With the Starwood merger, Marriott has become the second largest hotel chain in the world. So no matter where you’re going or your travel style, you’ll likely find a Marriott property that fits your needs. That’s why its loyalty program – Marriott Bonvoy – has become quite popular among travelers of all types.
Marriott points are easy to earn with flexible redemption options. Although its points value could be better, Marriott Bonvoy makes up for it by offering huge bonuses on spending. For example, 10x points on Marriott stays. Even more, if you’re an elite member or a Marriott Bonvoy credit cardholder (more on that later).
Find everything you need to know about Marriott Bonvoy below.
Personal Credit Cards
Business Credit Cards
- Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card: Three Free Night (Worth 150,000 Points) Signup Bonus
| Redemption Options | Hotel stays Hotel credits Airfare Rental cars Travel packages TSA Precheck Exclusive events & experiences Gift cards Merchandise Charitable donations Transfer to a partner program |
| Value Per Point | $0.002 – $0.015 Up to $0.02 |
Marriott Bonvoy Brands
Marriott Bonvoy encompasses 30 brands and over 7,000 properties across 131 countries and territories. Brands are organized under five categories: Luxury, Premium, Select, Longer Stays and Collections.
Marriott Luxury brands feature bespoke and superb amenities and services.
- EDITION
- JW Marriott
- The Luxury Collection
- The Ritz-Carlton
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve
- St. Regis
- W Hotels
Marriott Premium brands offer sophisticated and thoughtful amenities and services.
- Delta Hotels
- Gaylord Hotels
- Le MERIDIEN
- Marriott Hotels
- Marriott Vacation Club
- Renaissance Hotels
- Sheraton
- Westin
Marriott Select brands provide smart and easy amenities and services.
- AC Hotels
- Aloft Hotels
- Courtyard Hotels
- Fairfield Inn & Suites
- Four Points
- Moxy Hotels
- Protea Hotels
- SpringHill Suites
Marriott Longer Stays brands have amenities and services to help you feel at home.
- Element
- Homes & Villas by Marriott International
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- Residence Inn
- TownePlace Suites
Marriott Collections brands are uniquely designed and each offers distinctive and luxurious experiences.
- Autograph Collection Hotels
- Design Hotels
- Tribute Portfolio
Explore the Marriott Brands here.
Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status
The new Marriott program now offers five elite statuses: Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador.
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | TITANIUM | AMBASSADOR |
| 10 qualifying nights | 25 qualifying nights | 50 qualifying nights | 75 qualifying nights | 100 qualifying nights* |
| 10% points bonus | 25% points bonus | 50% points bonus | 75% points bonus | 75% points bonus |
*Plus $20,000 annual Marriott spend.
You’ll get free standard WiFi by signing up for Marriott Bonvoy. And as you move up status tiers, you’ll unlock additional VIP perks:
| ELITE STATUS | STATUS PERKS |
| Silver | Late checkout Dedicated reservation phone line |
| Gold | Enhanced internet access 2pm late checkout Room upgrades (up to Executive) “Welcome gift” of 250 to 500 points |
| Platinum | Room upgrades (up to Standard Suite) Lounge access 4pm late checkout Arrival gift (points or food & beverage) 1 Annual Choice Benefit* |
| Titanium | United MileagePlus Silver status 2nd Annual Choice Benefit** |
| Ambassador | Personal “ambassador” 24-hour check-in and check-out time |
*After staying 50 nights in one year. Choose from: 5 Suite Night Awards, gifting Silver Elite status, 40% mattress discount, 5 Elite Night Credits or $100 donation to charity.
**After staying 75 nights in one year. Includes an additional option of a free night certificate worth up to 40,000 points.
The great thing about Marriott elite status is that a lot of the benefits are guaranteed. If you don’t end up receiving what you’re entitled to, you’ll get compensation. Most other hotel loyalty programs offer elite status perks, but nothing is guaranteed.
Lifetime Elite Status
Marriott Bonvoy offers lifetime elite status, and it’s not too hard to achieve.
| STATUS | NIGHTS REQUIRED | YEARS REQUIRED |
| Lifetime Silver | 250 | 5 years of Gold status |
| Lifetime Gold | 400 | 7 years of Gold status or higher |
| Lifetime Platinum Elite | 600 | 10 years of Platinum Elite status or higher |
You should consider obtaining lifetime elite status if you travel frequently for business or if you want to enjoy having elite status without worrying about maintaining it for the rest of your life.
*The above information was collected independently and subject to change. Click here for our source.
Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points: Co-Branded Cards
The best way to rack up on Marriott Bonvoy points is by getting a Marriott co-branded credit card and qualifying for its welcome bonus.
Chase offers two personal credit cards that earn Marriott points, while American Express (Amex) offers one personal and one business card. If you’re looking to apply for a Marriott credit card, keep in mind:
- The Chase 5/24 rule. If you opened five or more new credit cards in the past 24 months (from any bank), you won’t be approved for a new credit card from Chase.
- The Amex once-in-a-lifetime welcome bonus rule. You can only qualify for the introductory offer on each Amex personal and business card once in your lifetime.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BRILLIANT™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card has an offer for 75,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. We value these 75k points at around $675.
This card earns 6 points per $1 at hotels participating in the Marriott BonvoyTM program and 3 points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll get a Free Night Award (redemption level up to 50,000 points) every account anniversary year, and up to $300 in statement credits each year for eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott BonvoyTM program. Resort fees may apply. Other benefits include unlimited airport lounge visits with the Priority Pass Select membership and no foreign transaction fees.
This premium card comes with an Annual Fee of $450. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BOUNDLESS® CREDIT CARD
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase has an offer for 3 Free Nights after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
New to the card, you will earn 3x Bonvoy points on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining. The card is also offering an Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 spent.
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card earns 17 points for every $1 spent at over 7,000+ participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You’ll get a Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every account anniversary year and automatic Silver Elite Status. Additionally, you’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year.
This card has no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $95.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BOLD® CREDIT CARD
The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card has an offer for 30,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months. We value these 30k points at around $270.
This card earns 14 points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. Other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains) will earn 2 points per $1. All other purchases will earn 1 point per $1.
You’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year, qualifying you for Silver Elite status.
There are no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee.
MARRIOTT BONVOY BUSINESS™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card has a limited time offer for 75,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. We value these 75k points to be worth around $675.
This card earns 6 points per $1 at participating hotels in the Marriott BonvoyTM program. It’s 4 points per $1 at U.S. restaurants and U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and on U.S. purchases for shipping. And 2 points per $1 on all other purchases.
Every year after your account anniversary you’ll get 1 free night award. You can earn an additional free night award after spending $60,000 in purchases in 1 calendar year.
There are no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $125. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points: Other Ways
While the best way to rack up on Marriott Bonvoy points is by getting a Marriott co-branded credit card, there are plenty of other ways to earn Marriott points include staying at Marriott properties, taking advantage of MegaBonus promotions, participating in “Go Green” and much more.
Let’s have a closer look at all the ways you can earn Marriott points below:
Of course, you can also earn points by staying at Marriott hotels. But remember to book directly with Marriott. Making reservations through online travel agencies (Expedia, Orbitz, etc.) and credit card travel websites (Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel, Citi ThankYou Travel Center, etc.) won’t get you any Marriott points.
| BRANDS | POINTS EARNED* |
| Most Marriott Brands | 10x points |
| Extended Stay Hotels | 5x points |
| Executive Apartments & ExecuStay | 2.5x points |
*When you gain elite status, you’ll earn bonus points for your stay (see the Elite Status section). This points bonus, however, does not apply to Extended Stay hotels.
**Click here for our source.
Every quarter, Marriott will run MegaBonus promotions which give huge bonuses for a variety of different activities. Past offers include:
- Up to 3,000 bonus points with your second stay
- Double points for a limited time
- 10,000 bonus points with a 4-night stay
To earn MegaBonus rewards, you must first register for each promotion within your Marriott Bonvoy account.
Earn up to 500 bonus points per day by choosing to “Go Green” and opting out of housekeeping. You must stay for at least two consecutive nights, and you can’t skip out on more than three consecutive housekeeping visits. Simply let the front desk know when you check in.
Participating brands include the following (in the United States and Canada only):
- Courtyard
- Fairfield Inn
- Marriott
- Renaissance
- SpringHill Suites
This feature allows up to a maximum of 5,000 bonus points per stay.
Earn bonus Marriott points when you refer a friend. You’ll get 2,000 points every time your referral stays at Marriott. For up to five stays each referral and up to five referrals every calendar year. That’s a total of up to 50,000 Marriott points annually.
Your referrals will also earn 2,000 bonus points for their first five stays. So they can earn up to a total of 10,000 Marriott points each.
Next time you plan a trip with your family and friends, ask if they’re a Marriott Bonvoy member. For those who aren’t, send them your referral link so you can both earn bonus Marriott points.
For every dollar you spend on Marriott Moments, you earn 10 Marriott points. These experiences are open exclusively to Marriott Bonvoy members and include:
- Culinary experiences
- VIP access to entertainment & sports events
- Exclusive Masterclasses
Earn two Marriott points for every dollar spent when you book your wedding, conference, or other event directly with Marriott and provide your Marriott Bonvoy member number. Participating brands include:
- Bulgari Hotels & Resorts
- Design Hotels
- Executive Apartments
- Residence Inn
- The Ritz-Carlton Reserve
- Towneplace Suites
- Vistana
This offer is limited to 60,000 bonus Marriott points.
Earn points with Marriott travel partners: Hertz and CruiseOnly.
Hertz. Get up to 2,000 Marriott points per rental when you rent a car for two or more days, and 500 points for one-day rentals. For an even better deal, book through Marriott to receive discounted rates.
CruiseOnly. Earn 3x Marriott points by booking your cruises through CruiseOnly’s Marriott partner site.
Earn 250 points just for linking your social media profiles – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – to your Marriott Bonvoy account. Get another 250 Marriott points for following Marriott Bonvoy on Twitter. That’s a total of 1,000 easy points.
You can buy 1,000 Marriott points for $12.50. Although I generally don’t recommend it, there are a couple reasons why purchasing points might make sense:
- To keep your points from expiring.
- To complete a redemption when you’re short on points.
*Some of these promotions come and go. Check here for the latest offers.
Redeeming Marriott Bonvoy Points
Not only for hotel stays, Marriot points can be used for travel, gift cards, merchandise and much more. You’ll also be able to transfer your points to over 40 loyalty programs, making Marriott points incredibly flexible.
Here are all the ways you can use your Marriott points:
Refer to Marriott’s straightforward award chart to find out how many points you’ll need for an award stay at a Marriott property. All Marriott Bonvoy members get their fifth night free when you book an award stay of four nights.
| HOTEL CATEGORY | OFF PEAK | STANDARD | PEAK |
| 1 | 5,000 | 7,500 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 10,000 | 12,500 | 15,000 |
| 3 | 15,000 | 17,500 | 20,000 |
| 4 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
| 7 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| 8 | 70,000 | 85,000 | 100,000 |
If you don’t have enough points, you can choose to pay Cash + Points or by using the Points Advance feature. Cash + Points lets you pay for the stay in both cash and points. Click here for the Cash + Points chart.
Points Advance allows you to book an award stay without sufficient points, but you must earn the remainder at least 14 days before you check in. You might want to consider this option if you’re looking to travel at peak times of the year (New Year’s, spring break, etc.).
Compared to other hotel loyalty programs, Marriott Bonvoy has – by far – the most airline transfer partners:
The majority have transfer rates of three Marriott points for one airline mile. So 6,000 Marriott points will get you 2,000 miles.
Transfers must be in 3,000-point increments, and you can move up to 240,000 points at a time. Plus, you’ll get 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 Marriott points. So for the best value, you’ll want to transfer your points in increments of 60,000.
You can also transfer your points to Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards® and Diners Club® International.
Book Hotel + Air packages using your Marriott points.
| HOTEL CATEGORY | 7 NIGHTS + 50,000 MILES | 7 NIGHTS + 100,000 MILES |
| 1 – 4 | 255,000 points | 330,000 points |
| 5 | 315,000 points | 390,000 points |
| 6 | 435,000 points | 510,000 points |
| 7 | 495,000 points | 570,000 points |
| 8 | 675,000 points | 750,000 points |
The miles you get as part of your award travel package can be used towards any participating airline you choose. I recommend going with United Airlines because you’ll get 10% more miles (more on this later).
Unfortunately, there’s no way to book award travel packages online. You’ll have to call Marriott if you want to redeem your points this way.
Use your points for Marriott Bonvoy Moments, where you can score tickets for premium sporting events, celebrity meet and greets and more. Experiences include:
- Dinner at iconic Michelin-starred restaurant Per Se and a tour of its kitchen
- Walking the red carpet at the premier of IT CHAPTER TWO
- A private swimming Masterclass with Olympic gold medalist Stephanie Rice
- Access to the Chicago Cubs Luxury Suite at Wrigley Field
Some events have fixed point pricing while others are up for auction.
Because these experiences are exclusive to Marriott Bonvoy members with no cash value, you can’t really put a price tag on them. So there’s no way to pinpoint the value of this redemption option.
I don’t recommend using your Marriott points for any of the options below, because it will get you far less than $0.01 for each point.
| REDEMPTION | VALUE PER POINT |
| Hotel credit (room bill) | $0.004 |
| TSA Precheck* | $0.0034 |
| Airfare via Marriott | $0.003 – $0.004 |
| Car rental via Marriott | $0.003 – $0.004 |
| Gift cards & merchandise | $0.0025 – $0.003 |
| Charitable donations | $0.002 – $0.004 |
*If you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee is already covered.
Marriott Bonvoy Tips & Tricks
Now that you understand how this loyalty program works let’s move on to how to get the most out of Marriott Bonvoy. Here are six tips and tricks you’ll want to take advantage of:
PointSavers are limited-time Marriott super specials offering award rate discounts of up to 33%. It’s not heavily advertised because only a very small number of hotels participate, and available dates are limited.
| HOTEL CATEGORY | NORMAL RATE (points needed) | POINTSAVERS (points needed) |
| 1 | 7,500 | 6,000 |
| 2 | 12,500 | 11,000 |
| 3 | 17,500 | 16,000 |
| 4 | 25,000 | 22,500 |
| 5 | 35,000 | 32,500 |
| 6 | 50,000 | 45,000 |
| 7 | 60,000 | 55,000 |
| 8 | 85,000 | 80,000 |
If you find a PointSavers property that lines up with your travel plans, you’ll want to take advantage of the big discount so you can stretch your points further.
PRO TIP: You can combine Marriott’s fifth award night free benefit with PointSavers rates.
As a Marriott Bonvoy member, you can earn points on a maximum of three rooms at the same time. But you must pay for the rooms to qualify. Most other hotel loyalty programs require you to stay in the room to earn points.
This is particularly of value for business owners who pay for their employee’s rooms during events or conferences. It’s a quick way to stack up on points.
BUT: You can only earn elite qualifying nights for one room at a time, and you must stay in the room for it to qualify.
You don’t have to ask for a non-smoking room or extra pillows every time you check in. Instead, take a few minutes to log into your Marriott Bonvoy account and set your room preferences. That way, the hotel will make adjustments per your requests before you arrive. After a long day of travel, you’ll want a fast check-in to relax in your ideal room.
Available preferences include:
- Accessibility
- Preferred bed type
- Preferred pillow type
- Smoking preference
- Floor location
- Mini-fridge
- Extra towels
- Extra pillows
Of course, your preferences aren’t guaranteed. But hotel staff will do their best to accommodate your wishes.
Marriott’s Look No Further feature is a best rate guarantee. It offers 25% off any lower rate you find on a third-party website, or a 5,000-point bonus.
Marriott Bonvoy and United MileagePlus have paired up to give you bigger and better rewards with the RewardsPlus program. Marriott Bonvoy Titanium and Ambassador members can enroll to enjoy complimentary United MileagePlus Premier Silver status. On the flip side, United MileagePlus Gold members (or higher) get complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold status.
Points/miles benefits include:
- Get 10% more miles when you convert Marriott points to MileagePlus miles
- Receive 10% more miles when you redeem Marriott points for exclusive RewardsPlus Travel packages
- Convert MileagePlus miles to Marriott points at a 1:1 ratio (the only airline that can convert miles to Marriott points)
Other RewardsPlus features include:
- Complimentary access to Economy Plus at check-in for you and a companion (when available)
- Complimentary Premier upgrade confirmation as early as day of departure (when available)
- 1 complimentary checked bag (up to 70 lbs or 32 kg)
- Premier Access priority airport services (where available)
- 7 award miles for every $1 you spend on United flights
Offered from time to time, Marriott’s Platinum Elite Status Challenge lets you earn Platinum status if you stay at Marriott properties for 16 nights within a 60- or 90-day window.
Bottom Line
Although its points aren’t worth as much as other loyalty points, Marriott Bonvoy makes up for it with its huge global footprint, high earning potential and more than 40 airlines partners to transfer to. You’ll also get your fifth night free when you book four award nights as well as plenty of other ways to stretch your Marriott points.
READ MORE: SEE THE BEST BANK BONUSES HERE AND THE BEST INVESTING BONUSES HERE.
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