The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card by Chase is the mid-level Marriott Bonvoy card available to new applicants. Marriott points are useful because of the variety of hotels available in the Bonvoy program in addition to the other ways you can redeem your points with their travel partners.
Sign Up Bonus
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card currently has two sign-up offers. We have a referral link for an offer of three free night certificates at a Marriott hotel costing 50,000 points a night, or less if you spend $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months after opening your account.
If you’re interested in this offer, here’s our link (we receive a referral bonus if you sign up and are approved for the card)
There are some truly confusing rules to sign up for the Marriott Bonvoy cards since there are cards available from both Chase and American Express. First things first. This card, like most Chase cards, is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule. This means if you’ve applied for 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months, Chase will not approve you for a new card. The Bonvoy cards have their own set of additional rules for new applications.
Read the “Offer Details” for the sign-up bonus before applying. There’s also a great description along with a graph of the Marriott Bonvoy cards on Frequent Miler.
Annual Fee
This card has a $95 annual fee.
Bonus Spending Categories
When spending on the card, you earn points in the Marriott Bonvoy program as follows:
- Earn 6 points for every dollar of eligible purchases at participating Marriott Hotels
- Earn 3 points for every dollar on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on gas stations, grocery stores, and dining
- Earn 2 points for all other eligible purchases
Card Benefits
Let’s look at what benefits you get with Marriott for having the card:
- Free in-room premium internet (when booking directly through Marriott)
- Automatic Silver Elite Status. Ability to earn Gold Elite status if you spend $35,000 or more in eligible purchases in a calendar year
- Receive 15 Elite Night Credits to be used to reach the next level of status. This can currently be stacked with the 15-night credits from a Marriott Bonvoy Business card for automatic Gold status and a jump towards Platinum.
- Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card account anniversary. The award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 points) at a participating hotel. Select hotels have resort fees.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
Ways to Use Bonvoy Points
Points earned with the Bonvoy Boundless card can be used to stay at Marriott properties. In addition, you’re able to transfer points to many different Airline Frequent Flyer programs (possibly with a bonus, depending on how many points you transfer). That’s not counting the additional options of Marriott Bonvoy Moments (which I will explain later in this post).
Hotel Stays
Points can be used for award stays at any of the Marriott hotels. They cover 30 chains worldwide where you can spend your points:
- EDITION
- The Ritz-Carlton
- The Luxury Collection
- St. Regis
- W Hotels
- JW Marriott
- Marriott Hotels
- Sheraton
- Marriott Vacation Club
- Delta Hotels
- Westin
- Le Meriden
- Renaissance Hotels
- Autograph Collection
- Tribute Portfolio
- Design Hotels
- Gaylord Hotels
- Courtyard Hotels
- Four Points
- SpringHill Suites
- Fairfield Inn & Suites
- AC Hotels
- Aloft Hotels
- Moxy Hotels
- Protea Hotels
- City Express by Marriott
- Homes & Villas
- Residence Inn
- TownePlace Suites
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- element
Marriott Bonvoy has some incredible properties like the ones we’ve visited in Austria, Germany and England.
Flights
You can transfer points to the frequent flyer programs of 39 different airlines. The transfer ratio is 3 points to 1 mile for most airlines and you get a bonus of 5,000 extra miles when you transfer 60,000 points. That means it’s best to transfer only in 60,000-point increments when your 60,000 points give you 25,000 miles. The 5,000-mile bonus does not apply to American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, Delta SkyMiles and Korean Air SKYPASS. On the other hand, you’ll get 10,000 bonus points when sending 60,000 points to United.
| Frequent Flyer Programs | Points to Miles |
|---|---|
| AEGEAN Miles+Bonus | 3:1 |
| Aer Lingus AerClub | 3:1 |
| Aeromexico ClubPremier | 3:1 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 3:1 |
| Air China PhoenixMiles | 3:1 |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 3:1 |
| Air New Zealand AirPoint | 200:1 |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ | 3:1 |
| American Airlines AAdvantage®** | 3:1 |
| ANA Mileage Club | 3:1 |
| Asiana Airlines Asiana Club | 3:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles** | 3:1 |
| British Airways Executive Club | 3:1 |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3:1 |
| China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club | 3:1 |
| Copa Airlines ConnectMiles | 3:1 |
| Delta SkyMiles®** | 3:1 |
| Emirates Skywards® | 3:1 |
| Etihad Guest | 3:1 |
| FRONTIER Miles | 3:1 |
| Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club | 3:1 |
| Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles® | 3:1 |
| Iberia Plus | 3:1 |
| InterMiles | 3:1 |
| Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank | 3:1 |
| Korean Air SKYPASS** | 3:1 |
| LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass | 3:1 |
| Multiplus Fidelidade LATAM Pass | 3:1 |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 3:1 |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 3:1 |
| Saudia Alfursan | 3:1 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer® | 3:1 |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards® | 3:1 |
| TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go | 3:1 |
| Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 3:1 |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 3:1 |
| United MileagePlus® | 3:1 |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 3:1 |
| Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer | 3:1 |
| Vueling Club | 3:1 |
Other Uses For Bonvoy Points
There are also other exciting ways for you to spend your points. One of those is the Marriott Bonvoy Moments program. They offer dinners, concerts and sporting event tickets, often from a VIP suite.
Final Thoughts
As far as how to use your points, for years I hoarded Starwood and then Marriott points I earned with this card. I always felt there would be some exotic destination I would want to travel to and I would transfer points to an airline for the fancy seats. With limited vacation time, I realized I had enough points and it was time to start spending my points. Luckily, I’ve found that using points for hotel stays can be a great value. I wish we could stay somewhere for 5 nights more often so I could take advantage of the fifth night free on reward stays as I did at the Sheraton New York and the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London.
One of the most common uses of this perk was to stay for five nights at the Swan or Dolphin hotels at Walt Disney World with points for the price of four nights.
I value Marriott Bonvoy points at .667 cents per point but I’ll still save points for the times I can get 1 cent per point value. I sometimes can find redemptions worth much more than that, like when I managed to get 2.25 cents per point value booking a room at the Residence Inn in New York over Thanksgiving weekend.
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