The clock is ticking on Marriott Bonvoy’s record welcome offers. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is dangling 200,000 points after $6,000 spend in six months. The Bevy® version offers 175,000 after $5,000. Both expire May 13, 2026—just eight days from now.[[1]](https://www.marriott.com/credit-cards.mi)[[1]](https://www.marriott.com/credit-cards.mi)
** **That’s not marketing fluff. It’s the highest these cards have ever gone, and it lands right before Marriott tightens the screws again. Rumors and early 2026 adjustments point to higher award pricing across premium properties, especially those formerly locked into Category 8 territory. Lock in the points now, and you beat the devaluation by a week.[[2]](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUA-wWGEar6/)
** **The Arbitrage Window
** **Marriott doesn’t publish a clean award chart anymore, but internal bands still exist. High-end properties—think top Ritz-Carltons, St. Regis, and Luxury Collection spots—currently range from about 52,000 to 140,000 points per night, with many peak stays sitting in the 85,000–120,000 sweet spot.[[3]](https://frequentmiler.com/marriotts-secret-award-chart/)
** **After the rumored May 20 changes, those numbers are expected to drift higher on popular dates and aspirational resorts. The 200k bonus from the Brilliant card essentially buys you two strong nights at a former Category 8 property or one truly stupid one, depending on your taste for overwater villas and butler service.[[4]](https://awardtravelfinder.com/award-charts/marriott-bonvoy)
** **The Business card’s up-to-five free night awards (each up to 50k points) is the sleeper for manufactured spend types, but the straight points on the Brilliant and Bevy hit harder for immediate arbitrage. Cash rates at these hotels routinely exceed $1,000–$2,000 a night in peak season. Your points are about to buy more fantasy than reality post-May 20.
** **What Actually Qualifies as “Category 8” These Days
** **Properties that reliably demand the upper end include the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, St. Regis Punta Mita, The St. Regis Cap Cana, EDITION hotels in high-demand spots, and icons like the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto or certain Maldives overwater setups. These are the ones where cash rates laugh at mortals and points currently deliver 1.2–2.0+ cents per point if you time it right.[[5]](https://www.sebastianluxetravel.com/blog/best-luxury-marriott-bonvoy-redemptions-ritz-st-regis-edition)
** **After the adjustment, expect fewer sub-100k opportunities on peak dates. Marriott has been quietly raising the ceiling on its internal bands—Category 8 max went from 130k to 140k in the last update, and the trend isn’t reversing. Booking before May 20 with freshly minted bonus points is the closest thing we have to a sure bet.
** **The humor here is dark if you’ve been in the game awhile. Marriott devalues with the subtlety of a drunk elephant, yet they keep printing these monster sign-up bonuses like a casino comping free drinks before last call. Take the drinks.
** **What You Should Do
** **Apply for the Brilliant if you want raw points and don’t mind the $650 annual fee (offset somewhat by the annual Free Night Award). Go Bevy if $250 feels saner. Hit the spend naturally or with some manufactured volume you’re already comfortable with—$5–6k isn’t heroic.
** **Once the points post, immediately scout your target properties for dates before and after May 20. Book the pre-devaluation window if the rate jumps. Two or three strong nights at properties that normally cost four figures is the kind of edge that makes the annual fee feel like pocket change.
** **Don’t overthink churn ethics or whether Marriott “deserves” your business. They’re a publicly traded hotel company that adjusts prices twice a year whether points are involved or not. This is just efficient capital allocation with a side of luxury travel.
** **The offers vanish May 13. The pricing shift hits May 20. The window is comically tight and genuinely valuable. Apply today, meet the spend, and go sleep in a bed that costs more than most people’s rent—on Marriott’s dime, not yours.
** **Action item: Check your eligibility on the American Express website for the Brilliant or Bevy card, submit the application before May 13, and have your redemption targets queued up. The points will be more powerful in the next two weeks than they will be for the rest of 2026.
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