Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Review: A Long Lineup of Luxurious Perks

Hotel credit cards don't get much more feature-packed than the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. Marriott's most luxurious card offers a rich welcome offer, spending credits, a free night award, and much more (terms apply). However, this card also comes with a hefty annual fee (see rates and fees). Decide if it's worth the cost with our Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card review.

This credit card is a good fit for: Frequent guests of Marriott hotels who want a luxury card with perks to cover both hotel stays and air travel.

Top perks

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is one of the most feature-packed hotel cards.

185,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points

You can earn 185,000 bonus points from Marriott Bonvoy when you use your new card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months. Terms apply.

CHECK OUT MORE BIG BONUSES: Best Sign-Up Bonus Credit Cards

Up to 6 points per $1

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card earns:

• 6X points per $1 on eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®
• 3X points per $1 on restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines
• 2X points per $1 on all other eligible purchases
• Terms apply

Those points are in addition to the points you already earn as a member of the Marriott Bonvoy program. You also earn 50% more points on hotel purchases with Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, which is a complimentary perk of this card. Terms apply.

COMPARE TO OTHER TOP OPTIONS: Best Hotel Credit Cards

$300 annual dining statements credit

Each cardmember year, your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card covers $300 in eligible dining statements (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide. You receive this as a statement credit. Terms apply. Assuming you use the credit every month, it effectively brings this card's annual fee down to $350.

$100 property credit

When you use your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card to book and pay for a stay of two nights or longer at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® using the "$100 Property Credit, Luxury Credit Card" rate, you receive a credit of up to $100 to redeem toward qualifying purchases at the property. The property credit appears as a credit on your bill at checkout, not as a statement credit on your credit card. Terms apply.

Annual free night award

After your card renewal month each year, you receive one free night award. You can redeem this for one night at a participating Marriott Bonvoy hotel with a redemption level at or under 85,000 points. Terms apply.

Complimentary Platinum Elite status

This card offers complimentary Platinum Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy. Terms apply. Platinum Elite status unlocks perks that include:

• 50% bonus points on stays
• Enhanced room upgrades (when available)
• 4 p.m. late checkout
• Welcome gift choice upon arrival
• Full lounge access at hotel brands that have lounges
• Dedicated elite support available 24/7

Benefits like these can elevate every stay. You also receive 25 Elite Night Credits each year, which gets you closer to the next level of Elite status. Terms apply.

Airport lounge access

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card includes a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership. Once you enroll in this benefit, you get unlimited lounge visits for you and up to two guests in the more than 1,200 Priority Pass lounges. Terms apply; enrollment required.

Most premium travel credit cards offer airport lounge access, but this is still a useful feature for frequent flyers.

SEE MORE OPTIONS: Best Credit Cards With Airport Lounge Access

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit

Your Marriott card covers your membership fee to Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, two Trusted Traveler programs. You can get either a $100 statement credit for Global Entry every four years, or an $85 statement credit for TSA PreCheck every 4.5 years. Terms apply.

Global Entry is the superior choice, and not just because it's the larger credit. A membership to that program also automatically enrolls you in TSA PreCheck, so you get both programs' benefits for the price of one.

LEARN MORE: TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR: Which Program Is the Best?

Travel and purchase protections

American Express cards tend to have top-notch protections, and this one is no exception. It offers (and here, too, terms apply):

• Car rental loss and damage insurance*
• Return protection**
• Purchase protection***
• Extended warranty***
• Travel insurance that includes trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay insurance, and baggage insurance plan

No foreign transaction fee

Like just about all the best travel credit cards, this card doesn't charge you extra for international transactions in a foreign currency. This can easily save you 2% to 3% on every transaction in non-U.S. dollars versus cards that charge foreign transaction fees. (see rates and fees)

RELATED: Best Airline Credit Cards

What could be improved

There is one downside to know about with this Marriott card.

Expensive annual fee

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card certainly doesn't come cheap at $650 per year. However, that annual fee is justifiable if you visit Marriott properties often.

The $300 dining statement credit can bring this card's annual cost down to $350. It also has plenty of additional benefits, including the annual free night award. That can be used at some of the most expensive Marriott properties, including many that charge $500 to $1,000 per night. Assuming you can use its benefits, this card's value more than makes up for its annual fee. If you're not sure you can, you're better off checking out other credit card reviews.

Have a business? Then you should check out The Ascent's Marriott Bonvoy Business Credit Card review.

We recommend a FICO® Score of 670 or higher to apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. It generally takes a good or excellent credit score to get approved for this card.

As with any credit card application, your credit score isn't the only factor that matters. American Express reviews your credit history as well as your income when evaluating your application. You can get approved with a lower score or denied with a higher one.

GET THE CREDIT CARD YOU WANT: How to Increase Your Credit Score

You book stays at Marriott properties several times per year and want the card that will get you the most benefits there.

If you visit Marriott often, you're just about guaranteed to get your money's worth from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. It offers a spectacular list of features, rivaled only by the best credit cards. Not only can you save a substantial amount of money on your Marriott stays, but the complimentary perks can result in a better hotel experience

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.