Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
Mostly it's going to be fishing for upgrade offers. To be honest for upcoming travel, 35k certs will prove at least of some utility for me (they're surprisingly good value in places like Singapore, London less so though, though I have other options there). I'm in a spot where I actually won't likely stay in Marriotts 20 nights a year, so paying the extra $200 for a leg up on LT Platinum (some years away) and 10 EQNs for years I have a Brilliant is not the worst possible outcome. I get that the insurance + $300 travel credit + $200 break in fee does have value. The problem is that it'd be over two years before I begin to see that value. In an ideal world stacking RC cards might be a good play but if I can get 50-75k every so often on upgrade/downgrade/retention games with AMEX...
Are there data points for consistent 75K upgrade offers on Bonvoy Amex cards? The biggest problem with the $95 Bonvoy Amex is that it locks you out from the Chase Marriott cards and I doubt upgrading and downgrading around on your own does a lot for getting Amex to target you with upgrade offers. I think stacking Ritz Cards should be the play for anyone serious who it Marriott as a program. $150-$175 (depending on how you discount the airline credit) for an 85K FNA is the best value in Bonvoy right now by a mile. Even if you want to keep a Brilliant (I will keep 1), there is still so much value to be had in getting multiple 85K FNAs for $150 each. Conversely, there is not much reason to hold multiple Brilliants when they eat up valuable Amex credit card slots. Furthermore, playing the upgrade game for Bonvoy is so much less appealing than playing the upgrade game for Hilton rn imo and I’m not even a fan of Hilton. The offers are rich, the card products are stronger, and there is no lock out with Chase. The Hilton portfolio has to work for you for this to be worth it but, personally, I find it easy to burn multiple “stay anywhere” Hilton certificates every year, especially when they are so cheap (and sometimes “free”). Those are my only Hilton stays these days.
At this point, the Hilton opportunity cost is hard to justify when all subsequent Brillaints turn into an annoying credit you need to manage every month + a $350 85K FNA and each Brilliant costs you an Amex credit card slot (and puts you further away from 5/24). With the Ritz Card, you only give up the 5/24 cost and get an easy annual credit + $150 85K FNAs. With all of this context in mind, I’m just not a fan of the brilliant.
I wish they had enriched the spend incentives or made it competitive with their other cards. I would even be happy to stack multiple Brilliants if Amex didn’t have their 5 credit card rule (precisely because getting multiple Ritz Carlton cards is so troublesome). However, the combination of everything just makes me supremely disappointed with a card that used to be one of my all time favorites. Prior to the card changes, I felt you needed only 1 Ritz Card and could stack multiple Brilliants instead (due to ease of acquisition). My how times have changed…..