Marriott Bonvoy debit card welcome bonuses are boosted again, up to 40,000 points!

Marriott Bonvoy has boosted the welcome bonuses on both of its Currensea debit cards to the strongest levels we've ever seen. The Premium card now earns 40,000 points, the base card 15,000, and you've got until 15 September 2026 to apply.

We covered the cards in full at launch: how they work, how they link to your bank, how they compare to the Hilton Honors debit cards, and how to turn the points into Avios or Virgin Points. If any of that is new to you, start there and come back.

And if the whole concept of points debit cards is alien to you, then this post could help you understand their current popularity.

Why does this matter?

Marriott Bonvoy points are one of the more useful hotel point schemes available. You can spend them on free hotel nights across the Marriott brands, which is where they usually go furthest, or convert them into airline miles at 3:1 across roughly 40 programmes, including Avios and Virgin Points (full list here). A good perk to remember is that if you want to transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles, then Marriott will give you 5,000 extra airline miles on top, meaning 60,000 points becomes 25,000 airline miles.

First things first

To earn the bonus on these cards, you must hit the spend targets in currency other than British Pounds. So if you're booking a hotel, instead of paying now in GBP, you could instead delay that to instead pay on arrival in the local currency.

The other thing to note is that if you have held either of these cards in the past, then you are ineligible for the bonus. There is no timeline for becoming re-eligible after cancellation.

Marriott Bonvoy Debit Card

• The bonus: 15,000 points when you spend £1,000 in foreign currency in the first 12 months (normally 5,000)

• The fee: £55 a year

• Who qualifies? New applicants only (if you've held this card before, you are unable to get another welcome bonus), and you'll need to order before 4pm on 15 September 2026

• The status: Automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite

Other perks you'll enjoy with the base card

• 10 Elite Night Credits a year, giving you a head start towards the next tier

• 1 point per £1 in the UK and Europe, 2 points per £1 everywhere else

• 2 points per £1 at Marriott hotels in the UK, 4 points per £1 at Marriott hotels abroad

• A 0.5% foreign exchange fee, far friendlier than the 2.99% most UK bank cards charge

• Point Booster, which rounds your spending up to the nearest 10p or 20p and turns the difference into points

Marriott Bonvoy Premium Debit Card

• The bonus: 40,000 points when you spend £3,000 in foreign currency in the first 12 months (normally 15,000)

• The fee: £175 a year

• Who qualifies? New applicants only (if you've held this card before, you are unable to get another welcome bonus), and you'll need to order before 4pm on 15 September 2026

• The status: Automatic Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite

Other perks you'll enjoy with the Premium card

• Up to 20 Elite Night Credits a year (15 as standard, plus 1 for every £4,000 you spend, capped at 5)

• A free night award on renewal worth up to 25,000 points if you spent £5,000 or more abroad the year before, rising to 50,000 points if you spent over £9,500

• 1.5 points per £1 in the UK and Europe, 3 points per £1 everywhere else

• 4 points per £1 at Marriott hotels in the UK, 6 points per £1 at Marriott hotels abroad

• The same 0.5% foreign exchange fee

• Point Booster, just like the base card

Already hold the Marriott Bonvoy Amex?

You can hold and get the bonus on these cards even if you hold the Marriott Bonvoy American Express. This means that the Elite Night Credits from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express and the credits from these debit cards stack together, so holding both is one of the quickest ways to climb up the Bonvoy tiers without spending every weekend in a hotel.

Final thoughts

It comes down to how you travel. If you stay at Marriott anyway, or you spend enough abroad each year to clear the threshold without thinking about it, this is a really solid offer.

Just remember that the bonus is tied to foreign currency spend, not your total spend. So spending a fortune at your local Tesco won't earn you a thing. It has to be money spent in a Carrefour, Walmart, or insert your own choice of foreign establishment.

If you'd rather mull it over, or would rather delay applying to capture a future trip, then you've got until 4pm on 15 September 2026.

Click here to see all the details and apply.

Sam

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