Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card

I’ve previously written about Chase’s Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card and The Ritz-Carlton Card, which have a $0 and a $450 annual fee, respectively.  Chase has a third Marriott credit card: the Bonvoy Boundless card.  The Bonvoy Boundless card sits between these cards and has a $95 annual fee.  This card can be directly applied for, unlike The Ritz-Carlton Card. 

I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  All information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome offer

The Bonvoy Boundless Card currently has a welcome offer of 3 Free Night Awards (worth 50 000 points each) after spending $2 000 in 3 months.  This welcome offer is the equivalent of 150 000 Marriott points (but slightly less flexible).  These points have a value of around $1 200 ($400/night).  For me, given that I don’t usually stay in hotel rooms that cost $400+ per night, the Free Night Awards are less valuable than 150 000 Marriott points would be, so I’d actually peg this welcome offer at more like $750 – 900 in value.

Earnings

The Bonvoy Boundless card has a three-tiered earning structure like the Bold Card and The Ritz-Carlton Card and earns Marriott Bonvoy award points.  Marriott Bonvoy points are worth around 0.8 ¢/point on average, but Marriott has recently transitioned to dynamic pricing, so this redemption rate average may decrease in the medium term.  The card earns 6 points/$ on Marriott hotel stays (4.8%); 3 points/$ on up to $6 000 of spending at grocery stores, at gas stations, and on dining (2.4%), as well as 2 points/$ (1.6%) on everything else.  The 3 points/$ category was added at the beginning of this year and is a welcome addition; however, it’s not the most exciting bonus amount or category, especially since it caps out at $500/month.

These earning rates are not amazing for a card with a $95 annual, but they are workable if you value Marriott points.  Marriott points can also be transferred to >40 airline partners, which is quite impressive.  The points transfer, in most cases, at a rate of 3 Marriott points to 1 airline mile.  Marriott also gives a 5 000-mile bonus if 60 000 Marriott points are transferred (for a rate of 2.4:1), which can make sense in certain scenarios.  The potential flexibility of Marriott points is one of the reasons I actively collect Marriott Points.  Ironically, with Marriott having recently removed their award chart and switching to dynamic pricing, transferring points to miles may become a more attractive option in some scenarios.

Benefits

The main reason for getting this card over the Bold card is to get the Free Night Award (which is worth 35 000 points).  The main reason to opt for this card over The Ritz-Carlton Card is to avoid the higher annual fee (but this card lacks all the other perks of The Ritz-Carlton Card) 

Like all Marriott credit cards, the card provides 15 elite night credits, which count towards earning both yearly and lifetime status.  Holding the Bonvoy Boundless Card guarantees you Marriott Silver status, which doesn’t have a lot of benefits, but that’s to be expected with entry-level status.  With Silver status, you’d actually earn a total of 17 points/$ on the Marriott room rate between the card and the Silver status bonus. You can also upgrade to Gold status by spending $35 000 on this card in a calendar year. 

The card comes with some additional travel perks, such as primary rental car insurance coverages and trip/purchase protection. 

Examples of using the card

Spend per month

These examples exclude any credits that come with the card.  For example, the Airfare budget excludes the $300 airfare credit offered by The Ritz-Carlton card to help offset the annual fee.

	Example A		Example B		Example C		Example D
Groceries (2 or 3x)	$300	600	$200	600	$600	1 200	$400	1 200
Gas (2x or 3x)	$0	0	$100	200	$200	600	$100	300
Airfare (2x)	$700	1 400	$200	400	$0	0	$400	800
Hotels (6x or 2x)	$1 000	6 000	$200	1 200	$0	0	$300	1 800
Gen Travel (2x)	$400	800	$0	0	$300	600	$100	200
Dining (2 or 3x)	$600	1 700	$300	900	$300	900	$0	0
General (2x)	$1 000	2 000	$500	1 000	$500	1 000	$400	800
Total	$4 000	12 500	$1 500	4 300	$1 700	4 300	$1 700	5 100
Average points/$		3.13		2.53		2.53		3

The Bonvoy Boundless’ bonus categories are not particularly broad, but a 2x points (1.6%) on general spending without a foreign transaction fee isn’t a bad deal.  It (just) beats out comparable cards like the Amex Gold and Chase Sapphire Preferred, which earn 1x point (1.5%) on general spending. The best points values come from spending at Marriott Hotels, which is to be expected from a co-branded Marriott credit card.  As a result, the average points earned is broad, compared to a simpler and more general card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but the new 3x points category helps balance out the ranges somewhat.  The range is 2.53 – 3.13 points/$, which is worth 2.0 – 2.5 ¢/$, given the average valuation of 0.8 ¢/point for Marriott Bonvoy points.

Specific examples

Card	World Traveller ($750)  (% return)	Marriott Hotel night ($230/night)	Points values (WT/Hotel)
No rewards card	2 728 (4.9%)	2 000 MP (7.3%)	$37.10 / $16.00
General 1% cashback card	2 728 + $7.50 (5.9%)	2 000 MP + $2.30 (8.3%)	$44.60 / $18.30
Chase Sapphire Preferred	2 728 Avios + 1 500 UR (7.9%)	2 000 MP + 460 UR (9.3%)	$59.60 / $22.90
Bonvoy Boundless Card	2 728 Avios + 1 500 MP (6.5%)	3 880 MP (13.5%)	$49.10 / $31.04
Bonvoy Bold Card	2 728 Avios + 1 500 MP (6.5%)	2 890 MP (10.1%)	$49.10 / $23.12
UK Marriott Amex card	2 728 Avios + 1 112 MP (6.1%)	3 220 MP (11.2%)	$46.18 / $25.76

These examples include the fact that the Bonvoy Boundless Card gives free Marriott Silver Status, like the Bonvoy Bold and UK Marriott Card.

Is this credit card right for you?

This card is best for people that value the Marriott perks and are willing to prepay for a free hotel night. The card isn’t the most exciting card, but it’s definitely a good entry-level card into the Marriott eco-system and rewards cards in general.  If you don’t stay at Marriott hotels, it’s unlikely you will get substantial value out of the card’s (short) benefit list.  It’s a pretty good option though if you just want the free night award because 35 000 points should be able to get you a hotel room that costs more than $95.