AmEx Bonvoy Brilliant Luxury Card [General Discussion Thread]
#811
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Palm Springs, CA
Programs: AA EXP / Marriott AMB & LT Titanium
Posts: 377
Amex has been extremely efficient. 15 night credit posted to my Bonvoy account 2 days after account opened. $300 credit posted within days of Marriott charges. $100 Global Entry credit posted within a week or so. I’ve been extremely satisfied.
#812
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: DFW
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, HH Gold, AA Lifetime Gold, United Silver, BA Gold
Posts: 864
Does AMEX allow you to cancel the card after you have used the Free 1 Night certificate for a Pro-rated refund? OR Once the free night is used, there is no refund on the membership fee?
I currently have 3 AMEX Bonvoy Cards and thinking of cancelling 1.
I currently have 3 AMEX Bonvoy Cards and thinking of cancelling 1.
#813
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 540
Amex does not do prorated refunds anymore. You have 30 days from the date the annual fee is assessed (usually coincides with the statement date) to cancel and receive a full refund of the AF. The free night certificate takes more than 30 days to post so you can't have both (AF refund + certificate). You can of course always cancel after receiving the certificate, but you'd also be eating the full AF at that point. If you are thinking of cancelling one of the cards, make sure that you are not cancelling within the first 12 months of having that particular card or if you've upgraded, within 12 months from the upgrade. Let the annual fee hit your statement before cancelling or it may prevent you from getting bonuses from Amex in the future. As long as you cancel within 30 days from when the fee hits you'll get a refund so there's absolutely no benefit to cancelling before the AF hits.
#814
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 89
Silver elite to Gold status
Hi, I recently upgraded to the Amex Brilliant, but my status still shows on the Bonvoy site as silver elite. How long does it typically take to reflect the change? Thanks in advance.
Update: 2 days!
Update: 2 days!
Last edited by duceno1; Apr 21, 2019 at 5:45 am
#816
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 540
Application comes up fine for me (although I'm not actually trying to apply since I hold the card). A lot of times when I get messages like that from the Amex site, I can usually fix it by clearing the [Amex] cookies in my browser. You can also try applying through Incognito mode.
#817
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: SBA
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 941
Application comes up fine for me (although I'm not actually trying to apply since I hold the card). A lot of times when I get messages like that from the Amex site, I can usually fix it by clearing the [Amex] cookies in my browser. You can also try applying through Incognito mode.
#818
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 85
Apologies for asking maybe basic question, thread is *very* long to read through. I currently hold the Marriott Chase Rewards Plus card, but it's been more than 24 months since I received the welcome bonus for it. I also recently had/cancelled whatever the Amex SPG $95 card was, and had received the bonus for that in last 24 months. Today I applied and was approved for the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card, didn't receive any message about not qualifying for the 100k signup bonus, but the language (including on TPG) describing the disqualifiers is pretty dense. Given the above status on other Marriott / SPG cards, anyone able to tell whether I qualify for the 100k offer or not?
#819
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 540
Apologies for asking maybe basic question, thread is *very* long to read through. I currently hold the Marriott Chase Rewards Plus card, but it's been more than 24 months since I received the welcome bonus for it. I also recently had/cancelled whatever the Amex SPG $95 card was, and had received the bonus for that in last 24 months. Today I applied and was approved for the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card, didn't receive any message about not qualifying for the 100k signup bonus, but the language (including on TPG) describing the disqualifiers is pretty dense. Given the above status on other Marriott / SPG cards, anyone able to tell whether I qualify for the 100k offer or not?
Welcome offer not available to applicants who (i) have or have had The Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card from JPMorgan or the J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ from Chase, the Marriott Rewards®Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Business from Chase or the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a new Card Member bonus or upgrade offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ from Chase, Marriott Rewards®Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott Bonvoy™ Premier Plus Business from Chase or the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 24 months.
If your answer is NO to every item in the list = Bonus
#820
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: SF, NYC (Upper WS), Europe
Posts: 307
Questions:
1.) For those who "upgraded" their SPG AMEX cards to the $450 AMEX Bonvoy, will they honor the 100K sign-up bonus (since it's considered a new AMEX product)?
2.) Is paying $95 Annual Fee for the Chase Bonvoy 100k bonus worth it if you plan to sock drawer it right away?
1.) For those who "upgraded" their SPG AMEX cards to the $450 AMEX Bonvoy, will they honor the 100K sign-up bonus (since it's considered a new AMEX product)?
2.) Is paying $95 Annual Fee for the Chase Bonvoy 100k bonus worth it if you plan to sock drawer it right away?
#821
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: SBA
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 941
However, when trying to get my card number now, I got: "we're sorry, our systems are not responding at this time. While you await for your new card, we will award you $60 in the form of a statement credit".
It said 3-5 business days for the new card, so that's fine. Free $60
Last edited by tstauck; May 7, 2019 at 5:15 pm
#822
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 540
Questions:
1.) For those who "upgraded" their SPG AMEX cards to the $450 AMEX Bonvoy, will they honor the 100K sign-up bonus (since it's considered a new AMEX product)?
2.) Is paying $95 Annual Fee for the Chase Bonvoy 100k bonus worth it if you plan to sock drawer it right away?
1.) For those who "upgraded" their SPG AMEX cards to the $450 AMEX Bonvoy, will they honor the 100K sign-up bonus (since it's considered a new AMEX product)?
2.) Is paying $95 Annual Fee for the Chase Bonvoy 100k bonus worth it if you plan to sock drawer it right away?
2. Don't hold that product, but I've stayed away from the Chase card as getting that one bonus would've prevented me from getting the two Amex bonuses (regular card and business card). If one doesn't hold any Marriott card products, I think you are better off double dipping with Amex and getting the business and personal bonuses.
#823
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 142
1. Only if you are targeted and received an offer stating that you'd get the bonus for upgrading; otherwise it's just a straight upgrade (product change) without a bonus. From what I've read and also on the email offer I received the deadline to upgrade is today 4/24/2019. When I hit the "upgrade" link in the email offer I received the application page showed the bonus as part of the terms. I believe some people have also seen the targeted upgrade offer through a banner in their Amex account. I never saw a banner, and only got the offer via email. Additionally, I think you are only targeted if you're already passed your first year with the card.
2. Don't hold that product, but I've stayed away from the Chase card as getting that one bonus would've prevented me from getting the two Amex bonuses (regular card and business card). If one doesn't hold any Marriott card products, I think you are better off double dipping with Amex and getting the business and personal bonuses.
2. Don't hold that product, but I've stayed away from the Chase card as getting that one bonus would've prevented me from getting the two Amex bonuses (regular card and business card). If one doesn't hold any Marriott card products, I think you are better off double dipping with Amex and getting the business and personal bonuses.
#824
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 540
You can't change to a no fee product as the product change has to be within the same card family and all Marriott cards have a fee. I've read that it might be possible in the future to move from the Brilliant to the regular Bonvoy Amex with the lower AF, but I haven't seen any data points as the refreshed products are relatively new. Even if it were possible, I feel that the Brilliant with an effective AF of $150 (after the $300 Marriott credit) is a much better value even if the AF is $55 higher than the regular Bonvoy Amex because of the 50K annual certificate. It should also be easy to get way more value than $150 from that annual certificate so the card pretty much pays for itself and is worth holding on to it even if you end up not using it on a regular basis.
#825
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: SF, NYC (Upper WS), Europe
Posts: 307
You can't change to a no fee product as the product change has to be within the same card family and all Marriott cards have a fee. I've read that it might be possible in the future to move from the Brilliant to the regular Bonvoy Amex with the lower AF, but I haven't seen any data points as the refreshed products are relatively new. Even if it were possible, I feel that the Brilliant with an effective AF of $150 (after the $300 Marriott credit) is a much better value even if the AF is $55 higher than the regular Bonvoy Amex because of the 50K annual certificate. It should also be easy to get way more value than $150 from that annual certificate so the card pretty much pays for itself and is worth holding on to it even if you end up not using it on a regular basis.