Compare the Features and Benefits of United℠ Business Card and
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

If you’re a business owner contemplating on getting a personal United credit card, it’s worth taking a closer look at the United Business Card first. Cardholders earn 2x unlimited miles on a diverse range of bonus categories, including United purchases (which includes United flights, seat upgrades, wifi or onboard purchases), dining including eligible delivery services, gas stations, office supply stores, and local transit and commuting. All other purchases accrue 1x miles. And don’t forget, beyond the initial hard inquiry when applying for a business card, it won’t report to your personal credit as long as you remain in good standing.

The annual fee is waived for the first year, but will cost $99 every year thereafter. Fortunately, maximizing the card is effortless thanks to its number of tangible benefits. You can get every first checked bag free on United flights and even earn an annual $100 United credit after purchasing seven United flight purchases. Coupled with the opportunity to enter the United Club twice per year ($59 value each time), that’s roughly a $200+ value off the bat toward travel.

Other non-tangible, yet equally useful, benefits that the United Business Card provides include priority boarding, a 25% discount on inflight purchases, and the ability to earn up to 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points every year. Depending on how often you’re flying United every year, these perks offer elite-like benefits just by holding this card.

And don’t forget the ability to earn PQPs towards elite status from spend. You’ll earn 25 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) for every $500 you spend on purchases – up to 1,000 PQPs per year.

If you were purely looking to earn United miles, however, you might well do better with the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Card which would earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on the first $150,000 spent on all travel purchases, has similar trip protections, and its points transfer 1:1 to United – but also to more than a dozen other airline and hotel partners.

We have a detailed comparison of the United Business Card vs. the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card.

Chase is the issuer of this business card and is quite generous when it comes to providing travel and purchase coverages with high limits. Plus, Chase tends to offer partner benefits exclusively for cardholders. Currently, cardholders can register for one year complimentary DashPass benefits from DoorDash. This perk gets you unlimited deliveries on orders of $12 or greater with no delivery fee and lower service fees overall.

The Marriott Bonvoy program offers five different co-branded credit card options, from both American Express and Chase. If we start from the top, there’s the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card, with a considerable $650 annual fee. But the luxury hotel card comes with a substantial number of perks that make sense for the ultra-Marriott loyalist.

For starters, the card offers complimentary Platinum elite status, which typically requires 50+ nights at Marriott hotels per year. At this elite tier level, you’ll enjoy 50% bonus points at Marriott hotels (on top of the card’s earning rate), room upgrades up to select suites upon availability at most brands, and a welcome gift like amenities, points, or even breakfast. Enjoy a guaranteed late checkout of 4pm at most properties (resorts and convention centers are excluded). You’ll also get 25 annual elite night credits which can help you qualify for that next tier of Marriott status — Titanium or Ambassador Elite, anyone?

Even more interesting is that if you also have the Marriott Bonvoy Business® Card, you’ll earn 15 more elite nights on that card for a total of 40 elite night credits. With Titanium status, which also confers United Airlines Silver elite status, available at 75 nights, you’ll need to stay just 35 nights to achieve it.

As you can expect, this card is quite rewarding for hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy, offering 6x points at Bonvoy properties. The card’s rewards rate is easy to memorize as it also provides 3x points at restaurants worldwide and 2x points on all other eligible purchases, but unfortunately it falls flat compared to other luxury cards on the market with those rates, given that we peg the value of a Bonvoy point around 0.6 cents each.

Still, if you’re a heavy spender, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card offers another unique benefit. Once you spend $60,000+ on the card per calendar year, you’ll get access to the Earned Choice Award Benefit. From here, there are some incredibly valuable options like 5 Suite Night Awards, an additional free night award (worth up to 85,000 points), or a $1,000 off a bed from Marriott Bonvoy Boutiques. Perhaps the most lucrative awards are the former two options, as the suite night awards and free night certificate can be of excellent use at some of Marriott’s most bespoke properties.

Even if you don’t anticipate $60,000+ of card spend per year, don’t fret. You’ll still get a free night award just by renewing the card and paying the annual fee on your account anniversary. This free night award will land in your account after the card renewal month, and is worth up to 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. You can “top off” with up to 15,000 more points from your account if you want to book a night that costs between 85,000 and 100,000 points.

As mentioned above, we estimate Marriott Bonvoy points to be worth about 0.6 cents each so with the 85,000 point certificate, you’re expected to receive at least a $510 value (or more!) for a property of your choice. Use your free night awards wisely, and you can land free nights at some of the most luxurious properties in Marriott’s expansive portfolio.

Not to mention, the card also comes with an up to $300 dining credit, which is distributed in up to $25 monthly credits. You’ll get a reimbursement for restaurants worldwide, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be getting this $300 rebate on your favorite eateries. (Terms apply.)

Finally, the Bonvoy Brilliant card comes with a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application credit (terms apply), up to a $100 Marriott property credit for eligible stays (terms apply), and a swathe of essential travel and purchase protections to boot.

Simply put, if you have a Marriott Bonvoy member account and want top-notch perks when staying at Marriott properties, look no further than the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.

Rates and Fees for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card