Item: African Pride Melrose Arch, Autograph Collection
Rating: 9.6
Author: Jean-Maximilien Voisine

An affordable hotel with Marriott Bonvoy points

The African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel, Autograph Collection is Category 2 (January 2020).

This means that it costs between 10,000 and 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to spend a night there.

To earn Marriott Bonvoy points in Canada, the easiest way is via one of these 3 credit cards:

Each of them offers a nice welcome bonus and the possibility to earn Marriott Bonvoy points on each of your purchases (either directly for the card s Marriott Bonvoy, or by transfer for la Carte Cobalt^mᶜ American Express).

You could have both Marriott Bonvoy cards and collect your points in your Marriott Bonvoy account!

Our credit card selection
Credit card	Annual fee	Welcome offer
Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card Apply NowCompare	Annual fee$120	Welcome offerAfter $3,000 in 3 months Up to 70,000 points After $3,000 in 3 months	Apply NowCompare
Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card Apply NowCompare	Annual fee$150	Welcome offerAfter $5,000 in 3 months Up to 80,000 points After $5,000 in 3 months	Apply NowCompare
American Express Cobalt^® Card Apply NowCompare	Annual fee$191.88	Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months Up to 15,000 points Get 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months	Apply NowCompare

As for the card Cobalt^mᶜ American Express, it allows you to transfer your Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy points at a rate of 1:1.2.

Review : Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel | Marriott Bonvoy - cobalt bonvoy transfert 1

With the 5 membership rewards points per dollar you earn on:

grocery stores
restaurants and bars
convenience stores
food delivery at home

it is like earning 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar!

It’s the travel hacker’s favourite card in Canada.

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American Express Cobalt^® Card

American Express Amex Membership Rewards

Annual fee: $191.88
Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$255Total$255Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.: $255
Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months: Up to 15,000 points

The American Express Cobalt^® Card is a versatile American Express card, whether you want points for travel or cash back.

American Express Cobalt^® Card welcome offer

The welcome bonus is paid out monthly over your first 12 months. You earn 1,250 Membership Rewards points for each monthly billing period in which you charge $750 in net purchases to your card, in any category (1X, 2X, 3X or 5X). That adds up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points over the year, a welcome offer valued at $255.

Earning the full bonus means $9,000 in net purchases spread across 12 monthly billing periods. This offer rewards steady monthly spending rather than one large purchase.

You can use these points as statement credits on everyday or travel purchases, at the same rate either way: 1,000 points = $10.

You can also transfer them to Aeroplan, Avios (British Airways and Qatar Airways), Flying Blue, Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors. With the full welcome bonus, that is a choice between:

15,000 Aeroplan points
15,000 Avios points
15,000 Flying Blue Miles
18,000 Marriott Bonvoy points

American Express Cobalt^® Card benefits

Here is what the card gives you, starting with the benefits cardholders use most.

5X points on eligible eats and drinks in Canada: groceries, restaurants and bars, and home food delivery. A spend cap applies.
3X points on eligible streaming subscriptions in Canada.
2X points on eligible gas, public transit and ride sharing purchases in Canada.
1 additional point on eligible hotel and car rental bookings made through American Express Travel Online.
1X point per dollar on everything else, with no category restrictions.
Points that hold the same value either way: 1,000 points = $10 as a statement credit, or a 1:1 transfer to several airline and hotel loyalty programs.
No minimum income requirement, as with every American Express Canada card.
Additional cards at no extra cost: the first and every other supplementary card is $0.
The Hotel Collection: a room upgrade when available, 12pm check-in and late check-out when available, and up to $100 USD in hotel credit on amenities charged to the room for a stay of two or more consecutive nights, booked through American Express Travel.
Front Of The Line^® presale and reserved tickets for concerts and theatre performances, plus offers and events curated for cardmembers through Amex Experiences.
A soft credit check before you apply: you can see whether you will be approved with no impact to your credit score. This applies to American Express personal card applications.

The 5X categories and where they apply

The 5X rate is the reason most people carry this card. In Canada it covers three kinds of merchants:

Groceries: Metro, IGA, Sobeys, Super C, Safeway, Whole Foods.
Restaurants and bars: sit-down meals, takeout and drinks.
Home food delivery.
Convenience stores (Couche-Tard, 7-Eleven): not part of 5X, 1 point per dollar.

The 2X rate covers gas stations such as Esso, Shell and Petro-Canada, along with public transit and ride sharing.

With the American Express Cobalt^® Card, you earn between 1 and 5 points per dollar:

Category	Points per dollar
Grocery (Metro, IGA, Sobeys, Super C, etc.)	5
Home food delivery	5
Restaurants and bars	5
Convenience stores	1
Streaming services	3
Service station	2
Transport	2
Travel	1
Other	1

That works out to a 1 to 5% return on those purchases. For example, if you spend $1,000 per month across groceries, restaurants and food delivery, you earn $50 back per month, or $600 per year from that category alone. Transfer the points to a program such as Aeroplan instead and the return can be higher.

You can also stack these categories with the hundreds of stores that offer 5x points.

American Express Cobalt^® Card insurance coverage

The card comes with a broad insurance package. The amounts below are the coverage limits; conditions, age limits and exclusions are set out in the certificate of insurance linked in the Insurance section above.

Travel insurance

Emergency medical: up to $5,000,000 for the first 15 days of a trip.
Travel accident: accidental death and dismemberment of up to $250,000 for you, your spouse and dependent children under age 23 when travelling on a common carrier (plane, train, bus or ship) and the tickets are charged to your card. Supplementary cardholders and their families are covered too.
Flight delay: up to $500 for necessary hotel, meal and sundry expenses bought within 48 hours when you are delayed or denied boarding for four hours or more and no other transportation is available. This $500 is an aggregate limit per occurrence, shared with missed connection and delayed baggage coverage.
Delayed baggage: up to $500 for essential clothing and sundries bought within four days when your outbound luggage is delayed six hours or more. This $500 is an aggregate limit per occurrence, shared with missed connection and flight delay coverage.
Lost or stolen baggage: up to $500 per occurrence for all insured persons combined, for checked or carry-on baggage and personal effects in transit, when the airline tickets are charged to your card. Within that limit, jewellery is capped at $300 per occurrence and golf clubs, including golf bags, at $250 per occurrence.
Hotel and motel burglary: up to $500 against the loss of most personal items if your hotel or motel is burglarized, when the stay is charged to your card.

Rental car insurance

Theft and damage coverage is included for a rental car with an MSRP, for its model year, of up to $85,000 excluding all taxes, for rentals of up to 48 days. To use it, decline the Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) or any similar option from the rental company and charge the full rental to your card. There is no cost for this coverage, and it replaces the daily insurance the rental company charges, usually $16 to $23 per day.

Mobile device insurance

Your device is covered for up to $1,000 per occurrence when it is charged to the card, for up to two years from the date of purchase. The payout is based on the depreciated value of the device, which falls by 2% of the purchase price for every completed month, less a 10% deductible. Theft and accidental damage coverage starts on the 91st day after purchase, because the first 90 days are covered by purchase protection.

Purchase protection and extended warranty

Eligible items charged to your card are insured against accidental physical damage or theft for 90 days from the purchase date, up to $1,000 per occurrence for all items combined. The card also extends the original manufacturer’s warranty by up to one additional year on eligible items, with indemnification limited to $10,000 per insured item and $25,000 per Cardmember per policy year for all items combined.

American Express Cobalt^® Card fees

Card fee: $15.99 per month, which equals $191.88 per year, for residents outside Quebec. Quebec residents are billed $191.88 per year.
Additional cards: $0.
Purchase interest rate: 21.99%.
Cash advance interest rate: 21.99%.
Foreign transaction fee: 2.5%.
Minimum income required: none.

Because the fee is billed monthly rather than in one annual charge, you can stop and restart the cost in step with how much you are actually using the card.

Legal

American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information, click the Apply Now link. If you apply and get approved for an American Express Card, we may receive compensation from American Express, which can be in the form of monetary payment.

Annual fee

Primary card$191.88

Additional card$0

Annual income required

Individual$0

Household$0

Conversion fees

2.5%

Earning rate

5xRestaurants
5xGroceries
3xStreaming
2xTransit
2xGas
1xAll spending

Value

1st Year Value$1,675

2nd Year Value$799

Transfer partners

AeroplanAirline
British Airways ClubAirline
Cathay Asia MilesAirline
Etihad GuestAirline
Flying BlueAirline
Hilton HonorsHotel
Marriott BonvoyHotel

Travel insurance

Travel medical (under 55)Up to $5,000,000 / 15 days

Travel medical (55-64)Up to $5,000,000 / 15 days

Delayed BaggageUp to $500

Lost BaggageUp to $500

Flight DelayUp to $500

Hotel BurglaryUp to $500

Travel AccidentUp to $250,000

Purchase protection

Purchase ProtectionUp to $1,000 / 90 days

Extended Warranty+1 years

Mobile DeviceUp to $1,000 / 2 years

Auto Rental Collision (primary)Up to $85,000 / 48 days

Our opinion on the African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel, Autograph Collection

Before leaving South Africa, we decided to spend a night in Johannesburg and therefore chose the African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel, Autograph Collection, belonging to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Review : African Pride Melrose Arch, Autograph Collection | Marriott Bonvoy - --

Location

We chose to stay at the African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel, Autograph Collection car:

It’s an excellent Marriott Bonvoy Hotel in Johannesburg.
located in a secure area
it only cost us 10,000 points (category 2 in low season)

Its address: 1 Melrose Square, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg 2196 South Africa

Arrival

When we check in, the reception informs us of our advantages with the Titanium Elite status of Marriott Bonvoy: the breakfasts offered in the hotel restaurant.

We also obtained an upgrade using one of the annual upgrade credits offered by my status.

In the reception area, the decorative elements add a certain touch to this hotel, which is a member of the Autograph Collection brand.

As often during our trip, the Marriott Bonvoy banner is prominently displayed with information stands about the program.

Many comfortable waiting areas are present around the reception.

Head to the elevators to get to our room.

The room

The room is large.

Next to the bed is a large chest of drawers on which the Nespresso coffee machine is placed.

In front of the bed, huge cupboards cover almost the whole wall and in which our children will take a clever pleasure to hide!

There is also a television, with a sound system / DVD (not functional however). This is also where the mini-bar is located.

Clever… or not: the safe is located behind a frame representing a safe! 😀

Side lounge, a large sofa (on which our children will sleep) and 2 armchairs.

There’s also a large desk, where in the evening, buttons will be displayed to celebrate the renewal of my Titanium status!

Also, the little duck, symbol of the African Pride hotels.

A word about the view from this room: we are on the pedestrian street side (this is the main artery of this secure area, where the Christmas decorations are placed).

By day:

At night:

Travel safety: your person and your belongings - --

The bathroom

The bathroom has a bathtub and a separate shower, as well as hygiene products.

The bathroom space can be separated from the bedroom by a large curtain.

Hotel amenities

The bar

On the reception level there is a bar / lounge. Very pleasant, it overlooks the outside which is animated in the evening.

The pool

The hotel has a nice outdoor swimming pool (unheated).

This one is decorated in a very original way:

It is possible to have lunch with your feet in the water:

or on earth:

Sun loungers are of course present. But during our stay, the weather did not really lend itself to swimming unfortunately.

Breakfast

Breakfast is in the hotel restaurant and in the form of a buffet.

The decoration of the room is really nice, although a little dark for my taste.

With children, the most practical is to settle on the sofas.

Here are the different dishes:

Really a lot of choice in this Category 2 hotel!

During this holiday season, special dishes are also offered, such as a gingerbread house!

It is possible to have other dishes served at the table as well.

An excellent breakfast that will allow us to skip lunch and make it to our evening flight to Singapore! Breakfast free thanks to our Titanium status (also available free to Platinum members).

Bottom Line

The hotel African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel, Autograph Collection is excellent, especially considering the rate paid: 10,000 points per night (in low season).

During our stay, however, we had a mishap, which was quickly remedied by the manager on duty. We had rented a car because I had to take my mother to the airport in the evening for her flight to France through Zurich.

However, the valet accidentally left the keys in the car, which locked by itself. As I was picking up the car to go and visit the city with my family, I found a large part of the reception team around the car, not knowing how to get out of this mess!

Seeing my annoyance, the person in charge, Catherine, decided:

to call the rental agency and have them bring in the double.
to charter us a driver with a van for the whole day to show us around the city’s points of interest
And if you need to take my mom to the airport at night…
She also granted us a late departure the next day at 7pm (instead of 4pm with our Titanium status) so that we could relax at the hotel before heading to the airport for our 11pm flight to Singapore.

In short, it shows you how much attention is paid to the situation: although the hotel was at fault, the staff made up for it.

Otherwise, as far as the location of the hotel is concerned: it is a secure enclave. A bit confusing, because we don’t feel like we’re in South Africa at all, but rather in a western capital with all these big brand name or even luxury boutiques.

And what a contrast leaving Melrose Arch…! Anyway, I should warn you!

To easily earn Marriott Bonvoy points, here’s the current offer on the Marriott BonvoyTM American Express^MD Card:

Compare

Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card

American Express Marriott Bonvoy

Annual fee: $120
Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$600Total$600$100 deferred bonus, excluded from the first-year estimate and not counted in this total.Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.: $600
Welcome offerAfter $3,000 in 3 months: Up to 70,000 points

The Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card is the best credit card in Canada for free hotel nights.

New Cardmembers can earn up to 70,000 Marriott Bonvoy^® points with the current offer:

Earn up to 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on your Card in your first 3 months of Cardmembership.
Plus, earn 10,000 points after you spend $500 on your Card in your 13th month of Cardmembership.

The annual fee is $120, and there is no annual fee on Additional Cards, so you can add a partner or a family member at no extra cost.

Every year after your first Card anniversary, you receive an Annual Free Night Award good for a redemption of up to 35,000 points at eligible hotels and resorts worldwide. At a valuation of 0.9 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point, that certificate is worth roughly $315, which on its own more than covers the $120 annual fee. That is the main reason to keep this Card year after year instead of cancelling it.

To get the most out of the certificate, aim it at a night that would otherwise price close to the 35,000 point ceiling.

The Card also gives you 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year and automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status. Those credits count toward the next Elite tier, so you begin every year 15 nights ahead of where you would otherwise start.

You move up to Gold Elite status automatically when you reach $30,000 in purchases on the Card in a year, or when you combine 10 qualifying paid nights within one calendar year with the 15 Elite Night Credits from your Card.

Marriott Bonvoy points are generally valued at 0.9 cents each. On that basis, the 70,000 point welcome offer is worth about $630, and an Annual Free Night Award used at its full 35,000 point ceiling is worth about $315.

Marriott Bonvoy points pull their weight on free nights rather than on gift cards or merchandise, which is why this Card should be judged on the hotel stays it produces.

You earn 5 points per dollar on eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases. Points can be redeemed for free nights with no blackout dates at more than 7,000 hotels around the world.

The Card carries a solid package of coverages: $500,000 travel accident insurance, flight delay, baggage delay, lost or stolen baggage and hotel or motel burglary at $500 each, car rental theft and damage up to $85,000 for rentals of up to 48 days, Purchase Protection for 90 days and a one year Extended Warranty.

Two things to plan around: the 2.5% foreign transaction fee on purchases made in a foreign currency, and the 21.99% purchase interest rate, which makes this a Card to pay in full every month. Like all American Express Canada Cards, no minimum income is published for this Card, and you can see whether you would be approved before you apply, with no impact on your credit score.

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