Introduction
Marriott Bonvoy is the loyalty program for Marriott Hotels, the largest hotel group globally, with over 7,900 hotels across 138 countries and 30 different brands. Marriott features a portfolio of budget to luxury hotels worldwide, with a wide selection of properties in the most frequently traveled business and leisure destinations.
The Bonvoy loyalty program offers members the ability to earn points that can be used for free nights, transferred to airline mileage programs, or redeemed for other rewards such as unique experiences like concerts or sporting events. The program also offers elite status for members who frequently stay at their properties. In addition, it provides an extended list of benefits, like late checkout, complimentary breakfast, lounge access, upgraded room or suites, and many other perks that enhance stays at their hotels, providing members a great value.
Marriott Hotel Brands Overview
The Marriott hotel group consists of 30 brands, the most extensive portfolio of brands across the major hotel groups. The wide range of brands is partially the result of Marriott’s acquisition of the Starwood Hotel group in 2016. Across the wide range of brands and options, Marriott segments its brands into four different categories: Luxury, Premium, Select, and Longer-Stay.
Luxury
Marriott’s luxury brands are the group’s top properties and will feature the highest rates, quality, and service levels at the properties.
- The Ritz-Carlton
- Edition
- W Hotels Worldwide
- The Luxury Collection
- St. Regis Hotels & Resorts
- JW Marriott
- Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts
Premium
The Premium segment of hotels are Marriott’s mid-range to high-end hotels that consist of brands that offer a full-service hotel experience, with many business and leisure hotel offerings by each brand.
- Sheraton
- Marriott
- Marriott Vacation Club
- Delta Hotels
- Westin Hotels & Resorts
- Le Meridien
- Renaissance Hotels
- Autograph Collection Hotels
- Tribute Portfolio
- Design Hotels
- Gaylord Hotels
Select
Marriott’s Select hotels are the relatively budget-friendly options provided by the group. Offering a more comfortable experience than typical budget hotels in most destinations, this segment’s hotels will typically be considered mid-range hotels in a given location. Lacking all of the services and amenities that full-service hotels offer, Select hotels are where you will find the best values.
- Courtyard by Marriott
- Springhill Suites by Marriott
- Four Points by Sheraton
- Fairfield by Marriott
- Protea Hotels
- AC Hotels
- aloft Hotels
- Moxy Hotels
Longer Stays
This segment of hotels offers brands that cater towards extended stays. Typically offering suites, small kitchens or kitchenettes, and the ability to do laundry, these hotels are set up for guests staying from a couple of weeks to multiple months.
- Residence Inn by Marriott
- Townplace Suites by Marriott
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- element by Westin
Marriott Homes and Villas
In addition to Marriott’s hotel brands, the group now offers private home, apartment, and villa rentals through their Marriott Homes and Villas brand. Providing their customers the opportunity to rent larger properties with more private amenities or for more extended stays, Marriott Bonvoy extends point earning and elite status night credits to members. Marriott Homes and Villas gives members the ability to earn rewards and pursue or maintain elite status when choosing a different accommodation type than traditional hotels.
How Does the Program Work?
Free and easy to join, the Marriott Bonvoy program allows members to earn points and status based on spending and nights staying at Marriott group hotels. Outside of earning points and status based on spending at their properties and stays at hotels, other methods such as credit card spending rewards and their lucrative signup bonuses can earn points, with some credit cards offering elite status as a card benefit.
Members can use points to redeem free stays at Marriott group hotels, transfer to airlines for free flights, or use them for a variety of other rewards. Additionally, the different tiers of elite status offer enhanced benefits to guests during stays such as late checkout, complimentary breakfast or lounge access, and upgrades, extending the value of stays at Marriott hotels.
Signing up for Marriott Bonvoy is free and can be completed in only a few minutes through the Marriott Bonvoy website.
Earning Points
While there are several ways to earn points, there are generally two primary methods for earning a meaningful balance of points: earning points from spending at hotels for stays or dining and earning points from either Marriott or non-Marriott branded credit cards.
Earning Points at Hotels
Marriott Bonvoy members earn points for spending at Marriott properties for money spent on rooms, dining, spa treatments, golf fees, and on-property services. Based on the member’s status, points will accrue from 10 points per US dollar spent as a general member, with the rate increasing for each elite tier up to 17.5 points per dollar for Titanium or Ambassador Elites.
Points Earned Per US Dollar:
| Status | Points |
| Member | 10 |
| Silver Elite | 11 |
| Gold Elite | 12.5 |
| Platium Elite | 15 |
| Titanium Elite | 17.5 |
| Ambassador Elite | 17.5 |
Earning Points with Credit Cards
For those who don’t travel frequently enough to generate high point balances with Marriott, credit card point earning is an effective method to build up point balances. Sizable balances can accrue from everyday spending and the typically generous signup bonuses that can provide tens of thousands of points after an initial spending requirement.
Marriott offers four different branded credit cards, two through Chase and two through American Express. Each card provides the ability to earn multiple points per dollar spent on the card depending on the spending category, with spending at Marriott properties earning up to 6 points per dollar spent.
Beyond the ability to earn Marriott points, each card also offers a selection of other value-added benefits. For example, some cards offer elite status night credits, helping to unlock further benefits.
Other Credit Cards that Offer Point Transfers
In addition to their Marriott branded credit cards, Chase and American Express allow other cardholders, for their respective point programs, to transfer points to the Marriott Bonvoy program, allowing members to pool their reward point balances across various programs.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase offers their cardholders that earn Chase Ultimate Reward points to transfer points in increments of 1,000 points at a 1:1 ratio to Marriott Bonvoy.
- American Express Membership Rewards – American Express similarly offers transfers of points from their Membership Rewards program at a 1:1 ratio, which is available for more than 10 American Express cards.
One important point to remember when combining balances from other credit cards to Marriott Bonvoy is the possibility of better uses for the points with the other Chase or American Express transfer partners.
The ability to pool small balances from a credit card rewards program with Marriott is a great way to reach the balances needed for more significant redemptions. However, members with larger balances across programs should consider a better use for their points, considering there may be better transfer options than Marriott to maximize value.
Other Point Earning Opportunities
Marriott Promotions: Marriott offers regular promotions for additional point earning with stays. These promotions are typically announced over email to their members and usually last for around three months, providing frequent travelers with an easy way to increase point balances.
Rental Cars: Through Marriott’s partnership with Hertz, rental car bookings made through Marriott’s website will earn up to 2,000 points per rental.
Cruises: Booking a cruise through Marriott’s Cruise-with-Points booking site allows members to earn 3 points per US dollar spent. Additionally, the website allows users to search for cruises across brands and offers competitive pricing.
Marriott Dining Program: Dine at a restaurant member of Marriott’s Eat Around Town dining program, and you will earn 4 points per US dollar spent, or 6 points per dollar for elite Marriott Bonvoy members.
Uber Account Linkage: By linking your Uber and Marriott Bonvoy accounts, you will earn 3 points per US dollar on Uber Premium rides, 6 points per dollar on Uber Eats orders while staying at a Marriott group hotel, or 2 points per dollar on other Uber Eats orders.
United Mile Transfers: United offers the ability to transfer miles from their MileagePlus loyalty program to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1 transfer ratio. This offer is only available to their premier members and is limited to 100,000 miles.
How to Use Points
Marriott Bonvoy Points are relatively hassle-free to redeem free nights, with the best value coming from free night bookings with Marriott. Beyond free nights, Marriott offers a selection of other options, including allowing members to transfer balances to airlines to combine their point balance with a mileage balance to redeem a flight award.
Free Night Redemptions
The highest value redemption for points is using them for free nights at Marriott hotels. Members can book free nights based on a category system that applies to hotels for the point requirements per night to differentiate between budget, mid-range, and luxury hotels. Within each category, there are separate point rates for off-peak, standard, and peak, which gives the hotels some discretion to require a higher point amount depending on the season or holidays.
Free night point rates are based on standard rooms, though upgraded rooms are sometimes available for additional points, including using points for suite bookings.
One important point to note is that Marriott will be changing to a dynamic pricing model for their free night awards starting in March 2022, with the complete program details due to be announced in the coming months. This development means that the program will no longer use an award chart, allowing the points needed for a given night at a hotel to follow the current room rates more closely.
Marriott 2021 Free Night Redemption Chart:
| 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 | 35,00 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
| 7 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| 8 | 70,000 | 85,000 | 100,000 |
Point transfers to Airlines
One of the best ways to pool your points together with another loyalty program balance, members can transfer Marriott Bonvoy Points to over 40 airline mileage programs, covering most major global airlines. The name on both accounts must be the same for them to be linked, allowing members to transfer from 3,000 to 240,000 points per day.
Points can generally be transferred at a rate of 3 to 1 mile, with only a few exceptions. The program also offers a 5,000 mile bonus for every 60,000 Bonvoy Points transferred.
7-Night Vacation Packages
As a combination of both free night stays and airlines mileage transfers, Marriott Bonvoy offers members the ability to redeem a 7-night hotel stay along with a transfer of 50,000 or 100,000 miles transferred to your preferred airline mileage program. The required point balances vary across hotel categories and require a large balance to redeem, though this can offer a high-value use of points in many situations.
Other Ways to Use Points
Beyond the use of points for free nights and airline programs, Marriott Bonvoy offers a variety of other programs for redeeming your points.
Cash and Points: Members can use a combination of cash and points to book a free night, providing an excellent option for members looking to use their points even if they have not accumulated a large balance.
Pool Points: Marriott Bonvoy members can transfer up to 100,000 points to another member’s account per calendar year and receive up to 500,000 points into their own account per calendar year, allowing for combined balances to be used towards more significant points redemptions.
Flight and Car Rental Packages: Marriott offers a flight and car booking portal that allows members to use points for flight and car rental packages using points or a combination of points and cash.
Marriott Moments: Marriott Bonvoy members can choose to redeem points for unique entertainment packages like sporting events, concerts, tours, or activities, with many exclusive events offered, such as private concerts. An excellent points use for passionate fans; the program uses both fixed-price or auction-style point redemption methods.
Gift Cards: Members can redeem points for gift cards across a wide selection of brands. This option offers one of the lowest value redemptions and should only be considered when members can’t utilize any of the above redemptions.
Will Marriott Bonvoy Points expire?
Marriott Bonvoy Points will only expire if a Marriott Bonvoy account has no activity for at least 24 months. Qualifying activity includes both earning and spending points, so even simple credit card point-earning into the Marriott Bonvoy will help to prevent a balance from expiring.
What is Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status?
Marriott Bonvoy elite status provides members an array of benefits to members to reward them for their loyalty of staying and spending at Marriott properties. The benefits offer enhanced comfort and flexibility during stays and can create an exceptionally high value for members who learn to make the most of the program.
How to Earn Elite Status
There are two ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status: nights stayed at either Marriott properties (including Marriott Homes and Villas) or as a benefit from a credit card. Elite status night requirements are calculated based on the calendar year, with the earning of status based on nights or spending required to take place within the calendar year.
Earning through nights stayed will earn members elevated tiers of status listed in the table below:
Night and Spend Requirements per Status Level:
| Status | Night and Spend Requirements |
| Member | 0 Nights |
| Silver Elite | 10 Nights |
| Gold Elite | 25 Nights |
| Platinum Elite | 50 Nights |
| Titanium Elite | 75 Nights |
| Ambassador Elite | 100 Nights + $20,000 USD Spend |
How long will your elite status be valid?
Marriott Bonvoy elite status will be valid for the remainder of the year that it is earned, along with the following year, expiring on February 28th of the next year.
For example, platinum status earned in May 2021 would be valid through February 28, 2023.
Earning Elite Status Through Credit Cards
Both Chase and American Express offer elite status levels as a benefit or elite night credits to earn a higher status tier as a Bonvoy member. There are also status earning opportunities through spending on credit cards, with a set threshold set where a cardholder can earn elite status if they spend over that amount in a calendar year.
Unlike status earned through nights stayed, members who earn their status as a credit card benefit will lose their status if they cancel their card.
Breakdown of Marriott Bonvoy Elite Benefits
Marriott Bonvoy member benefits start from joining the program, with the higher value benefits becoming available as members’ status increases with the program. The benefits range from enhanced reservation booking options, dedicated customer service, increased point earning opportunities, and benefits during the hotel stay.
The Complete list of Marriott Bonvoy Benefits
Marriott Bonvoy General Members receive:
- Complimentary In-Room Internet Access
- Member Rates
- Mobile Check-in and Services
Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite Members additionally receive:
- 10% Points Bonus
- Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
- Late Checkout
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Members additionally receive:
- 25% Points Bonus
- In Hotel Welcome Gift of Points at Check-in
- Enhanced Room Upgrade
Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Members additionally receive:
- 50% Points Bonus
- In Hotel Welcome Gift of Points, Free Breakfast, or an Amenity
- Enhanced Room Upgrade Including Suites
- Dedicated Elite Support
- Lounge Access
- Guaranteed Room Type
- Annual Choice Award Selection of Gifts after 50 Nights in a Year
Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite Members additionally receive:
- 75% Points Bonus
- A second Annual Choice Award Selection of Gifts after 75 Nights in a Year
- 48-Hour Guarantee
Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite Members additionally receive:
- Ambassador Service Dedicated Customer Service Representative
- Your24 Booking Service
Bottom Line
Marriott Bonvoy is both the largest and one of the most generous loyalty programs available in the travel industry. Free to join, with flexible options for both earning and redeeming points, those looking to maximize their rewards from either hotel loyalty or credit card spending and benefits will surely find great value from the program.
