Marriott Bonvoy is the largest hotel group around the world with over 8,000 properties. Marriott Bonvoy has partnered with American Express to offer two credit cards in Canada:
- One for individuals: the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card.
- One for businesses (professionals, the self-employed and SMEs): the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card.
As a couple, each with business expenses and frequent travellers, it made sense for us to each sign up for the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card. Here’s why!
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - Exceptional welcome offer
The Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card is the best credit card for travelling self-employed professionals and small business owners.
With this exceptional limited-time welcome offer, you can earn up to 90,000 Marriott Bonvoy points:
- 75,000 Welcome Bonus Marriott Bonvoy® points after you spend $6,000 on your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership.
- Plus, earn an additional 2 points for a total of 5 points on every $1 spent on eligible gas, dining and travel purchases in your first 6 months (up to 15,000 points).
It’s the best time of year to get the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card. Don’t wait, this offer ends on May 6, 2024!
It’s a Card we recommend keeping because each year at renewal, you get an Annual Free Night Award (for up to 35,000 points at hotels worldwide) and 15 Elite Night Credits per year, counting towards your Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.
With this Card, you earn 5 points per dollar on all purchases at Marriott Bonvoy properties. And you can earn 3 points per dollar on:
- Gas
- Dining purchases
- travel purchases
And 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.
Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.
The welcome bonus is enough to give you several free nights at Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
For us, it was a way to top up our Marriott Bonvoy points account. Thus, we were able to take advantage of free nights like at the Al Maha Hotel, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai!
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - Earn points with your business spending
Current business expenses
Unlike the retail version which only has two purchase categories, our Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card has a 3rd category allowing us to earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on:
- All our travel purchases (hotels, flights, car rentals, cruises, etc.)
- All our gas purchases
- All our restaurant and bar bills
Other examples of business expenses
Add to that all the other purchases a company can make! On our side, it is for example:
- Membership in a professional order (the Ordre des Pharmaciens du Québec accepts payment by American Express card via Paypal)
- Service subscriptions (telephone/Internet, online accounting software, Google Apps, iCloud, etc.)
- Our hardware
- Our office supplies
- And much more!
For everything else, we use our Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card on PaySimply to pay other suppliers.
Some of our PaySimply expenses:
- Canada Revenue Agency
- Revenu Québec
- GST / QST
- Accountant
- Website development agency
- External consultants
- And much more!
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - Earn points for your stays at Marriott hotels
We stay very regularly at Marriott Bonvoy Group hotels and use our Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card to pay for these stays (when we’re not using our points).
By doing so, you earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar! And that goes for any expense at a Marriott Bonvoy-owned property:
- Hotel Night
- Services received at the property (business center, spa, etc.)
- Meeting room rental
- Event organization
- Restaurants, bars
So by using your Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card to pay for them, you too could earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar!
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - 15 elite nights to earn new Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status
Each year, our Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card provides us with a 15-night elite credit to our Marriott Bonvoy account.
With this, one immediately obtains the Silver Elite status, which gives the right to :
- Priority late departure
- 10% points bonus on stays
- Free Wi-Fi
Also, these 15 nights-status allow us to advance more quickly to the next status. As a result, only 10 nights (25 nights) are required to achieve Gold Elite status during the year.
The Gold Elite status allows you to
- A 25% points bonus on stays
- Upgrade to a superior room
- Late check-out until 2pm
Or Platinum Elite status – only 35 nights left in the year (50 nights total).
With the Platinum Elite status, you get many benefits including
- 5 Annual Upgrades in a row
- Lounge Access
- Free breakfasts
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - One Free Night Award Upon Renewal
Six to eight weeks after the anniversary date of the American Express Card account, we get a Free Night Award. It is deposited directly into our Marriott Bonvoy account.
It is possible to redeem this Award for a free night of up to 35,000 points. Plus, you can top it off with up to 15,000 points to get a free night worth up to 50,000 points.
If used properly, this free night award can represent several hundred dollars!
Take a look at what we were able to get recently during a trip to Europe. A 4-star hotel on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice would have cost more than 500 CA$ per night!
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - A tax-deductible annual fee
Did you know? The annual fee for your business credit card is considered a “management and administration fee”.
They can therefore be deducted from your return on line 8871, if you use your Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card for business expenses!
Do not hesitate to consult your tax advisor on this subject!
Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card - Who can apply for this card?
This card is not exclusively reserved for executives of large companies.
In fact, as long as you have an activity that generates income or business expenses, you may be eligible for this card.
This is the case, for example, for professionals or self-employed workers who declare their business income and expenses in their annual personal income tax return to Revenu Québec or the Canada Revenue Agency.
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Bottom Line
We could add to this the range of benefits offered to American Express members (such as Front of the Line), regular promotional offers – now available online – or the travel insurance offered by the card.
All these reasons make the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card, in our opinion, the best credit card for professionals, self-employed workers or small businesses in Canada!