Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card Review

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card has no annual fee, but it also doesn't offer many benefit or perks. These characteristics, coupled with a weak welcome offer, make this card a candidate for product changing at best. We will go over all of that and all of the other necessary card details in our Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card review.

Welcome Offer

The current welcome offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is as follows:

• Earn 30,000 Bonvoy points after spending $1,000 within 3 months.
• There is no annual fee for this card.

Application Rules

Like other Chase cards, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule. It is also not available to anyone who has earned the welcome offer on the Bonvoy Bold in the last 24 months. That is pretty standard language from Chase but the Bonvoy cards have another layer of family inspired rules:

• The card is not available to those who
  • (1) currently have or had any of the following cards within the last 30 days:
    • Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card
    • The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express
  • (2) applied and were approved for any of the following cards within the last 90 days
    • Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
    • Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express
    • Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
    • Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card
    • Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card
  • (3) received a new cardmember bonus or upgrade bonus for any of the following cards within the last 24 months:
    • Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
    • Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express
    • Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
    • Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card
    • Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card

To make sense of this, check out our guide to the Marriott credit card eligibility rules.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card Review: Card Earning Structure

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card earns bonus points in the following categories:

• 3x on Marriott purchases
• 2x on travel
• 1x on all other eligible purchases

Cardholder Benefits

The perks and benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card include:

• 15 elite night credits towards status annually
• No foreign transaction fees

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card Review: Analysis

Simply put, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is quite bare-boned. The 15 elite night credits is the card's only notable benefit. But for no annual fee, 15 elite nights credits isn't bad.

Meanwhile, the Bonvoy Bold's earning structure is the weakest among all Marriott credit cards. None of Marriott's cards have a compelling earning structure, but the Bold is at the very bottom. All other Marriott cards earn 6x at Marriott properties, yet the Bonvoy Bold only earns half of that.

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card's current welcome offer is also the lowest among all Marriott cards. For reference, brands like JW Marriott, St. Regis, and Ritz-Carlton regularly charge north of 80,000 points for one night and this offer is pretty much always below that.

The weak earning structure, low welcome offer coupled with no annual fee make the Bonvoy Bold a good downgrade option. That is only for people who want to avoid an annual fee but still want 15 elite night credits per year. Otherwise, this card is definitely not worthy of a 5/24 slot. You would be better off looking at the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card.

ToP Thoughts

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card is a bare-boned credit card with scant perks but with no annual fee. If you're looking for the cheapest way to earn 15 elite night credits, look no further than the Bonvoy Bold. Just don't rely on the card for anything else. If you are looking for a card that can offer you more, check out the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card.

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