You can now earn Marriott Platinum status through one credit card sign-up

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Wow! The fantastic credit card welcome offers keep on coming. Marriott is out with another swinging deal that will give you top-tier hotel elite status after applying and being approved for just one hotel credit card.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card new welcome offer

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card has launched a new welcome offer, which can be broken down into three parts:

• Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new card in your first 3 months.
• Earn an additional 25,000 bonus points after your first anniversary of card membership.
• Enjoy complimentary Platinum Elite status with your card for the 2021 status year. Offer expires 1/13/2021.

The biggest difference of this new bonus is the Marriott Platinum elite status you’ll automatically earn during the 2021 status year. Normally, the highest Marriott elite status you can earn via credit cards is Gold (unless you spend $75,000 on your Brilliant card in a calendar year ) so this is a significant bump to that. We’ll get into the benefits of Marriott Platinum status later.

The 25,000 bonus points are also a solid incentive to keep the card for another year, which does include a hefty $450 annual fee (see rates & fees). The other ongoing benefits make that a bit easier to swallow, like the annual 50,000 point free night certificate, $300 Marriott property credit and Priority Pass airport lounge access.

We value Marriott points at .8 cents each, making the 100,000 point welcome offer worth $800 and the 25,000-anniversary bonus points worth $200.

For more on the card, read our review here.

Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card new welcome offer

The Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card has also upgraded its welcome offer, which can also be broken down into three parts. You’ll earn:

• Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new card in your first 3 months.
• Earn up to $150 in statement credits within your first 6 months of card membership for all eligible purchases on your card on U.S. advertising in select media
• Enjoy complimentary Platinum Elite status with your Card for the 2021 status year. (Feb. 1, 2021-Jan. 31, 2022). Offer ends 1/13/21.

Again, this card also offers complimentary Platinum status, which is pretty incredible considering you need to just pay a $125 annual fee (see rates & fees) and will also earn another 100,000 points to boot after completing the minimum spending requirements. Plus the $150 in statement credits towards advertising purchases will put a nice chunk of change back in your pocket if you’re already spending in that category.

For more on the card’s benefits, read our review here.

Marriott Platinum status benefits

Marriott Platinum Status is normally quite hard to earn since you have to stay at least 50 nights a year at a Marriott property (or fewer if you have any of the other Marriott credit cards). However, the benefits can be quite rewarding. Here are just a few of the perks that are recognized at thousands of hotels around the world:

• 50% bonus points on paid stays
• Enhanced room upgrade
• Welcome amenity, which includes free breakfast at most properties.
• Executive lounge access
• 4 p.m. late checkout

The biggest benefits of Platinum status are surely the higher priority for complimentary room upgrades (suite anyone?!) and the free breakfast option. If you’re likely to stay at any Marriott properties in 2021, this could be a huge money saver. You could easily save hundreds of dollars using the free breakfast benefit during a week-long stay at a higher-end property. And the more you stay at Marriott, the more money this perk will save you.

For a full rundown on all of the benefits of Marriott elite status, read our review here. It’s important to note that through March 2021, Marriott will not be forcing hotels to provide every single elite benefit, however, most reports indicate that in practice all elite benefits are still being offered to guests.

Bottom line

This is the easiest way you’ve ever been able to earn Marriott Platinum status. With just a credit card sign up, you’ll earn top-tier elite status with Marriott and over a hundred thousand points with either the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card.

You should seriously consider signing up for either of these cards if you have any intention of staying at least a few nights at a Marriott hotel next year. Keep in mind that if you’ve recently received a welcome bonus for a Marriott card, you may not be eligible for this bonus — read more on those rules here.

Finally, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is currently offering 125,000 bonus points + 1 free night (valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $5,000 in the first three months from account opening (total of up to 175,000 bonus points). Read our review of the Boundless card for more info and subscribe to our newsletter for more deals and analysis delivered straight to your inbox.

For the rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, please click here.

For the rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, please click here.

Featured photo by Kathleen Porter Kristiansen.