Compare the Features and Benefits of Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card and
Bilt Obsidian Card

If you’re on the hunt for a Marriott credit card, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card is a relatively newcomer to the family of Marriott cards. Issued by American Express, this card debuted in 2022 and offers a middle ground for Marriott loyalists who are looking for solid perks without paying up an annual fee as high as $700, as with some other premium cards.

Instead, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card comes with a $250 annual fee. And with that, you’ll get automatic Marriott Bonvoy® Gold elite status just by being a cardholder. Normally requiring 25 elite nights per night, carrying the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card is one of the ways to bypass this threshold.

As such, you’ll get 2 p.m. late checkout (based on availability), 25% bonus points at Marriott properties, and enhanced room upgrades upon availability. However, even Bonvoy® Gold elite status leaves a bit to be desired, as it doesn’t come with complimentary breakfast, suite upgrades, or a guaranteed late checkout benefit.

Outside of elite status, the Bevy card offers 1,000 bonus points per paid eligible stay at properties participating in Marriott Bonvoy and earns 6x bonus points per dollar on eligible Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You can also earn 4x bonus points per dollar on restaurants worldwide (including takeout and delivery in the U.S.) and U.S. supermarkets, on up to the first $15,000 spent per year combined. That’s a potential of earning 60,000 bonus points on those two bonus categories alone, and you’ll earn 2x points after this limit and all other eligible purchases.

Another incentive to keep the card and pay the ongoing annual fees is the potential to earn a free night award, with a redemption value of up to 50,000 points and can be topped up with as many as 25,000 points from your account, allowing for a maximum value of of a room that costs 75,000 points. This certificate is actually much better than the one that comes on the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, as its redemption value is capped at 35,000 points per night. Unfortunately, the major downside is that you have to spend at least $15,000 on the Bevy card per year to earn it, which breaks down to $1,250 in monthly spending.

In estimated monetary value, we calculate that Marriott Bonvoy® points are worth about 0.6 cents each. That means you can achieve around $300 in value from the Bevy free night award if you can meet the spending requirements, which can easily wipe out the $250 annual fee before considering all the other perks.

Lastly, the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express card makes for a solid travel card with no foreign transaction fees (see rates & fees), trip delay reimbursement, baggage insurance and more. However, you may want to look for a credit card with primary rental car insurance, as the Bevy only provides secondary coverage for theft and damage.

Rates and fees for the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card

The Bilt Obsidian Card sits in the middle of the three Bilt credit cards with its $95 annual fee.

You’ll earn valuable Bilt Rewards points with each purchase. One unique feature of this card is the ability to choose a 3X bonus category. You can choose (at the start of each year) whether you prefer 3X on groceries (up to $25,000 a year) or 3X on dining. You’ll then also get 2X on travel and 1X + 4% Bilt Cash on Everyday Spend.

It has no foreign transaction fees and the $95 annual fee can be offset by the $100 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. It’s available once per half year as $50 statement credits for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.

Bilt Obsidian Card

Your Best Credit Cards values Bilt Rewards points at 1.8 cents each, although the personal value you get from each point may be higher or lower. With 1X points earned on all everyday spend, you are earning an approximate value of 1.8% worth of Bilt Rewards plus another 4% in Bilt Cash on top, for an effective total of 4.8% back on spend.

Many know Bilt for the ability to pay your rent and mortgage with the card. You’ll be able to earn points for paying any personal rent or mortgage with this card. Simply redeem the Bilt Cash you earn from all of your non-rent spend to make your rent or mortgage payment fee-free. Applying $30 worth of Bilt Cash for every $1,000 in rent or mortgage payments paid will earn you points on that portion of the rent or mortgage payment, up to the full amount. You can redeem Bilt Cash for all or part of your payment.

We love Bilt Rewards for their strong list of transfer partners which include World of Hyatt, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JAL Mileage Bank, among many others as mentioned above. You can also get 1.25 cents per point in value simply by redeeming Bilt points in their travel portal and they even offer “direct bookings” that offer loyalty benefits despite being a third party booking. Just look for “Member Rate” or “Home Away From Home” labels when searching hotels or “Direct Book” when searching flights.

If you are looking for a Bilt card that offers a huge 2X (+ 4% Bilt Cash) on Everyday Spend with premium benefits, you might consider the Bilt Palladium Card. If you want to explore a Bilt card with no annual fee, that’s the Bilt Blue Card.