American Express currently offers two Marriott co-brand credit cards for Canadians, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card. Both cards are amazing in their own right, but when you look at other countries that have Marriott co-brand cards, many of them such as the U.S, Japan, UAE, Mexico, and others have at least two options on the consumer side. So, we ask the question: “is it time for American Express Canada to introduce a second card for the consumer?” Namely, a higher level Ultra Premium card.
This is a question that has been asked of me numerous times over the past couple of years by the Rewards Canada community (I’m mainly looking at you Jeff W. 😉 ) and just last week I heard an ever so slight inkling of such a thing being discussed by the powers that be. Of course it is just hearsay now but if it does happen, it would be great news as Marriott Bonvoy and American Express play such an integral role in the Canadian points & miles community and to have a card that could provide more benefits would be amazing.
What would an Ultra Premium Marriott Bonvoy card offer?
If American Express and Marriott Bonvoy do ever go ahead with a higher level Marriott consumer card in Canada it would definitely offer more than the current Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card. It would be anybody’s guess as to what the offering would be but we could make some educated guesses based on the higher end cards that are seen in other countries.
Here’s some possibilities and these would be in addition to and/or be an enhancement of what is offered on the current Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card:
- Higher earn rates: The card would have to have earn that is higher than the current consumer card. I’d guess 6 points per dollar on Marriott purchases, 3 or 4 points on select spend categories (gas, grocery, dining, etc.) and 2 points on everything else
- Automatic Gold or Platinum Elite Status: The higher end cards in the U.S. provide automatic Gold status, while the absolute top level US$650 per year Bonvoy Brilliant provides Platinum status, Mexico gets Gold Status, Japan and South Korea’s highest cards get Gold Status with Platinum achievable on spend and cards in other countries follow a similar pattern. Ideally, it would be great to see automatic Platinum status but that seems reserved for the U.S. only. In all likelihood a Canadian Ultra Premium card would provide automatic Gold Elite status with the ability to achieve Platinum on spend.
- Higher value anniversary Free Night Award: The current Marriott Bonvoy Amex card offerings in Canada provide an anniversary free night award certificate that covers free nights of up to 35,000 points. The higher end cards in the U.S. have free night awards that cover nights of up to 50,000 points and even 85,000 points. While an 85,000 point cert would be great to have, again I feel an Ultra Premium Canadian card would offer a 50,000 point certificate – which could be extended to 65,000 points with Marriott Bonvoy’s top off feature that allows 15,000 points to be redeemed on top of the certificate.
- Additional Free Night Awards achieved with spend: Again, another feature from cards in other countries would be the ability to earn an additional Free Night Award after spending a set amount on the card over the course of a year.
- Annual statement credit for a Marriott stay: The card could offer an annual statement credit of C$50 or C$100 towards a Marriott stay in Canada. The U.S. cards offer dining credits or credits for stay at luxury properties but I feel a tie in to being a card for Canadians the credit would be ideal to encourage stays at Marriott locations in Canada.
- Reasonable annual fee: This would tie in with only providing Gold Elite Status and a 50,000 point certificate but I feel the card would have to have a reasonable “Ultra Premium” annual fee. Something in the neighbourhood of $399 or $499 per year. Any higher and I don’t think the card would do very well. As it is, hotel cards have struggled in Canada (even no fee hotel cards went the way of the dodo) and having a very expensive hotel card would just kill any potential it would have of gaining enough market share where the card would prove sustainable for Amex.
- Airport Lounge Access: The card could offer Priority Pass lounge access with annual passes similar to the Canadian American Express Gold Rewards Card. The U.S. Bonvoy Brilliant provides unlimited access but again I’m taking into consideration the keeping of the annual fee at a reasonable level.
What are the chances we’ll see such a card?
Even though at this point it only seems like some high level interest that is floating around the loyalty circles about the possibility of an Ultra Premium Marriott Amex card here in Canada – it is just that. Nothing more. As I mentioned before, the question has been asked of me numerous times over the years and while I am usually pretty optimistic about all things loyalty and credit card, with hotel program co-brand credit cards I tend to be less optimistic.
We once had co-brand credit cards for six hotel chains here in Canada – yes, six. Now we have them for one chain. Past studies (many moons ago) showed only 13% of Canadians participate in hotel loyalty programs. I would think that number is higher now but probably not much more than 20% at tops. And that’s participation, it doesn’t even take into consideration being involved enough in a program where someone would entertain a hotel credit card when they have Aeroplan, Avion, Scene+, AIR MILES, [Insert major Canadian program name here] credit cards in their wallet already. Not to mention we have had airline and other loyalty programs, some that are even Canadian based that were not able to make a go of co-brand cards in Canada – CAA and More Rewards are two such examples.
Thus, everything points towards an extremely tough go for hotel co-brand cards in Canada but I am keeping my fingers crossed that not only do we see an Ultra Premium Marriott Bonvoy card but also a return to our market from the likes of Best Western and IHG plus perhaps have Hilton make there way into our country seeing they have been and continue to add quite a few new hotels to our market every year. The rumour mill does have other hotel chains exploring an entrance or perhaps re-entrance to our market, so only time will tell.
What do you think?
Would you like to see an Ultra Premium Marriott Bonvoy card offered here in Canada? Do you think it will ever happen? And if it did what are some benefits or features you’d like to see available on it? Let us know in the comments below!
Title image: St. Regis Toronto courtesy of Marriott