The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card is offering 100,000 points and a free night certificate worth up to 85,000 points, but only for a limited time

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• The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is offering a huge new welcome bonus.
• You can earn Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card.
• The bonus free night award is valid at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels that cost up to 85,000 points.
• Read Insider's guide to the best hotel credit cards.

Amex is back with another elevated Marriott card bonus, and it's a big one. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is now offering Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, but only until May 18, 2022.

While this isn't the highest offer we've seen for the card, it's significantly higher than the standard offer to earn 75,000 Marriott points after meeting minimum spending requirements. The addition of extra points plus a free night certificate — valid at Marriott Bonvoy properties that cost up to 85,000 points — makes this bonus worth up to 185,000 points.

Based on Insider's points and miles valuations, you could get around Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card in stays from 100,000 points, depending on how you redeem your rewards — and that's not counting the value of the free night certificate.

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is a premium card and comes with a Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card - Rates & Fees, so it's not the best card if you only stay with Marriott occasionally. 

Read more: The best travel rewards credit cards of 2022

However, for frequent travelers, the card comes with lucrative benefits that can far outweigh the annual fee, including up to $300 in statement credits per year toward purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program, Priority Pass airport lounge access, a free night award valid at Marriott Bonvoy properties charging up to 50,000 points per night each year after your card anniversary, and automatic Marriott Gold elite status.

Here's what to know about the new Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card offer to help you decide if you should apply.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant — Earn 100,000 points and a free night certificate 

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card is a terrific choice if you stay with Marriott often. Along with its elevated welcome bonus of Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, the card earns Marriott points for every dollar you spend on eligible purchases, as follows:

• 6 points per dollar at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels (this is in addition to up to 10x points for being a Marriott Bonvoy member and up to 2.5x points for having Gold elite status from the card)
• 3x points on dining at US restaurants (including takeout and delivery)
• 3x points on flights purchased directly from airlines
• 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases

Read more: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card review

The 100,000 points from the welcome bonus are worth around Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card alone based on Insider's valuation of Marriott points at 0.7 cents per piece. And you could potentially get another $595 in value if you redeem the bonus free night award at a hotel that costs 85,000 Marriott points.

This is the most expensive co-branded Marriott credit card available to new applicants, and although Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card per year is hefty, it's easy to offset that cost by maximizing the card's impressive array of benefits.

Right off the bat, you can save up to $300 each anniversary year in statement credits toward purchases at Marriott properties — including room rate, spa, and hotel restaurant/food purchases. If you spend $300 or more at eligible Marriott Bonvoy properties annually, you can effectively reduce your out-of-pocket cost to keep the card to $150 (Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card annual fee - $300 in Marriott statement credits).

The card also offers a free night certificate each year, which you can use at Marriott hotels that cost up to 50,000 points. It's possible to get hundreds of dollars in value from this certificate if you redeem it at expensive hotels.

Cardholders get other valuable perks, both from Marriott and for general travel and shopping, including:

• Automatic Marriott Bonvoy Gold elite status (you can also earn complimentary Platinum elite status by spending $75,000 on the card in a calendar year)
• 15 elite night credits each calendar year
• Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership**
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit (worth up to $100)
• Secondary car rental insurance
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
• Baggage insurance plan
• Trip delay insurance
• Travel accident insurance
• Purchase protection
• Extended warranty
• Return protection
• Premium Global Assist Hotline
• No foreign transaction fees Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card - Rates & Fees

Other Marriott cards to consider

If you're looking to earn Marriott points but don't want to commit to a card with a high annual fee, there are other Marriott cards that could be a better fit for you, including:

• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: Earn Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card annual fee (read our Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card review)
• Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card: Earn Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card - Rates & Fees (read our Marriott Bonvoy Business card review)
• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card: Earn Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card annual fee (read our Marriott Bonvoy Bold card review)

Read more: The best Marriott credit cards of 2022

How to use Marriott points

The best way to redeem your Marriott points is for free stays at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties (keep in mind some hotels charge resort fees, which aren't included in the award rate). Marriott recently eliminated its award charts, so the price of an award night now varies depending on paid rate, season, demand, and other factors. 

Award nights now cost anywhere from 5,000 to 120,000 points, and if you book an award stay of five nights or more, you'll get the least expensive night for free. 

If you prefer redeeming points for flights, Marriott offers another option. You can transfer Marriott points to over 40 partner airlines, with a ratio of 1,000 airline miles for every 3,000 Marriott points transferred — and you can receive a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points (so 60,000 points becomes 25,000 airline miles). Transfers to United Airlines MileagePlus get an extra 10% bonus.

Here's our guide to earning and redeeming Marriott points for all your options.