combination with those earned with your Marriott Bonvoy credit card
Which credit card to use in Marriott Bonvoy properties ?
In the milesopedia community, there is a question that comes up frequently:
Which credit card should I use in Marriott Bonvoy properties?
Some members often reply that it is more interesting to use the American Express CobaltMD Card for:
- meals at restaurants
- drinks at the Marriott Bonvoy bar
Because with the American Express CobaltMD Card, you can earn 5x points per dollar (that’s 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar).
In comparison, the two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards – the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card and the Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card – earn “only” 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar for all spending at Marriott Bonvoy locations.
Except we forget Marriott Bonvoy credit cards’ combination with the points earned with the Marriott Bonvoy program!
10 Marriott Bonvoy points per US dollar spent
With Marriott Bonvoy, you can earn up to 10 Marriott Bonvoy points for every US dollar spent at Marriott Bonvoy properties:
- 2.5 points per eligible US dollar at Marriott Executive Apartments and Execustay Hotels
- 5 points per eligible US dollar at Element, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites hotels
- 10 points per eligible US dollar at all other hotels
And members with an Elite status earn a 10% to 75% bonus in points!
To simplify things, this table show you how many points you’ll earn per US dollar spent based on your status.
| Status | Bonus | Points per US dollar |
| Member | 0 % | 10 points |
| Silver Elite | 10 % | 11 points |
| Gold Elite | 25 % | 12.5 points |
| Platinum Elite | 50 % | 15 points |
| Titanium Elite | 75 % | 17.5 points |
| Ambassador Elite | 75% | 17.5 points |
Hotel nights
Let’s take the example of a $500 US hotel bill paid with your Marriott Bonvoy credit card earning 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per CA dollar.
Knowing that the amount displayed on your credit card is in Canadian dollars and that American Express uses this amount to award your points, let’s do the conversion at the rate of 1 US$ = 1.35 CA$.
So our $500 US spend is equal to $675 CDN; you’ll earn 3,375 Marriott Bonvoy points (5 points per dollar).
| Status | Program | Card | Total |
| Member | 5 000 | 3 375 | 8,375 points |
| Silver Elite | 5 500 | 3 375 | 8,875 points |
| Gold Elite | 6 250 | 3 375 | 9,625 points |
| Platinum Elite | 7 500 | 3 375 | 10,875 points |
| Titanium Elite | 8 750 | 3 375 | 12,125 points |
| Ambassador Elite | 8 750 | 3 375 | 12,125 points |
To sum up, with a $675 CDN bill at a Marriott Bonvoy property, charged to a Marriott Bonvoy credit card, you can earn between 8,375 and 12,125 points, depending on your status.
We value the Marriott Bonvoy point at $0.009: this is a $75 to $109 value on a $675 CDN purchase.
So the ROI is from 11% to 16%!
Other expenses at the Marriott Bonvoy property
And the principle will be the same for all other expenses made at a Marriott Bonvoy property such as:
- restaurant bills
- drinks in bars (except where prohibited by law)
- Activities billed by the establishment
- spa treatments
- golf courses
- And more!
Charge it to your room so Marriott Bonvoy can award you the points!
If you use a card like the American Express CobaltMD Card to pay at the hotel restaurant or bar, you’re missing out on this exceptional opportunity to earn Marriott Bonvoy points!
Reminder of the Marriott Bonvoy's card features
The two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards are quite similar in their features. They both offer:
- 5 points per dollar of purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
- 2 points per dollar of purchases everywhere else
- one free hotel night per year (max value of 35,000 points)
- Silver Elite status
- 15 Elite Nights in calendar year
The version for self-employed, professionals and small business owners, the Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express® Card, however, stands out with an additional feature:
- 3 points per dollar spent on gas, meals and travel
So it will be an interesting card to get if you make a lot of purchases in these categories.
