Your Complete Guide To The Bonvoy Brilliant $300 Dining Credit

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The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is a luxury hotel credit card that offers something for everyone for an annual cost of $650. Not only do cardholders get a Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership valued at $469, but they get automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership and a free night award (up to 85,000 points) upon card renewal.

Sweetening the pot even more is the card’s $300 annual dining credit, which is different from the previous annual statement credit offered on this card. Read on to learn more about the Bonvoy Brilliant dining credit, how it works and about other perks that come automatically with this offer from the Marriott Bonvoy hotel program.

How does the Bonvoy Brilliant $300 dining credit work?

The dining credit applies when you make purchases at qualifying restaurants worldwide with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card. The credit does not roll over and can take eight to 12 weeks to post after you make an eligible purchase. Purchases made by both primary card members and authorized users qualify for the dining credit.

To get the full $300 annual credit each year, this means you have to dine out every month and spend at least $25 at an eligible eatery each time. As mentioned, you also have to charge the dining purchases to your card each month. Obviously, every month you miss or forget will decrease the value of this credit by $25.

Which purchases qualify for the credit?

Purchases made at restaurants worldwide qualify for the Bonvoy Brilliant dining credit, but there are a few exclusions you should be aware of.

If you use a mobile wallet and the transaction gets coded as anything other than dining, you might not get the credit. And if you use your card at any of the following establishments, your purchase won’t be eligible for the $25 dining credit:

• Nightclubs
• Convenience stores
• Grocery stores or supermarkets
• Gift card purchases
• Restaurants inside hotels, casinos or event venues

The Bonvoy Brilliant Card earns 3X points on purchases made at restaurants worldwide, further incentivizing card members to use it at restaurants. Marriott Bonvoy points are worth 0.7 cents each, according to Bankrate’s valuations, so you would get around 2.1 cents back per dollar spent on qualifying purchases. Bonvoy points are worth slightly higher than average compared to the value of some of the best hotel credit cards‘ points. 

Is the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card’s $300 dining credit worth the annual fee?

American Express increased the Bonvoy Brilliant’s annual fee from $450 to $650 in late 2022, making it one of the more expensive credit cards on the market. 

However, cardholders who use the Bonvoy Brilliant more for travel than hotel stays may find this updated feature useful. The dining credit is valid at restaurants worldwide, so it could be used for your daily coffee or while dining abroad. That being said, the $300 dining credit alone is likely not worth the $650 annual fee. You’ll need to consider the card’s other benefits to determine if it’s worthwhile.

For example, the Bonvoy Brilliant has upgraded its annual free night award from 50,000 points to up to 85,000 points per stay. If you can save $350 or more every year by using the free night award, then the card can be worth it.

The Bonvoy Brilliant Card also gets you access to an underrated yet valuable discount program: Amex Offers. Amex Offers partners with hundreds of popular retailers to offer incredible discounts for Amex credit cards on everything from travel spending to your monthly cellphone bill. This can sweeten the deal when you’re trying to decide whether the $300 dining statement credit is worth paying the annual fee.

What happened to the previous $300 dining credit? 

Previously, card members received $300 in Marriott credits that could be used all at once or redeemed in smaller increments over a year. Some card members will find the new $300 dining credit distribution system to be more restrictive since it’s dispersed in $25 monthly increments and only valid at restaurants. 

Bankrate credit cards writer Ryan Flanigan discusses his experience with the Bonvoy Brilliant dining credit and increased annual fee: 

Other credits you can earn with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card

If you’re staring down the $650 annual fee on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card and wondering if the $300 annual dining credit helps justify it, you should look at the card’s other useful benefits. Some of them have a specific dollar value attached, while others can be worth varying amounts.

Other credits include:

• Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership: This credit automatically comes with the card and is worth up to $120 for Global Entry every four years or up to $85 toward TSA PreCheck every four and a half years.
• Free night award (up to 85,000 points) upon card renewal: With Marriott Bonvoy points worth approximately 0.7 cents each, the free night award for up to 85,000 points that this card offers upon account renewal is worth up to $595.
• $100 Marriott Bonvoy property credit: This credit applies when you use the card for qualifying purchases at The Ritz-Carlton^® or St. Regis^® when you book directly and use a special rate for a minimum two-night stay.

Other benefits make this card even more valuable, including the Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership and the Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status automatically awarded to the primary cardholder.

The bottom line

When you add up the value of all the benefits on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, it’s easy to see where the $650 annual fee comes from. However, this fee only makes sense if you can get that much or more in value each year — and if you stay in Marriott hotels and resorts enough to use the automatic Platinum Elite status that’s automatically granted to cardholders.

If you don’t think the juice will be worth the squeeze, look at other co-branded Marriott credit cards with lower annual fees. If you only stay in Marriott properties part of the time and you want more flexibility, you can also look into Chase credit cards that let you transfer points to your Marriott account at a 1:1 ratio.

Frequently asked questions about the Bonvoy Brilliant $300 dining credit 

• Can authorized users get the statement credit?
  

  Authorized users on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card can’t get their own Bonvoy Brilliant $300 credit. However, eligible purchases at restaurants made by authorized users do qualify for the statement credit.

• Can I use my $300 dining credit all at once?
  

  Unfortunately, you can’t use the $300 Bonvoy Brilliant restaurant credit all at once. The benefit gets issued in $25 monthly installments, and it won’t roll over if you don’t use it every month.