Hotel Rewards for Business Owners: Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

Kris Majaski — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 18:50:07 +0000

Editor's note: This offer is currently unavailable.

The Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card provides the rewards program that American Express and Marriott are well-known for, along with some great hotel perks for more comfortable stays. If you are a small business owner and fan of Marriott properties, this card can become a valuable tool for your business. (See also: The 5 Best Credit Cards for Small Businesses)

How This Card Works

Earn 6x points for every dollar of eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. Also earn 4x points at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and on U.S. purchases for shipping. Earn 2x points for all other eligible purchases.

Bonus Offer: Earn 75,000 bonus points after you use your card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. (See also: 5 Best Credit Cards with Sign-Up Bonuses for Hotel Stays)

Redeem your points for award nights at Marriott Bonvoy properties. You can also transfer points to over 40 airline programs such as Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Japan Airlines. (See also: 5 Best Credit Cards that Transfer Points to Airline Miles)

Terms apply.

Other Benefits

Elite status. Enjoy complimentary Silver Elite status with your card.

Free Night Award. Each year after your card account anniversary, you get one free night award (redemption level at or under 35,000 points) at a participating hotel. You can earn an additional free night award after you spend $60,000 in purchases with your card in a calendar year. Select hotels have resort fees.

Extended warranty. The purchases you make with your card are eligible for extended warranty which extends original manufacturer's warranties that are one to five years, for up to two additional years.

Purchase Protection. Purchases on the card are also protected up to 120 days against theft and damage.

Spend Manager^SM. Manage your credit card expenses by adding receipts and notes to your transactions via desktop or your mobile device.

Costs

The annual fee is $125.

Considerations

Annual fee. Many cardholders won't be able to justify the annual fee in the years after. It is crucial that you examine your business spending and how frequently you stay in Mariott Hotels to determine if you will earn enough points and take advantage of enough of the benefits for the annual fee to be worth paying. There are business cards that offer rewards on purchases without charging an annual fee. (See also: The 5 Best Credit Cards with No Annual Fees)

Who This Card Is Best For

Because of the many hotel and business benefits, the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card is ideal for small business owners who frequently travel and stay in Marriott Hotels. It is also best for those who spend and earn enough to cover the annual fee after the first free year.

Terms apply.

This article is from Kris Majaski of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Best of Personal Finance: Credit Where Credit Is Due Edition

Andrea Karim — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:40:29 +0000

Welcome to this weeks Best of Personal Finance round-up!

Ah, credit. What would we do without it, besides live simpler lives with smaller televisions?

We here at Wise Bread are fans of Credit Karma, and we're not alone. Frugal Babe gives the free credit score service a try, and reports her findings.

Believe it or not, the US government is fighting overdraft fees by reforming some banking legislation that you've never heard of (OK, that I've never heard of). And Uncle Sam is soliciting your feedback on the matter, reports Alpha Consumer.

You might think that only people with lousy finances get their credit limit slashed, but even financially well-off people are finding that credit card companies are willing to take away their credit limits, as Wallet Pop notes.

Five Cent Nickel is asked if one should pay off debt or save for retirement first.

WSJ blog The Wallet reports that Bank of America is taking over the Upromise credit card (the credit card that supposedly helps parents help save money for their children's college tuition) from Citigroup, and may lift the cash back limits on the card.

Even if you have credit cards with zero balance that you aren't using, you don't want to close the accounts, and Money Under Thirty is here to tell you why.

Then again, Ask Mr. Credit Card says that your credit score will probably recover if you simply hate the thought of having old, unused accounts lying around.

The Simple Dollar explains why taking out a low-interest car loan may be a better idea that paying all of the money upfront in one huge chunk.

One of the few good things about AmEx (and other major credit card companies) is their chargeback (refund) policies, which tend to favor the consumer. Consumerist writes about a woman who submitting a chargeback for 10k that she spent to secure a spot at the Presidential inaguration in January, which she never got to see.

Rich Credit Debt Loan discusses how to establish credit, assuming that you are one of the few people left in the world without a line of credit (or a young adult, just starting out in a world of owing).

Breaking the credit card habit can be hard, but No Credit Needed was up to the challenge.

Dough Roller looks at Kevin Trudeau's Debt Cures and finds them lacking.

What do you do if your credit report shows a delinquent account that you never opened and you can't get the collections agency to talk to you? Readers respond at Free Money Finance.

And although this is not related to credit cards, it is a blog post simply too awesome to pass up: Trent at The Simple Dollar offers honest-to-goodness productivity tips that really work. For him, anyway. See if they work for you.

If you have a suggestion for the next edition, please share them in the forum!

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: