The long wait for an Marriott co-branded credit card in India is over. Marriott Group has announced the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card in collaboration with HDFC Bank. It’s offered on the Diners Club platform and comes with a joining fee of Rs 3000 plus GST. The Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status comes complimentary along with a free award night as a welcome and renewal benefit. On purchases with the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card, you can earn up to 8 MB points. In this review, you will find everything you need to know about the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card.
Eligibility
- Age: Min 21 years and Max 60 years
- Gross Monthly Income more than Rs 1 Lakh for salaried individuals
- ITR Income more than Rs 15 Lakhs per annum for self-employed individuals
The Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card will be issued to existing HDFC Bank credit card customers too. It will share your existing HDFC Bank credit limit.
Fees
| Joining Fee | Rs 3000+GST ~Rs 3540 |
| Welcome Benefit | 1 Free Night Award (up to 15K points) |
| Marriott Bonvoy Status | Silver Elite with 10 Elite Night Credits per year |
| Annual Fee | Rs 3000+GST ~Rs 3540 |
| Renewal Benefit | 1 Free Night Award (up to 15K points) |
| Annual Fee Waiver | None |
What do we get for paying Rs 3000+GST which is Rs 3540 as joining and annual fee on the new Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card?
- 1 Free Night Award (up to 15000 MB points)
- Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status with 10 Elite Night Credits per year
That is a pretty good value for the fee we pay. Now, 15000 Bonvoy points may not be enough for most premium properties in India. So, you do have an option to top it up with another 15K bonus points to access more properties. This is an entry-level Marriott Bonvoy credit card. So, we cannot expect much. 🙂
Rewards
| Spend Category | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Spends at Marriott Bonvoy hotels | 8 MB points / Rs 150 ~3.2% |
| Travel, Dining and Entertainment Spends | 4 MB points / Rs 150 ~1.6% |
| Other Retail Spends | 2 MB points / Rs 150 ~0.8% |
| EMI, Fuel, Wallets, Gift Vouchers, Govt. Services, Rent | No Rewards |
2 MB points per Rs 100 on other spends seems a little low considering a lot of high spend categories are already excluded. We value each Marriott Bonvoy point at 60 paise. So, the return rate is between 0.8% to 3.2% on spends. This is rather low and less than what cashback credit cards offer. Plus, Marriott Bonvoy has also switched to a dynamic reward redemption value.
Fair Usage Caps on Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card
- Maximum Eligible Spends for Marriott Bonvoy Points earned at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels (i.e. 8 Marriott Bonvoy Points per Rs 150) is capped at a monthly spends threshold of Rs 10 Lakh.
- Maximum Eligible Spends for Marriott Bonvoy Points earned on Travel, Dining and Entertainment (i.e., 4 Marriott Bonvoy Points per Rs 150) is capped at a monthly spend threshold of Rs 5,00,000.
- Maximum Eligible Spend for earning of Marriott Bonvoy Points on grocery store spend (i.e., 2 Marriott Bonvoy Points per ₹150) will be capped at spends of Rs 1.5 Lakh per month.
Milestone Benefits
The Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card also gets up to 3 free night awards as milestone benefits. Each FNA can be redeemed for hotels with a redemption level up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
| Annual Spend | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Rs 6 Lakh | 1 Free Night Award (FNA) |
| Rs 9 Lakh | 1 Free Night Award (FNA) |
| Rs 15 Lakh | 1 Free Night Award (FNA) |
Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite Status Benefits
The Marriott Bonvoy program has got four membership levels – Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite. Without any Marriott Bonvoy credit card, you would need to stay for 10 nights in a year to get the Silver Elite status. With the 10 Elite Nights credit, the Marriott Bonvoy credit card fast tracks you to Silver Elite status. From here on, you would need to stay for only 15 nights more to get to Gold Elite.
The Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status will give you extra benefits too:
- 10% extra points on stays: Any eligible hotel purchases including dining and incidental purchases will get you 10% extra points in your Marriott Bonvoy account
- Priority Late Checkout: For the days when your flight is in the evening and you want to check out a little later.
- Member Rates and Free Wi-Fi: Free Wi-Fi is pretty much standard for every hotel now, so not an extra benefit.
Rewards Redemption
The free night award and earned Bonvoy points will be credited to the cardholder’s Marriott Bonvoy account. These can directly be used for reward redemption bookings as we do for other cases.
The earned points for Marriott Bonvoy will also reflect in cardmembers account within 60 days of transaction.
Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
- Domestic Airport Lounge Access: 12 complimentary visits/year
- International Airport Lounge Access: 12 complimentary visits/year
The Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card does not have any spend conditions for availing the airport lounge access. Another plus point of this card!
Complimentary Golf Access
- Complimentary 2 golf courses access and 2 golf course lessons per quarter across the world
Insurance Benefits
Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card holder gets the following insurance benefits. While T&C is not clear yet, this would most probably be applicable only if you use the card to make the travel booking.
- Delay / Loss in Check in Baggage: $250
- Loss of Travel Documents: $250
- Flight Delay: $250
- Air Accidental Cover: Rs 10 Lakhs
- Emergency Medical Expenses: Rs 15 Lakhs
- Credit Shield: Rs 1 Lakh
- Loss Liability Cover: Rs 1 Lakh
Should you get the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card?
This is the first ever co-branded hotel chain credit card in India. So, has the wait been worth it? The answer would be No. This is a good entry-level credit card from Marriott Bonvoy but it does not have any selling point for Marriott Bonvoy enthusiasts. The earn rate for spends is too low if you are planning to use this card for day to day spends.
But, the card does have its own benefits. We get Silver Elite status as long as we hold the card with a credit of 10 Elite nights. Another 15 nights of stay and we can reach Gold Elite status. The other plus point of the Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank credit card are its milestone benefits. You can use this card for payments like insurance, rent and govt. services and get the FNA benefits on hitting the target spends.
For earning Bonvoy points, Amex cards stay on as the best. We get 1:1 transfer for MR points to Marriott Bonvoy. Do check out the Gold Charge, MRCC and Platinum Travel cards from Amex.
Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card
7 thoughts on “Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card Review”
Hi, Thanks for the review!!
I have now received the HDFC Bonvoy card – but it has no mention / reference of my Bonvoy no.
Both HDFC Bonvoy Customer support and Bonvoy Customer support are clueless if my card is tagged already or will take some time to get linked.
Can you please guide how I should check this?
Yes, they are not printing it in all cases. But it is ok as long as you used same email id as existing Bonvoy account for HDFC Bank credit cards.
What are the options, if for some reason one cannot avail these benefits? anyway to extend those nights or points? or is there specific expiry for these?
TIA
Which one? The nights and points are valid as per Marriott Bonvoy T&C.
thank you!
Hello,
Good day!
One question, I hold Amex cards, have linked to the Marriott Bonvoy account. So I assume , if I get this HDFC card, linked marriott account will be the same , and whatever MB I already accured in the marriott account can be used along with the HDFC Marriott card MB, am I correct?
Eg : We get a Free Night stay and can be topped up to 30K with the hdfc card, and assume I have another 5K MB in my marriott account, so can I use 15K + 5K = 20K for a hotel booking?
Yes, all ok.