3 reasons why the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless is worth the $95 annual fee

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

Hotel credit cards are often overlooked when compared to their airline card counterparts.

Mid-tier hotel cards, with annual fees of up to $100, can be an incredibly valuable addition to any wallet, whether you’re an infrequent traveler, a road warrior or a nonstop jetsetter. These cards tend to have relatively low annual fees yet can provide outsize value in the form of award nights, elite status, increased earning potential and other perks.

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is the Marriott portfolio’s mid-market personal card option, issued by Chase. With a terrific sign-up bonus of 100,000 welcome bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first three months from account opening.

But this elevated sign-up bonus isn’t the only reason to consider the Bonvoy Boundless card.

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Award Nights

By far, one of the card’s best perks — and what makes the $95 fee seem fairly insignificant — is an annual award night award. Here’s how it works (and why it’s so valuable).

Each year upon account renewal, cardholders receive an award night certificate valid at Marriott hotels that cost up to 35,000 Bonvoy points a night. While you certainly can’t redeem this certificate everywhere, there are thousands of options at 35,000 points a night or less. TPG’s valuations peg the value of 35,000 Marriott points at $294, which is nearly three times the $95 annual fee.

With Marriott's recent switch to dynamic pricing, you may find it harder to use these certificates, but you're now able to combine a certificate with up to 15,000 points to “upgrade” to a higher-priced award room, which should allow for some added flexibility.

Related: 6 great uses of Marriott 35,000-point free night certificates

15 elite nights and automatic elite status

Similar to other mid-tier hotel cards from Hilton and Hyatt, Marriott offers automatic elite status with the Bonvoy Boundless.

The Bonvoy Boundless card comes with automatic Bonvoy Silver status. While that is Marriott’s lowest tier and won’t earn you lavish perks such as suite upgrades, it will still get you a 10% points bonus, late checkout and free Wi-Fi.

In addition, to help cardholders jumpstart their way to higher tiers of status (such as Gold and Platinum), this card automatically rewards them with 15 elite night credits per calendar year. You can also earn one credit towards elite status for every $5,000 you spend on the card — a perk that just launched in 2022.

Even better, you can get one set of elite night credits from a Marriott personal card and one more set of elite night credits from a Marriott business card, like the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. This would earn you Gold status — and place you just 20 nights away from Platinum.

Related: Does it make sense to hold multiple Marriott Bonvoy credit cards?

Trip and baggage insurance coverage

The Bonvoy Boundless card also comes with a robust set of travel and baggage protection benefits that can help save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. These are perks that you don’t feel like you need — until something goes wrong.

With baggage delay insurance, Chase may reimburse you for essential purchases up to $100 a day for up to five days. And if a bag is lost, Chase may cover you for up to a whopping $3,000 per passenger. With trip delay reimbursement, if you are traveling on a common carrier that is delayed by more than 12 hours or requires to stay overnight, Chase may reimburse you for incidentals like meals or lodging, up to $500 per ticket.

Just note that you must charge your trip to the card in order for these protections to apply.

Related: How Chase’s trip delay coverage works in practice

Bottom line

With a large sign-up bonus and various perks that can easily be worth hundreds of dollars, it’s a no-brainer that the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless is worth its $95 annual price tag.

Keep in mind, though, that Chase restricts access to the Bonvoy Boundless with its 5/24 rule. The issuer likely won’t approve you for the card if you’ve opened five or more personal credit cards across all issuers in the last 24 months. In addition, there are Marriott-specific rules when it comes to eligibility for any new Bonvoy credit card, so you'll want to make sure you're eligible before you apply.

However, with the world continuing to reopen in earnest and the Boundless card offering a terrific sign-up bonus, now is a good time to apply if you do qualify.

Application link: Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card with a welcome offer of 100,000 welcome bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first three months from account opening.

Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox and Christina Ly.

Featured photo of the Ritz-Carlton Maldives by Chris Dong/The Points Guy.