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Our take: The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is a great option for business owners who travel frequently and prefer Marriott properties. Its generous rewards rate and welcome offer, plus complimentary Gold Elite status (enrollment required), make it a valuable card for business owners.
If your business frequently takes you around the country — or around the world — then the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card might be worth it. You’ll have access to over 8,500 properties and 138 countries, which is greater than other popular hotel chains.
For a $125 annual fee, it comes with benefits like Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status (enrollment required), 15 Elite Night credits and no foreign transaction fees. There are also business-specific benefits like employee cards and QuickBooks integration.
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is best for business owners who typically stay at Marriott properties and are looking for a reasonably priced travel card. If you stay at a variety of hotels, then a non-branded business travel card like the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card or American Express® Business Gold Card may be a better choice.
Intro Purchase APR
N/A
Regular Purchase APR
20.49% - 29.49% Variable
Intro BT APR
N/A
Regular BT APR
N/A
Annual Fee
$125
Cash Advance Fee
Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
Foreign Transaction Fee
None
Balance Transfer Fee
N/A
Generous welcome offer
Earn 3 Free Night Awards after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Generous rewards rate outside of Marriott stays
What sets the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card apart from many of its competitors is its generous rewards rate for purchases made outside Marriott stays: 6x Marriott Bonvoy Points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program. 4x points at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
So if you spend a lot on restaurants or U.S. gas stations, you can earn points for Marriott stays pretty quickly.
Free night awards
Every year on your card anniversary, cardholders will receive a free night award at a participating Marriott Bonvoy hotel for a redemption level of 35,000 points (not including any resort fees).
And if you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year, you’ll earn another free night award of the same value.
Automatic Gold elite status
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card holders receive complimentary Gold Elite status after enrolling in the Marriott Bonvoy program, which includes among many perks:
Elite Night Credits
The card offers 15 Elite Night credits every year to help you move up to the next status level. The next status is Platinum Elite, which gives you among many perks:
Points transfer opportunity
Another big attraction is the ability to transfer Bonvoy points to more than 40 airline frequent flyer programs, mostly at a 3:1 ratio. You also receive a 15,000-point bonus every time you transfer 60,000 points to a participating frequent flyer program.
$125 annual fee
The annual fee for the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is $125. That said, if you take advantage of the welcome offer in the first three months of having the card, that effectively negates the annual fee the first year.
Limited redemption options
Marriott Bonvoy points aren’t as flexible as general points, like Chase Ultimate Rewards® or American Express Membership Rewards. The most valuable way to redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points are for hotel stays — which is great if you tend to stay there a lot, but not great if you want to be more flexible with your travel plans.
Marriott points are somewhat inflated
Marriott points aren’t worth as much as flexible points from programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards® and American Express Membership Rewards. Marriott Bonvoy points are worth around 0.9 cents each, while Chase and American Express points can be worth around 1 to 4 cents each, depending on how they’re redeemed.
Depending on the card and your business spending habits, you may be able to squeeze more value out of non-branded business cards by transferring points to Marriott Bonvoy.
Limited travel benefits
The travel benefits are limited with the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. Compared to many other American Express travel rewards cards, the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card does not come with some standard coverage, such as trip cancellation, interruption or delay protection or even cell phone protection.
If you don’t want to be tied to one hotel loyalty program and want more flexibility in earning and redeeming points, you may want to consider the American Express® Business Gold Card instead. It has a higher $375 annual fee, but offers more valuable and flexible rewards that you can transfer to a variety of hotel and airline programs, including Marriott.
You’ll earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.* For ongoing rewards, get 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 eligible categories where your business spent the most each month on the first $150,000 in combined purchases each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card. Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required. Terms apply..
It offers most of the same travel and purchase benefits as the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. It also offers similar business tools such as free employee cards, an account manager, access to the American Express® Business App and the ability to transfer transaction data from your online statement directly into a QuickBooks account.
If you’re looking for a card that you can redeem points at hotels other than Marriott as well as airlines, then the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is likely a better fit. It’s a $95-annual-fee business travel card that offers a valuable sign-up bonus and a high rewards rate on many common business expenses.
You’ll earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn.
It has a valuable sign-up bonus, but comes with a high spending requirement: Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Just like the American Express® Business Gold Card, you can transfer points to a variety of loyalty programs, including Marriott, making them far more flexible and valuable than Marriott points.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes with a much higher $695 annual fee, but can be worth it if you’re looking for luxury benefits.
It includes a variety of travel and business credits, which can more than make up for the annual fee. Its other valuable benefits include complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required for both), strong travel protections, extensive lounge access and more.
This card is likely only best for business owners with a hefty travel budget or those looking for luxury benefits. If you’re only traveling a couple of times per year and staying at a Marriott, then the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is probably better for you.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Welcome Offer | Rewards Rate | Annual Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
|
Earn 3 Free Night Awards after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. | 6x Marriott Bonvoy Points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program. 4x points at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. 2x points on all other eligible purchases. | $125 | ||
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American Express® Business Gold Card
|
Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.* | Get 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 eligible categories where your business spent the most each month on the first $150,000 in combined purchases each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card. Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required. Terms apply. | $375 | ||
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
 Apply Now
on Chase's secure site |
Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. | Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn. | $95 |
Apply Now
on Chase's secure site |
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The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
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Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. | 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com, and 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases. Earn 1.5X points (that’s an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus. | $695 |
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card could be right for you if you’re looking to save on business trips to Marriott properties without having to spend a huge annual fee.
If you’re loyal to Marriott, then the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card could offer you more value than a general travel card can. Its generous rewards rate on Marriott stays and welcome offer can often make it worth the annual fee for business owners.
However, if you want to transfer points to other hotel loyalty programs or want more travel protections, the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card probably isn’t best for you. You might consider the American Express® Business Gold Card, which offers better travel insurance and more flexible points.
To see rates & fees for American Express cards mentioned on this page, visit the links provided below:
The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.
