Bottom Line

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card is our pick for best Marriott co-branded card for the casual Marriott customer (someone who stays at Marriotts once or twice per year). The sign-up bonus is very good, with 100k points and a $150 statement credit. The $95 fee might not be worth the “free” night of 35,000 points. But it all depends on where you use that free night, as there is dynamic pricing at Marriott, so it really varies on where and when you stay to be able to get a room for that number of points. You also get complimentary Silver Elite Status with this card, which comes with its own host of benefits.

Why You Might Want This Card

You get a really nice welcome bonus of 100k points after spending $3000 in 3 months plus a $150 statement credit after your first purchase. If you aren’t chasing status with Marriott, then the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card is a nice card to get for the sign-up bonus alone. You may even want to keep it around for its free annual night’s stay (up to 35k points) and complimentary Silver Elite status. The annual fee is a reasonable $95 that could be worth it for the free night alone (but you may want to check reward redemption as Marriott is quite a bit higher than other hotel chains and has dynamic pricing).

Exceptions To The Rule

Here are some exceptions where the card might not be good for you:

• You want status and Silver Elite doesn’t offer the perks you're looking for.
• You want to stay in cities that don’t have much in the way of 35k point hotels, making your “free” night not completely free.

About Marriott Bonvoy

Bonvoy holds a unique place in this hobby. That’s because the points are a solid value for hotel reservations at the world's largest hotel chain AND Bonvoy points transfer to other point systems. In fact, Bonvoy has more transfer partners than Amex, Citi and Chase combined!!

This creates a unique situation, similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards points. There are nearly no flight or hotel situations that Bonvoy can’t solve. For this reason, we tend to use other hotel points (Hilton in particular) and save our Bonvoy points for unique situations, especially if you want to travel to any exotic locations.

The challenge is the value isn't great on transfers. We'll generally only use transfers for a points top off to buy a flight. Otherwise, we'll use our Bonvoy points for hotel rooms, especially in those hard to book places since Marriott has the most hotels globally.

Where Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Fits In This Point Ecosystem

We think the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card is the co-branded card to get if you’re just looking for some Marriott points without making a years-long commitment to the brand. The next step up, the Bevy and Bountiful, both have a $250 annual fee. They simply aren’t worth it, in our opinion. The Boundless gives a better welcome bonus than either of those. And while the “free” night perk each year is capped at 35k, the Bevy and Bountiful require you to spend $15k per year to earn their “free” night of 50k points! The Bold is a good, no-fee card if you’re just looking for points, but the extra 40k in sign-up bonus points and the $150 in statement credits you get with the Boundless make the $95 fee worth it, even if you end up just canceling the card after the first year. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card is the one that stands out among the five personal cards. Yes, it has a $650 annual fee, but for people who stay at Marriott often, the Platinum Elite Status that comes with it might be worth that fee, along with a free night (up to 85k points) and a host of other statement credits and benefits.

Personal Experience

This is going to be one of those cards you'll likely get for the sign-up bonus -- then cancel before the next $95 annual fee comes due. You'll get a couple of free nights at a Marriott brand hotel (if you play it right). Or you can even transfer your points to a few major airlines if you're short on points with that airline.