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Elite Status Perks and Travel Coverages Can Make The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Worth It

  • Jason Stauffer

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    INSIDER SECRET: You can transfer Marriott points to 40+ airlines and for every 60,000 points you convert you’ll get 15,000 bonus Marriott points added to the transfer. 

    Having a few cards with no annual fees can be a smart move because they’re free to keep long-term and that can increase the age of your accounts, which helps your credit score.

    But deciding which no-annual-fee cards to get isn’t always straightforward, especially for Chase cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card, because of the Chase 5/24 rule. The 5/24 rule is a restriction that says you won’t be approved for a new Chase card if you’ve open five or more credit cards from any bank in the past 24 months (although business cards from certain banks won’t add to your 5/24 count).

    So is the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold worth it when you consider this rule?

    Marriott has 6,700+ hotels worldwide, including upscale JW Marriott hotels, but are all these options enough to make the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold worth it?(Photo courtesy of Marriott)

    Is the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card Worth It?

    Apply Here: Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card

    Read our review of the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card

    The Marriott Bonvoy Bold comes with 30,000 Marriott points after completing the minimum spend of $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening your account.

    The card also earns:

    The Marriott Bonvoy Bold has ongoing benefits that make it worth keeping and these perks are especially great when you consider that you won’t have to pay a yearly annual fee to take advantage of them.

    Head Start on Marriott Elite Status

    The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold card also comes with 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year, which is enough for Silver Marriott Bonvoy elite status. Silver elite status gets you perks like 10% bonus points on eligible Marriott hotel purchases and late checkout (when available).

    It’s not much and by itself doesn’t make the card a keeper, but you can earn Marriott Gold status after 25 nights and Marriott Platinum at 50 nights. Platinum status is the sweet spot when it comes to Marriott elite status perks. With it you’ll get 50% bonus on on eligible Marriott purchases, upgrades (including suites, when available), lounge access (if there is one) and free breakfast at most Marriott hotels.

    Each year you keep the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold you’ll only need to earn 35 elite night credits to qualify for Marriott Platinum status. You don’t have to be a road warrior to achieve that, especially when you consider that there are often Marriott promotions which allow you to earn double elite-night credits.

    Solid Travel Insurance and Coverages for a No Annual Fee Card

    In the past, I’ve taken advantage of the trip-delay coverage that comes with my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Ink Business Preferred Credit Card to get reimbursed for hundreds of dollars in expenses I incurred as a result of flight delays. 

    The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold card has the exact same trip-delay coverage as those two cards — you can be reimbursed up to $500 per person for reasonable expenses (transportation, lodging, food) you incur when your trip is delayed overnight or 12+ hours. That’s a stellar benefit to have on a no-annual-fee card (both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred cards have $95 annual fees)

    The card also has lost and delayed baggage coverage and purchase protection.

    Is the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card Worth It For You?

    Even though the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card doesn’t have an annual fee, you might be better off opening a different Marriott credit card. For starters, each of these cards has a bigger intro bonus:

    Each of the Marriott annual-fee cards comes with an annual free-night certificate (valid at hotels costing between 35,000 and 50,000 points per night depending on the card).

    The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold also isn’t a good choice if you spend a lot at Marriott hotels. It only earns 3x points at participating Marriott hotels;  all the other Marriott cards earn 6x points at participating Marriott hotels.

    Bottom Line

    The Marriott Bonvoy Bold credit card is worth keeping because it doesn’t have an annual fee and it has solid travel coverages that normally are found on Chase cards that have an annual fee.

    But it is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so opening it might limit which Chase cards you’re eligible for in the future. And it’s also not the best card for earning Marriott points because it earns half as many points at participating Marriott hotels as other Marriott credit cards.

    For more information on how to earn and redeem Marriott points, check out these posts:

    For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

    For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business, click here.

    For the rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, please click here

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)