American Express Bonvoy Brilliant Dining Credits Are Now Posting, Updated Card Design Available To Order
Last month (September 2022) American Express refreshed the Marriott Bonvoy credit card portfolio and we have covered the changes on the day that the new products became available.
The “new” Brilliant card comes with a monthly US$25 credit for dining purchases which can be used at worldwide merchants as long as they are correctly registered as a restaurant and these credits are now posting successfully to the accounts.
Members who hold the original Bonvoy Brilliant card such as myself can also request an updated card design to be shipped to them.
The main thing, however, is that cardholders of the new Bonvoy Brilliant card no longer have the $300 Marriott credit available to them but rather to remember using their $25/month dining credit.
In September, which was the first month where this change kicked in I had no choice to visit a restaurant as I was in Germany, and acceptance of Amex is sparse.
I ended up charging my Starbucks Card with $25 through the mobile app which has worked in the past with Amex and once again it was a success:
When I went to Japan in early October there was more opportunity to use my card, in fact most restaurants in Tokyo actually accept American Express which is a huge improvement.
The entire credit posted in increments related to the individual transactions:
I didn’t expect any problems with these credits as Amex is usually quite reliable with posting them but as I previously wrote I don’t like this change at all. While in theory it won’t make a difference if you get the money back for dining or for Marriott it’s tedious work to always use the card every month at outlets just to use up the credit. The $300 Marriott credit could be used up in one swipe for the entire year. Not anymore.
One can argue that anyone who has a $650 card definitely spends $300 on dining but for me it’s mostly the convenience factor that I enjoyed with the $300 Marriott credit. I used in up in the first week I had the card and didn’t need to think about it anymore.
As far as the card design is concerned I’m not sure if I like the new card more. Since my chip was damaged, I had no choice other than to get a new card anyway but this happened in August so I decided to wait a few more weeks and request a new card once they made the switch.
If you want to just change the design while currently holding the old card there is an option for that too but it doesn’t display for me anymore as the new one has already been issued.
I have written more about the new Amex / Marriott cards in the article from last month:
Two New Amex & Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premium Credit Cards Are Now Open To Fresh Applications
Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of the new expensive Brilliant card unless you want to get it for the Platinum status.
Conclusion
American Express Bonvoy Brilliant cardholders are reminded to use their card monthly for dining purchases valued $25 in order to utilize your credits. If you don’t find anything suitable to spend on, you can always charge your Starbucks card online or through the app and it will qualify as well.
The new design is a sleek all-black with the signature “M” swoosh. You’re able to request a replacement card free of charge. I did so, and it was FedEx’ed to me all the way to Asia (registered account address) free of charge.
