Credit card showdown: Marriott Business Amex vs. Marriott Premier Plus Business Card

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

There’s no shortage of Marriott Bonvoy credit cards available to new applicants, including two new cards that launched in September 2022. Taking into account cards currently available to new applicants, there are five personal credit cards — with annual fees ranging from $0 to $650 — and one small-business credit card: the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.

There are a few reasons why you might want to consider a Marriott Bonvoy Business credit card even if you already have one or more of the Marriott Bonvoy personal credit cards. Having a business credit card can help keep your personal and professional expenses separate, it opens up new and different bonus-earning categories and it does not affect your personal credit score in the same way that having a regular consumer credit card does. On top of that, you can fast-track to Marriott’s elite status and get a nice influx of points from the welcome bonus.

Plus, the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex credit card is also one of the best all-around business cards for hotel rewards currently available.

But what if you still have the now-discontinued Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card from Chase? Does it make sense to switch to the Amex-issued card? Or should you carry both? Let’s take a closer look to find out.

Which Marriott Bonvoy business cards are available?

Ever since the creation of the Marriott Bonvoy program as we know it (when Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest became one), both American Express and Chase have shuffled their cobranded credit cards, with some discontinuations, some evolutions and some simple renaming.

This is the only Marriott business credit card that’s available for new applicants. It has several compelling benefits that should keep it on your radar. You can read our full card review, but here are the main details:

• Current welcome offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases in the first three months of cardmembership.
• Annual fee: $125.
• Earning: 6 points per dollar at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program; 4 points per dollar at worldwide restaurants and U.S. gas stations, wireless phone services and shipping purchases; 2 points per dollar on other purchases.
• Free award night: Each year after your account anniversary, get an award night that can be used at properties costing up to 35,000 points. Plus, earn an additional free night award after spending $60,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year.
• Complimentary Gold Elite status: Cardholders receive 15 nights of elite credit each year and automatic Gold Elite status (which typically requires 25 nights per year). The elite night credits can be stacked with a Marriott Bonvoy consumer card, which means you can have 30-40 elite qualifying nights just from holding two credit cards.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Premium on-property internet access: Enjoy complimentary in-room, premium internet access at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
• Amex Offers savings: Enjoy percentage and dollar discounts at participating merchants through Amex Offers.
• Employee/additional cards: Add up to 99 for free.
• Discounted booking rates: Cardholders can receive up to 7% off standard rates when booking directly with Marriott and logged into their accounts.
• Purchase benefits: Purchase protection of up to $1,000 per incident and $50,000 per year. Warranty extension of up to one year.

*Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

Related: 7 great uses of Marriott 35,000-point free night certificates

Eligibility

Now for some fine print. While the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card is available to new applicants, you will not qualify for the welcome offer if you currently have or have had any of the following cards in the last 30 days:

• The Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card).
• The Marriott Rewards Business Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card).

Or have acquired any of the following cards from Chase in the last 90 days:

• The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card).
• The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card).
• The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card from Chase.
• The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card from Chase.

Or have received a welcome bonus for any of the following cards from Chase in the last 24 months:

• The Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card).
• The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase (now the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Card).
• The Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card from Chase.
• The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card from Chase.

Basically, you will not be eligible for the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex card if you were a cardholder of either of the Marriott personal or business credit cards from Chase within the last 30 days or if you applied for any of the Chase Marriott personal cards within the last two years. Those are some stringent limitations. But if you haven’t dabbled extensively in the Marriott credit card market lately, you might be eligible for this card sooner than you think.

If you can’t remember those dates offhand, you can check your account histories and ages to see where you fall on this timeline.

Related: Are you eligible for a new Marriott Bonvoy card? This chart tells you yes or no

Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card from Chase

As mentioned, this Marriott business credit card is not available to new applicants anymore. However, if you already have it, you should review its benefits to analyze whether it might be worth holding onto or canceling to take advantage of a welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.

• Sign-up bonus: No longer available.
• Annual fee: $99.
• Earning: 6 points per dollar at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program; 4 points per dollar at restaurants, gas stations, shipping, internet, cable and phone services; 2 points per dollar on other purchases.
• Free award night: Each year after your account anniversary, get a free award night that can be used at properties that cost up to 35,000 points. Plus, earn an additional free night award after spending $60,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year.
• Complimentary Silver Elite status: Cardholders receive 15 nights of elite credit each year, enough for Silver status with Marriott Bonvoy and just 10 short of Gold status. Upgrade to Gold status after spending $35,000 on the card in a calendar year.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Employee/additional cards: Free.
• Visa SavingsEdge: Cardholders can enjoy discounts at participating merchants.
• Travel benefits: Trip cancellation/interruption insurance up to $5,000 per trip, trip delay reimbursement up to $500 per ticket, up to $3,000 for lost luggage and primary rental car insurance on most cars in the U.S. and abroad.
• Purchase benefits: Purchase protection of up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year and warranty extension of up to one year.

Related: Which Marriott Bonvoy credit card is right for you?

First, only the American Express card is available to new applicants and is currently offering a sizable welcome offer worth $840 by TPG valuations. Its annual fee is also $125 (see rates and fees) versus the Chase card’s lower $99 fee. In exchange for the higher annual fee, the American Express card offers a higher level of elite status.

Ostensibly, the cards have the same earning rates, but there are two important distinctions to point out. Both cards have categories where you can earn 4 points per dollar. With Chase’s offering, those earnings are worldwide. With the Amex card, earning 4 points per dollar only applies within the U.S. — except for restaurants.

So depending on where you’re making business-related expenditures and which services you spend money on, your earnings could look very different.

Frequent travelers should appreciate the Amex version’s premium in-room internet, which the Chase card doesn’t offer.

As for savings, the Chase card participates in Visa SavingsEdge, which is a discount program at participating merchants. There are usually just a handful of offers, such as 2% off at Texaco and Chevron gas stations, 5% off Microsoft and 8% off Godiva chocolates.

Amex cardholders are eligible for account-specific Amex Offers. Bargains for this specific card have included $100 back when spending $350 or more on Silvercar, 10% back (up to $1,000 total) at FedEx Office or 25% back (up to $1,000) on FedEx shipping, 10% back (up to $1,500) on Dell.com and $100 when spending $175 or more on AT&T wireless for business (up to two times), among dozens of others. You can see the current month’s travel-related Amex Offers here.

The Chase card’s travel and purchase benefits also seem to be more comprehensive, and if you often rent a car for business, its primary auto coverage can come in handy.

Given all the similarities it likely doesn’t make sense to carry both cards at the same time. Although their elite night credits can be stacked with a Marriott Bonvoy consumer card, you can’t stack the two business cards’ credits — meaning you only get 15 elite night credits total, whether you have both business cards or just one. Also, you’d be forgoing the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card’s welcome bonus if you apply while still holding the Chase business card.

Related: How to earn lots of Marriott Bonvoy points

Bottom line

Carrying the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card from Chase and Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card simultaneously probably won’t make sense unless you highly value the 35,000-point anniversary award night provided by each card. So, as with all credit card considerations, look at which card offers the best return on your spending.