Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex: is the $650 fee worth it?

The honest math on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card: which credits you'd actually use, what its points earn beyond a plain 2% card, and what its protections would cost to buy — against the $650 annual fee.

American Express · $650 annual fee · earns Marriott Bonvoy points

Compared with: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex vs The Ritz-Carlton Credit

Earning rates

6x Marriott Bonvoy hotels
3x Restaurants worldwide
3x Scheduled airline flights (direct)
2x Everything else

Statement credits (3)

$300 Brilliant Dining Credit — Up to $25/month in statement credits (up to $300/yr) for eligible restaurant purchases worldwide.
$100 Ritz-Carlton / St. Regis Property Credit — $100 credit per booking (2-night minimum, booked at the '$100 Property Credit' Member rate) toward on-property dining, spa, and recreational activities at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis.
Global Entry / TSA PreCheck Credit — $120 Global Entry credit every 4 years (~$30/yr) or up to $85 TSA PreCheck credit every 4.5 years.

Certificates (1)

Free Night Award (up to 85,000 points) — One free night every year after your Card renewal month at a Marriott property with a redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

Protections and perks (14)

Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Status — Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status for the Basic Card Member — 50% bonus points on hotel stays, plus room upgrades (when available, on a Qualifying Rate) and other Platinum-tier perks.
Elite Night Credits — 25 Elite Night Credits on account opening, then 25 more each subsequent calendar year (deposited by March 1) — progress toward Marriott status beyond the card's automatic Platinum.
Brilliant Earned Choice Award — After $60,000 in card spend in a calendar year, choose one: five Nightly Upgrade Awards, a Free Night Award (up to 85K points), or a one-time 50,000-point deposit.
Priority Pass Select Lounge Access — Enrollment-required Priority Pass Select membership: unlimited visits to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, with up to 2 guests free per visit.
American Express Venue Collection Concessions Credit — 10% back (up to $250/yr) in statement credits on food & beverage purchases at participating stadiums and arenas, through December 31, 2026.
No Foreign Transaction Fees — No surcharge on purchases abroad.
Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance — Secondary coverage for damage to or theft of a rental car, up to $75,000, when you pay for the entire rental with the card and decline the counter's collision damage waiver.
Purchase Protection — New purchases covered 90 days against accidental damage or theft, up to $10,000 per purchase and $50,000 per calendar year.
Extended Warranty — Adds up to a year to eligible US manufacturer warranties of 5 years or less.
Return Protection — If a merchant won't take an eligible item back within 90 days, get a refund of the purchase price (excluding shipping/handling), up to $300 per item and $1,000 per calendar year.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance — Up to $10,000 per trip ($20,000 per 12 months) when a round trip paid for entirely with the card is cancelled or interrupted for a covered reason.
Trip Delay Insurance — Up to $500 per trip for additional expenses when a round trip paid for entirely with the card is delayed more than 6 hours, maximum 2 claims per 12 months.
Baggage Insurance Plan — Up to $2,000 for checked baggage and a combined $3,000 for checked + carry-on when lost, damaged, or stolen on a common-carrier trip paid for with the card.
Cell Phone Protection — Up to $800 per claim for damage or theft when you pay your wireless bill with the card, maximum 2 claims per 12 months ($50 deductible per claim).

Recent changes to this card's data

2026-08-31 — Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

Verified accurate — no benefit-value changes. Fee, earning rates, credits, Free Night Award, statuses, lounge access, and coverage ceilings re-confirmed against americanexpress.com. The Venue Collection Concessions credit still ends 12/31/2026.
Clarified the Priority Pass benefit's fine print: Amex's May 19, 2026 change was to how the $35 extra-guest fee is charged, not to the 2-free-guests policy, which stands. Lounge count in the summary updated to "1,300+" per current Amex language.

2026-08-21 — Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card (new card)

Added amex-marriott-bonvoy-brilliant.json: Amex's $650-fee top-tier Marriott co-brand, distinct from Chase's marriott-bonvoy-boundless.json. Sources: the card's americanexpress.com product page, its full Terms, Conditions & Disclosures page (36182-9-0), and card-specific global.americanexpress.com/card-benefits/detail pages for each coverage.
Earning: 6x Marriott hotels (Marriott-only, so not auto-counted against general hotel spend), 3x restaurants worldwide, 3x direct-airline flights, 2x everything else.
Credits: $300/yr Brilliant Dining Credit ($25/mo, restaurants worldwide), $100 Ritz-Carlton/St. Regis Property Credit (per booking, unlimited bookings), $30/yr trusted-traveler (shared key).
The annual Free Night Award certificate, up to 85,000 points, replacement-cost anchored at ~$600/yr (0.7 cents/point).
Perks: complimentary Platinum Elite status, 25 Elite Night Credits/yr (progress-only, not monetized), the Brilliant Earned Choice Award ($60,000 calendar-year spend — choice of upgrades/free night/50k points), Priority Pass Select (unlimited visits + 2 free guests, maxAnnualValue: 469), and the American Express Venue Collection Concessions Credit (10% back up to $250/yr on stadium/arena F&B, a straight per-dollar rebate, through 2026-12-31).
Standard Amex Assurance coverages: rental CDW ($75,000/30-day ceiling sourced from the shared CRLDI benefit guide PDF, not card-specific), purchase protection, extended warranty, return protection, trip cancellation/interruption, trip delay, baggage insurance, cell phone protection — each primary-confirmed via the card's own global.americanexpress.com detail page except rental CDW.
Points values (0.7¢ typical / 0.9¢ optimized) mirror the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card's, so sibling Marriott cards price points consistently.
Omitted as issuer/network-generic non-monetizable extras: Premium Global Assist Hotline, Lowest Hotel Rates Guarantee, Premium on-property Internet Access, Pay It Plan It, Instant Card Number, Amex Offers/Presale/Reserved/Preferred Tickets access.

Card data verified against American Express on 2026-08-31.

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