EDIT May 2022: There’s a new offer on this card for 50,000 Bonvoy points after spending $1,500 in the first 3 months. Plus, there’s still $60 cash back bonus with Great Canadian Rebates!
For Canadians who want a free Marriott hotel stay, look no further than the Marriot Bonvoy American Express credit card. This card allows you to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on your purchases, and offers a free hotel night certificate after the first year!
Now is a great time to apply for the card as it’s offering a welcome bonus of 65,000 Bonvoy points + a $100 statement credit after spending $1,500 in the first 3 months if you apply before May 10, 2022.
Plus, the cash back website, Great Canadian Rebates (GCR) is offering a cash back bonus of $60 if you’re approved for the Marriott Bonvoy Amex card!
Now, let’s go through the details of the card and how to apply via GCR.
Marriott Bonvoy American Express card
The Marriott Bonvoy Amex card is one of two credit cards in Canada associated with the Marriott hotel chain, which covers over 7,000 properties in 131 countries worldwide. Marriott Bonvoy is their reward program that allows members to earn points through hotel stays, car rentals and credit card spending.
Plus, it’s free to join the Marriott Bonvoy program and become a member.
The card does have an annual fee of $120. But you can offset this cost by applying for this credit card through Great Canadian Rebates to earn a $60 cash bonus! Also, you can earn a $100 statement credit which, combined with the $60 cash back from GCR, more than covers the annual fee in the first year.
Here are some of the perks of applying for this card.
Multiple free hotel nights with the welcome bonus of 65,000 points
The Marriott Bonvoy Amex card is offering a generous welcome bonus of 65,000 Bonvoy points (instead of 50,000 points) + a $100 statement credit after spending $1,500 in the first three months.
Now what could you do with those 65 000 points? Well to start, you could redeem them for a free hotel night with Marriott. The Marriott Bonvoy redemption chart is based on 8 categories with off-peak, standard and peak pricing.
Each Marriott hotel is assigned to a particular category. So, the number of points required for a free hotel night will vary depending on occupancy and the time of year.
Here is the Marriott Bonvoy hotel redemption chart.
Thus, you could obtain multiple free hotel nights with this 65,000 credit card bonus right away! The exact number of nights will depend mostly on the hotel category and your travel dates.
For example, the TownePlace Suites hotel in Petawawa, Ontario is a category 1 hotel (one of the few in Eastern Canada). If you book this hotel on off-peak dates, it would only cost a remarkably low 5,000 points!
Add in Marriott’s 5th night free benefit and you could stay for 5 nights at this hotel for only 20,000 points! This is exactly what I did when I last stayed at this hotel in March 2021 so check out my full review of the TownePlace Suites Petawawa.
Sadly, Marriott Bonvoy will be eliminating their award chart as of March 29, 2022! Read more about Marriott’s upcoming award chart change.
Instead, Marriott will be introducing their new Flexible Point Redemption Rates, or dynamic award pricing. In this pricing model, the points rate reflects the underlying cash rate of the hotel. Thus, there will be no set guidance on the number of Bonvoy points required for a free night.
Free hotel night certificate every year
Another reason to get (and keep) this card, is the free hotel night certificate that’s awarded every year (starting after your first card year)! This certificate is worth up to 35,000 points, meaning that you can only redeem it at category 5 (off-peak and standard rate) or lower category hotels.
It’s deposited into your Marriott account about 8-10 weeks after you renew and pay the card’s annual fee of $120.
To maximize the value of your certificate, you would ideally want to redeem it for a hotel that costs more than $120/night to come out ahead.
So, if you plan on staying at a Marriott hotel at least once a year, this card is definitely worth keeping!
Other benefits of the card
With the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card, you earn Bonvoy points according to the following rates:
- 5 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 in eligible purchases at Marriott properties
- 2 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 in other purchases.
Plus, with this card, you’re awarded Marriott Bonvoy “Silver Elite Status” which has the following benefits:
- Priority late checkout (based on availability)
- Member rates & free WiFi
- 10% bonus points for each eligible stay
Also, you’ll receive 15 elite night credits each calendar year with this card. These can be used towards attaining the next level of Elite status in the Marriott Bonvoy program. For example, you need 25 nights to reach Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.
Or, you could reach Gold Elite status by spending $30,000 on the card each year. Gold Elite status offers 25% bonus points on stays, enhanced room upgrade & 2pm late checkout (based on availability).
Again, to join Marriott Bonvoy, you can click HERE to sign up.
Now remember that mention about getting cash back for this card?
Bonus $60 when you apply through Great Canadian Rebates
Here’s where the interesting cash bonus comes in. If you apply for this card through Great Canadian Rebates, you could earn a $60 bonus!!!
What’s Great Canadian Rebates (GCR) you ask? For those unfamiliar, it’s a website that offers cash back rebates on almost every online purchase with select Canadian merchants. This includes stores such as: Sport Chek, Amazon.ca, Home Depot and many more. The cash back rate will vary between 1% to 8% with the average being 4% for most vendors; but they also provide cash back when you apply to certain financial products (such as $60 for the Marriott Bonvoy Amex credit card).
Interested in getting this offer? Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Sign up for Great Canadian rebates through this link, or login if you already have an account.
- Choose your cash back method such as Paypal, egift card, or a cheque sent to your home. My preference is to be paid by Paypal and then deposit the funds directly into my bank account.
- Type “Marriott Bonvoy” in the search bar to find this offer or look under Categories > Credit Cards & Finance and scroll down to find it.
- Click on the link to apply which will open in a new browser tab.
- Proceed with the Amex application by providing your personal information like address, date of birth, employer and income. Also, don’t forget to include your Marriott Bonvoy membership number!
*Important Note* applying for this credit card will result in hard inquiry by Amex on your credit report.
Once you’re approved, GCR will keep track of your application and send the cash back about 2-3 months later, (usually by the 28th of the month). To help you out, you can refer to the following schedule.
Next, Amex will send out your credit card usually within 1-2 weeks.
Once your card arrives, don’t forget to spend $1,500 in the first 3 months to unlock the bonus of 65,000 Bonvoy points and the $100 statement credit.
Summary
The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is a fantastic hotel credit card to have to earn Bonvoy points! Apply before May 10, 2022 to be eligible for the welcome bonus offer of 65,000 Marriott Bonvoy points + $100 statement credit. Plus, it offers a yearly free hotel night certificate, Marriott Silver Elite status and 15 Elite nights every year.
For those that don’t have the card, consider applying through Great Canadian Rebates to get a bonus of $60 cash back!
Do you plan on applying or already have the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card? Let me know in the comments below.
Disclosure: American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, please visit the American Express website.
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