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Chase Updates Marriott Bonvoy Bold Co-Branded Credit Card
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Chase and Marriott Bonvoy have revealed updates to one of their co-branded offerings — alongside a best-ever welcome bonus for the card.
About the updated card:
The no-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card has received a fresh update.
First, the card will gain a variety of new rewards categories. Bonvoy Bold cardholders can now earn 2x points at grocery stores, 2x on rideshare services, 2x on select food delivery, 2x on select streaming services, and 2x on internet/cable/phone services. However, the card will no longer earn 2x points on generic travel purchases as it previously did.
These new rewards categories join the ongoing 3x points per $1 spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels category. When combined with the 10x points that Marriott Bonvoy members earn and the additional 1x that Silver Elite members receive, this means that cardholders can earn up to 14x points per dollar spent at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties. Additionally, the card will continue to earn 1x points on all other purchases.
Another change involves Bonvoy status and Elite Nights. Previously, cardholders would be credited with 15 Elite Nights, which was enough to qualify them for Silver Elite status. Now, cardholders will earn 5 Elite Night Credits per calendar year, but will also enjoy automatic Silver Elite Status.
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Lastly, the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card is gaining a new feature called Travel Now, Pay Later. With this option, cardholders who make purchases directly with airlines or participating Marriott Bonvoy properties will have the ability to break up these purchases into equal monthly payments with no interest or plan fees. This Travel Now, Pay Later feature will be available for purchases between $100 and $5,000 — but it is not guaranteed that all cardholders will have access.
In celebration of the update, Chase is also offering its best-ever welcome bonus for the card. Currently, new Marriott Bonvoy Bold cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus points and one Free Night Award (for up to 50,000) points after spending $2,000 on the card within their first three months. For context, the most recent offer for the card prior to this was 30,000 bonus points after $1,000 spent.
My thoughts:
These updates to the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card are pretty interesting in a few ways — starting with the swap from the card earning 15 Elite Nights to earning automatic Silver Elite status. While this adjustment won’t impact customers who are content to just stay at the Silver level, it will affect those striving to reach higher status. For example, previously, those who had the Bold card could reach Gold Elite status with 10 additional qualifying nights. Now, they’d need to stay 20 qualifying nights to make it to Gold since the included Elite Nights have been lowered to 5.
The other intriguing part is the bevy (oh wait, that’s a different card) of new rewards categories. Even if none of these new categories are exceptional, I still think it’s a nice trade-off for the former travel category.
Overall, though, the most exciting part of this refresh is the welcome bonus. For a no-annual-fee card, if you have any interest in Marriott Bonvoy, it might be worth taking advantage of this elevated offer while it lasts. Other than that, I’m not sure that these changes will really make much of a difference for most current or prospective cardholders.
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