Silver Elite Status
The 15 Elite Night Credits you receive from this card will earn you Silver Elite status, and while that status may be the lowest in the Marriott Bonvoy program, it is certainly better than having no status at all.
Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite comes with perks including:
- Priority late checkout, based on availability
- 10% bonus on Marriott Bonvoy points
- Access to exclusive phone lines for booking reservations
- Compensation if Marriott can’t honor your reservation
The most notable benefit here is the extra 10% in point earnings on your Marriott stays. However, the bonus applies to points earned through the hotel, not the credit card.
This bonus amounts to a total of up to 14 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 when you use your Marriott Bold card at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
15 Elite Night Credits
So what are Elite Night Credits exactly? Not to be confused with free night certificates, you cannot redeem these credits for award nights — they exclusively count towards your status. With that said, a 15-night jump towards the next status tier can be extremely beneficial.
Since you’re starting each year with 15 nights just for holding the card, you’re automatically going to qualify for Silver Elite status — but why stop there? For example, Gold Elite status and Platinum Elite status require 25 nights and 50 nights a year, respectively.
This means, with your automatic 15 Elite Night Credits, you will only actually need to stay 10 nights each year to earn Gold Elite status, and 35 nights each year to earn Platinum Elite status.
No Annual Fee
It is no secret that there are many great travel rewards cards available, but more often than not, they come with some sort of annual fee — usually ranging between $95 to $550!
So while the Marriott Bold card doesn’t offer as many benefits as cards that do offer annual fees, it’s a great option for casual travelers who don’t travel often enough to make an annual fee card worthwhile but still want to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.