We all love credit cards that earn transferable currencies such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the American Express® Gold Card.

But what about the co-branded airline or hotel credit cards - do they come with valuable incentives to keep the card in your wallet? Do the benefits justify their annual fees?

Hotels’ co-branded credit cards often come with good perks, such as elite status, extra points earning opportunities and free night certificates. And sometimes you can spend your way to a free night.

Since the start of the pandemic, American Express has been quite proactive in adding non-travel benefits to its impressive lineup of credit cards. We’ve seen streaming services, shipping and dining credits, and more in 2020.

But for customers who still aren’t traveling much and aren’t taking advantage of all the travel-related benefits offered by the cards in their portfolio in 2021, Amex wants to make sure you still have a reason to use their products for your everyday spending.

My last trip was February 2020. My wife and I returned home from an awesome week-long stay at Scrub Island Resort in the British Virgin Islands not knowing that it would be our last trip for a long time. We had tons of trips all over the world planned for 2020 that we would slowly begin cancelling one-by-one: 3 weeks in South Africa, a trip to Chile and Argentina, a few trips to Europe, and tons of domestic trips as well.

Like many of you, we’ve been pretty cooped up for the last year or so.

With a new year comes new opportunities. There will always be the opportunity to earn new points, but today we want to share some new (and some soon to be gone) updates to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Most of these changes relate to your ability to earn status. Marriott status can be worthwhile if you find yourself staying in Marriott properties often.

If you’re like me, Marriott elite status doesn’t start to be worth it until you’ve earned Platinum Elite. That’s when you’ll get free breakfast and are eligible for suite upgrades.

Today we continue our series on the types of credit card reward programs frequented by travelers.

Update: The offers below have expired and are no longer available.

In the spring of 2017 I opened a Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. At the beginning of this year, that card was product changed to the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card.

The Mariott Bonvoy Amex Card is not open for applications. Those that have one were all product changed from a Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card.

We've got a special treat for you today, MileValue readers! Meet Mike Hammari, who will be writing a series of guest posts about a cross-country trip he is currently in the middle of. Who needs miles when you've got feet? Those weary feet still need a decent place to rest. Mike is covering some of his hotel stays with points and is excited to have an audience listening that cares more about rewards than what brand of shoe he's wearing. Really though, Mike, tell us what shoes you chose...

Anything below in italics is a comment from me.

Once you’ve opened five credit cards from any bank in the last 24 months (not counting most business cards), Chase will likely deny you for all of their travel rewards credit cards.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card is the latest addition to the Marriott family credit card portfolio, launched August 23, 2018. Rumor was the bonus would be 125k points, but turns out it's 100k points for $5k in spending.

All the new eligibility rules for sign up bonuses on Marriott family cards kick in August 26, but since the card has already launched there is a small window of time (right now!) in which one can apply before the new rules lock you out for up to two years. Today is August 24.