Should you get the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card for Gold Elite status?

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• Alan says:

  25 Apr25 April 07:36

  One of the weakest benefits around, have it via Amex Plat but it never really encourages me to stay at Marriott properties, which I find are generally pricier than Hilton/IHG (normally for no discernable reason!).

• WaynedP says:

  25 Apr25 April 09:39

  Checked in at Bristol Marriott Royal yesterday for 2 nights as a Gold (via Amex Plat card) and booked lowest category room + bfast for cash.

  Despite wedding party preparations in full swing on arrival, staff were proactive enough to add a third check-in person on noticing queue growing, which I always appreciate.

  No explicit mention of status, other than to ask if we would be using our 4pm checkout benefit. But noted we were returning guests.

  Subtle Upgrade received on a higher floor (which we usually get anyway from our profile preferences) to a room that comes with bathrobes & slippers and a pleasant view of the canal. Would have been happy with base room actually paid for so am perfectly happy with modest upgrade (about £20 pn difference in advertised price) although it’s noticeably not the Royal Wing Superior room we paid for on our previous visit.

  Have committed to Marriott loyalty scheme and Will earn Platinum Status within the next month from several bookings on our forthcoming SA trip (thanks to 15 night MB card award + double night promotion ending 4 May) so could have some interesting experience of status recognition to report on in future.

• John T says:

  25 Apr25 April 11:07

  Bonvoy Gold is a weak status – don’t expect much.

• iEimis says:

  25 Apr25 April 11:20

  Unrelated but there’s a new offer for £100 off £400 spend and £50 off £200 spend on my BAPP Amex card. Might be useful for some!

  • Rob says:

    25 Apr25 April 12:59

    Bonvoy Amex cardholders get £75 back on £200!

    • iEimis says:

      25 Apr25 April 13:13

      I have both offers on my BAPP Amex (£50 and £100), if I spend £400 hypothetically, would both of these count?

      • Rob says:

        25 Apr25 April 14:04

        Only if the same hotel was on both lists, which it won’t be.

        • Axel Heyst says:

          25 Apr25 April 20:19

          Very very restricted list

• numpty says:

  25 Apr25 April 12:40

  From recent stay at Westin i would say Gold status has no value, stayed in a club room suite (club rooms started on the 25th floor), was given a key card with a card telling me i had an upgrade, when asked what it was was told it was a higher floor. Well club rooms start on the 25th floor, so zero upgrade. As others have mentioned, made me realise IHG Spire status isnt that bad. I’ll avoid Marriott in the future whenever possible.

• rob keane says:

  25 Apr25 April 12:44

  “bonvoy wanted that in”

  So basically this, on the face of it editorial piece, that apparently was drawing on the experience of the writer to inform the readers as to whether gold status was on its own enough to warrant getting the bonvey card, was actually an advert.

  Unsurprising then that the “subject to availability” was missing from the room upgrade benefit. I guess they wanted that out.

  • Rob says:

    25 Apr25 April 12:57

    It’s a sponsored article, it makes it clear at the top. Marriott picked which hotels went in.

    As we repeat ad nauseum, the running costs of HfP are around £125k per year, and that’s with me earning £0. There is no magic fairy land where people come to work for us for free, despite their mortgages, childcare costs etc, just for the love of it.

    • rob keane says:

      26 Apr26 April 16:41

      Given that other Hfp ancillary articles in the past have stated that bonvoy Gold is not really valuable as many so called benefits are rarely “available”, there is a clear different emphasis on the benefits in this article.

      Its getting more and more difficult for the casual reader to know what is fact and what has been tweaked to keep those that pay happy.

      • Rhys says:

        26 Apr26 April 17:04

        No, it’s not. It says it’s an ad at the top!

        We’ve done things like this for years. Literally nothing has changed.

      • Cranzle says:

        27 Apr27 April 02:19

        Maybe your more casual and less of a reader?

        • Cranzle says:

          27 Apr27 April 02:19

          You’re*

• Edwin says:

  25 Apr25 April 16:09

  The gold status is NOT better than nothing

• Harrier25 says:

  25 Apr25 April 19:21

  Not a fan of Marriott Bovey reward scheme. Doesn’t really excite like the Hilton scheme and their Amex card certainly doesn’t achieve anywhere near the hotel benefits I currently receive from the Hilton Barclaycard. They also don’t seem to have the same amount of hotels in the areas we visit as Hilton and IHG do, although I can’t really 100% guarantee that this is a true fact because Marriott Bovey hotels are never included in my search.

  • Ian says:

    25 Apr25 April 20:02

    Hardly any hotel benefits with the Hilton Barclaycard. Unless I am missing something!

    • Harrier25 says:

      25 Apr25 April 20:44

      You are missing Gold status with just an annual £10,000 spent on the card which results in guaranteed free breakfast, the occasional upgrade and occasional lounge pass access. So yes, you are clearly missing something!

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