A secret tip for Marriott Bonvoy American Express cardholders

The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is a good niche product with one stand-out feature – holding it earns you 15 elite nights in Marriott Bonvoy each year, credited to your account in early January.

This means that Platinum, the key status level to have because it unlocks lounge access, decent upgrades and guaranteed 4pm check-out, only needs 35 nights in a year instead of 50.

There is one additional core benefit which I wasn’t fully exploiting until a reader tipped me off.

As regular readers will know, Marriott Bonvoy runs regular cashback deals with American Express, usually twice per year.

The current version gets you £100 cashback when you spend £400 at selected UK / European Marriott Bonvoy hotels by 31st December. Cumulative spend counts.

If you have a Gold, Platinum or British Airways American Express card, you are likely to have this offer available for registration via the app or Amex website.

Marriott Bonvoy Amex cardholders get a better deal

Marriot has always ensured that holders of the dedicated Marriott Amex card got a better deal.

At present, cardholders are offered £75 cashback when you spend £200 at the same list of participating hotels.

£200 is obviously easier to spend than £400, even if the total cashback is a little lower.

But what I didn’t know ….

What I didn’t know, until TGLoyalty pointed this out in our comments, is that supplementary cardholders on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card get the same deal.

This is very attractive, and makes the £95 annual fee on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card even easier to justify.

Not wanting to miss out on £75, I put this to the test and applied for a supplementary card for my wife.

At present, American Express is offering 3,000 Bonvoy points if you add a supplementary cardholder to your Marriott Bonvoy card. You must apply via this link.

The process worked fine and I had received my 3,000 bonus points by the time I received the card in the post.

I registered my wife’s card online and waited. It takes a while for cashback offers to appear on new American Express cards, often a couple of weeks. I made a single test purchase with it just so Amex knew it was active.

And then, this popped up:

The first, and so far only, cashback offer on my wife’s new Marriott Bonvoy American Express supplementary card is the ‘£75 back when you spend £200 with Marriott’ offer.

We should hopefully have no problem claiming this before the offer ends on 31st December.

Remember that hotels have no problem splitting bills at check-out amongst multiple credit cards. If you and your partner both had this offer and spent £400 on a Marriott stay, you could each pay £200 on your respective cards and get the cashback twice.

So, in summary:

• if you have the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card, it is a no-brainer to issue a free supplementary card to your partner – you get 3,000 points for doing so and you will double-up on any Marriott cashback deals

• if you DON’T have the card, you may be more tempted now you know that you will be able to double-up on Marriott cashback credits via a supplementary card – although, of course, there is no guarantee that these offers continue to run in 2025

If you want to learn more about the key benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card, take a look at this article.

Our full review of the card is here and you can apply here.

The representative APR is 54.1% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 30.4% variable.

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How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.