My first Chase card was the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card. I got this card shortly after it was announced; I was excited at the prospect of a no annual fee travel card that also had no foreign transaction fees. This is the card that I product changed from in order to get my Ritz-Carlton Card. In the time since I first got that credit card back in 2019, a lot has changed (for me, for the card, and for the Marriott Bonvoy program).
This blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial advice. 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. The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.
Welcome offer
The Bonvoy Bold Card currently has a welcome offer of 30 000 bonus points after spending $1 000 in 3 months. When I got the card, the welcome offer was 50 000 bonus points with the same spend requirement. 30 000 Marriott points is worth around $210 and can these days only get maybe 1 free night at a lower-level Marriott hotel.
Earnings
The Bonvoy Bold card has a three-tiered earning structure like the Ritz-Carlton Card and earns Marriott Bonvoy award points. Marriott Bonvoy points are worth around 0.7 ¢/point on average these days, which is a reduction of over 10% since 2019. The card earns 3 points/$ on Marriott hotel stays (2.1%); 2 points/$ on a handful of specific categories (grocery stores, select food delivery, rideshare, select streaming and internet, cable and phone service purchases; 1.4%), as well as 1 point/$ (0.7%) on everything else. These earning rates are pretty bad compared to a lot of other no annual fee cards currently on offer.
Benefits
The main reason for getting this card over the Boundless card is to avoid having to pay an annual fee.
The benefits on this card have been reduced. Unlike the paid Marriott credit cards, this card provides only 5 elite night credits, which count towards earning both yearly and lifetime status.
Holding the Bonvoy Bold 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 14 points/$ on the Marriott room rate between the card and the Silver status bonus.
The card comes with some additional travel perks, such as primary rental car insurance coverages and trip/purchase protection. I actually used to use this card in place of the Amex Green Card for rental cars because of the better rental car insurance.
How to use the points
The best use of the card is, of course, on Marriott stays. 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 do still appreciate the Marriott Bonvoy program. 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.
The Bonvoy Bold specifically also allows you to redeem Marriott points to cover travel and Marriott purchases put on the card at a rate of 12,500 per $100. I feel like there’s some scenario in which you could find value from this option because 0.8 ¢/point is marginally better than the 0.7 ¢/point you can expect to get from using Marriott points on hotels, but it’s somewhat of an edge case in my opinion.
Examples of using the card
Spend per month
These examples exclude any credits that come with the card (not that any apply here).
| Example A | Example B | Example C | Example D | |||||
| Groceries (2x) | $300 | 600 | $200 | 400 | $600 | 1 200 | $400 | 800 |
| Gas (1x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 100 | $200 | 200 | $100 | 100 |
| Airfare (1x) | $700 | 700 | $200 | 200 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 400 |
| Hotels (3x or 1x) | $1 000 | 3 000 | $200 | 600 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 900 |
| Gen Travel (1x) | $400 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 300 | $100 | 100 |
| Dining (1x) | $600 | 600 | $300 | 300 | $300 | 300 | $0 | 0 |
| General (1x) | $1 000 | 1 000 | $500 | 500 | $500 | 500 | $400 | 400 |
| Total | $4 000 | 6 300 | $1 500 | 2 100 | $1 700 | 2 500 | $1 700 | 2 700 |
| Average points/$ | 1.58 | 1.4 | 1.47 | 1.59 |
The Bonvoy Bold’s very specific bonus categories mean that its range of points is relatively small compared to some other cards. These bonus categories also specifically do not include major spending categories beyond groceries. At the same time, since Marriott Bonvoy points are not a high value points currency, the actual cash equivalent is similarly low. Specifically, the range is 1.4 – 1.59 points/$, which is worth 1.0 – 1.11 ¢/$, given the average valuation of 0.7 ¢/point for Marriott Bonvoy points.
Specific examples
| Card | American Airlines Economy Class ($750) (% return) | Marriott Hotel night ($230/night) | Points values (AA/Hotel) |
| No rewards card | 3 500 AA miles (7%) | 2 000 MP (6.1%) | $52.50 / $14.00 |
| General 2% cashback card | 3 500 AA miles + $15 (9%) | 2 000 MP + $4.60 (8.1%) | $67.50 / $18.60 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 3 500 AA miles + 1 500 UR points (10%) | 2 000 MP + 460 UR points (9.1%) | $75.00 / $20.90 |
| Marriott Bonvoy Bold | 3 500 AA miles + 750 Marriott points (7.7%) | 2 890 Marriott points (8.8%) | $58.00 / $20.24 |
These point earnings include the fact that the Bonvoy Bold provides you with Marriott Silver status, which confers 10% bonus points on Marriott stays.
Is this credit card right for you?
I really don’t think this card is worth getting any more. Previously, it made some sense when it had broader spend categories and more elite night credits. They’ve clearly watered down the benefits of this card in the hopes of pushing you to one of the many paid Marriott Bonvoy cards, such as the Boundless card. Realistically, if you stay at Marriott hotels frequently enough to justify having one of their credit cards, it’s my opinion that the Boundless is worth it because it comes with a free night award each year that’s easy to get at least $95 of value from. Stay tuned for the updated review on that card!
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