Triple Welcome Bonus: Marriott Bonvoy American Express
- Sam
- May 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 7
At Points Well Made, we're all about getting you as many points as possible, making your money fly further. Well how does a newly upgraded welcome bonus of 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points sound for this American Express? Not sure what they're worth, well how about if I said you can convert this 60,000 Marriott points into over 20,000 Avios or Virgin Points? Let me explain...
A Tripled Welcome Bonus
60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you spend £3,000 within your first three months of card membership - valid on applications received by 15 July 2025. This temporary offer is three times the usual 20,000-point bonus.
This bonus is only available to people who have not held any other personal American Express cards in the last 24 months. I for instance do hold a personal American Express card, so would be ineligible for any bonus.
This card is not unique in this restriction. The exceptions for this are the Platinum American Express, and the British Airways Premium Plus American Express, though I will cover this in full at a later date.
Cost & Rates
Annual fee: £95
Representative APR: 53.7% variable (30.0% variable on purchases)
FX fee: 2.99% abroad
Remember, you must pay these cards off in full every month or they will start to accrue that high rate of interest, and you may not get the points you have earned. Pay off your balance in full every month, and you will be okay.
Earning Points
6 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1 spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels
2 Marriot Bonvoy points per £1 on all other purchases
9,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for every person who applies successfully through your referral
Status & Elite Night Credits
You will get Silver Elite status right away
15 Elite Night Credits given by Marriott Bonvoy to you annually allowing you to push for higher tiers of status
Lastly, you could earn Gold Elite status when you spend £15,000 in a membership year using this card
How Do You Convert These to Airmiles?
Remember at the start when I mentioned that these points can be turned into Avios or Virgin Points? Let me explain:
Marriott Bonvoy allows people to transfer their points into 39 different airline points, including Avios and Virgin Points, see the full list here
The rate of conversion is three Marriott Bonvoy points to one airline mile (excluding Air New Zealand)
On top of this, Marriott will give you an additional 5,000 airline miles for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer (remember, the bonus is currently 60,000)
So, let's do the maths. For this I'm going to presume that the money spent to hit the bonus was not at Marriott hotels.
You spend £3,000 on the card gaining you 6,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
By spending £3,000 you trigger the bonus, totalling 66,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
You then transfer these 66,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to Avios (or Virgin Points) at a rate of 3:1, resulting in 22,000 Avios
Marriott then add the 5,000 bonus miles to this total, resulting in 27,000 Avios
So for an annual fee of only £95, you could net yourself 27,000 Avios. A healthy return of roughly 35p per 100 Avios. If you were to buy Avios directly from British Airways, a purchase of £105 would only net you 5,000 Avios.
Other Perks
One Free Night Award (up to 25,000 points) after spending £25,000 in a year
Book direct with Marriott for a 2 night minimum stay at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® and get up to $100 in credit for qualifying charges
Travel inconvenience insurance when you charge trips to this card
You can issue supplementary cards earning more points on household spending
Lastly, to Apply You Must:
Have a permanent UK home address
Be aged 18 or over
Earn at least £20k per year
Is This a Good Card For You?
Look, I'd be lying if I didn't say that this card is primarily targeted at your average business traveller, who stays in hotels frequently, and who Marriott would quite like to poach from other brands and make them loyal, returning customers. If that's you, congratulations! But for everyone else, the appeal of the card is in the bonus points. By being able to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points into other schemes, gives these points the flexibility of an American Express Membership Reward Point, and that should be acknowledged. And for the cost of the card, to the amount of points you get for it, I would say this represents a good deal.
For full details or to apply, visit the official American Express UK page here.
Sam
Just a quick heads-up: Points Well Made is here to dish out the juicy details on miles and points, but we’re not your financial advisers. Any decisions you make regarding products featured on this site are your own responsibility, and you should always consider whether a product suits your personal circumstances. While we chat about all manner of lender goodies, we’re not a lender ourselves. Remember, you know you best.
