Everything you need to know about the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program

Marriott Bonvoy — one of the most popular travel rewards programs — has expanded since its inception in 2019 to become a global portfolio of nearly 8,800 properties across 139 countries and more than 30 brands.

From budget-friendly hotels to all-inclusive resorts, the Marriott Bonvoy program has properties at every budget and in most destinations. With such a vast reach, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself staying at a Marriott property at some point during your travels.

Whether you’ve been a Marriott member for a long time or you’re just joining the loyalty program, you should know how to get the most out of the chain’s loyalty program to ensure you’re getting notable value out of your stays.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty program.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points in a myriad of ways, ranging from hotel stays to cruises, rental cars and everything in between. Marriott Bonvoy points can even be earned when you take an eligible Uber ride or order from Uber Eats after you link your Marriott Bonvoy account to the Uber app.

Remember, too, you can earn Bonvoy points from Marriott credit cards or by transferring points from the American Express Membership Rewards®, Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards® programs at a 1-to-1 ratio.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points by staying at Marriott hotels

The most straightforward way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points, is, of course, by staying at Marriott hotels. Marriott has a massive footprint of more than 8,000 hotels worldwide, ranging from luxury accommodations to budget options. No matter where in the world you’re traveling, chances are there’s a Marriott property at your destination.

To earn points on stays, all you have to do is sign up for a free Bonvoy account and make a reservation while logged in to your Bonvoy account. You’ll then be on your way to earning between 2.5 points and 10 points per dollar spent on your booking, depending on the property you’re staying at.

Keep in mind that not only will you earn points per dollar spent on the nightly hotel rate, but you’ll earn for every dollar spent on spa services, on-property dining and more. Just make sure to charge eligible expenses to your room.

The majority of Marriott hotels award 10 points for every dollar spent during a guest’s stay — think Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Autograph Collection, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Westin, Courtyard by Marriott and more.

Meanwhile, long-term stay hotels, such as Residence Inn by Marriott, TownPlace Suites by Marriott and Element, award only 5 points for every dollar spent. Further, Protea, City Express and Four Points Express earn 5 points per dollar.

You can also earn points by staying at Marriott Executive Apartments. However, you’ll get just 2.5 points per dollar spent.

These earning rates increase if you have Marriott Bonvoy elite status. With the top levels of elite status, you could be earning up to 17.5 points per dollar spent on your hotel stay, which helps to rack up Bonvoy points quickly.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points from Marriott credit cards

Through partnerships with Chase and American Express, Marriott has six co-branded credit cards. Each card offers its own welcome bonus offer and portfolio of benefits, so compare them to find the best option for your wallet.

If you make a considerable amount of gas and grocery purchases, for example, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card may be the most rewarding choice for you, as it rewards 3 points per dollar spent on these spending categories.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a card that offers Marriott Bonvoy elite status benefits, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card offers instant Platinum Elite status and a Priority Pass Select membership which lets you access select airport lounges. Plus, you’ll get a free night certificate worth up to 85,000 points per night every time you pay the card’s $650 annual fee (see rates and fees).

There’s also the no-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card, which is good for the occasional Marriott guest who wants perks without paying a fee for holding the card. With five credit cards in the Marriott Bonvoy suite of personal cards, there’s something for everyone. Here’s a deeper look at each of the personal Marriott credit cards currently on offer.

Keep in mind, too, that several of these cards carry an annual fee:

If you’re looking for a small-business credit card, there is also the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. Currently, new card holders can earn three free night awards after spending $6,000 in purchases within the first six months (terms apply). The free night awards are capped at 50,000 points per night and certain hotels have resort fees.

The card has a $125 annual fee (see rates and fees) but you’ll receive a free night certificate worth up to 35,000 points when you renew the card. Plus, it earns 6 points per dollar on eligible Marriott purchases, 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide, at gas stations, on wireless telephone services and US shipping and 2 points per dollar on other purchases.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points by transferring points

Even if you don’t have a Marriott-branded credit card in your wallet, you can still earn points with other credit cards. As mentioned, cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points can transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1-to-1 rate.

Plus, Bilt Rewards gives you 5,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points for every 20,000 Bilt Points you transfer in a single transaction.

Instead of getting a Marriott-branded card, you can earn more flexible points with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Bilt Mastercard® or The Platinum Card® from American Express, which can be transferred to numerous airline and hotel programs, including Marriott.

For United Airlines MileagePlus members, there’s another way to rack up Marriott Bonvoy points. With its RewardsPlus program, United members with Premier Silver status and higher can convert their United miles to Bonvoy points at a 1-to-1 rate and enjoy other benefits.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points by dining out

Marriott’s Eat Around Town dining program is an easy way to earn points when dining out. All you have to do is join the program, register a credit or debit card, dine at a participating restaurant and pay with the card you’ve registered and you’ll earn 4 Bonvoy points per dollar spent. If you’re a Marriott elite member, you’ll earn 6 points per dollar spent at participating restaurants.

In addition to this recurring bonus, new members can earn up to 6,000 bonus points by dining within 60 days and completing a review:

Marriott Eat Around Town has thousands of participating restaurants around the country, including popular chains like Outback and Sharetea, as well as many local eateries around the country. Chances are, you’ll end up dining at one of these restaurants, so it’s worth adding your card to can earn some extra points along the way.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points through other travel

Through Marriott’s partnership with Uber, you can earn extra Marriott points when ordering a ride via Uber or food through Uber Eats. You’ll need to link your Marriott and Uber accounts, then take a qualifying ride or place a food order and you’ll earn up to 6 Marriott points per dollar spent:

If you’re an avid cruiser, you can earn bonus Marriott points on your next sailing too. Booking through Marriott’s cruise portal allows you to earn 3 points per dollar spent on your next vacation. If you pay with your Chase-issued Marriott card, you’ll qualify for an additional 2 points per dollar.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking to hit the road, you can earn up to 500 Marriott points on your Hertz car rent or 250 points with Dollar and Thrifty. Book through this page on Marriott’s website to earn points.

If you have Gold or higher elite status with Marriott, you can earn 3 Marriott points per dollar on Emirates flights, in addition to Emirates Skywards miles. Platinum and higher are also eligible for other in-airport benefits. Link your Marriott and Emirates accounts to use these benefits.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points through events

By booking your next event at a Marriott hotel, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar spent on eligible room, food, beverage and audio/visual expenses — up to 60,000 points per event. That earning cap increases if you have elite status, maxing out at 105,000 points per event for Marriott Bonvoy Titanium elite members.

In addition to earning redeemable points, members earn 1 elite night credit for every 20 room nights booked (for a maximum of 20 elite night credits per event). That’s enough to get you to entry-level Silver elite status and only five nights short of Gold elite status with Marriott.

Earn Marriott Bonvoy points through activities

What you do at your destination is just as important as where you stay. With Marriott’s Tours & Activities portal, you can book tours, culinary experiences, sailing expeditions and more. The best part? You’ll earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent on these bookings.

How to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points

You might be surprised to learn that you can redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for more than just hotel stays. For example, you can use Bonvoy points for different types of award stays, cruise bookings or even convert them to airline miles.

You’ll generally get the most value out of your Marriott Bonvoy points by using them for Marriott hotel stays, but that’s not your only option. Let’s take a closer look at all the ways you can use Marriott Bonvoy points for travel.

Redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for free hotel stays

The best use of Marriott Bonvoy points is to stay at Marriott properties. Unfortunately, Marriott no longer publishes an award chart and now implements a dynamic pricing model, which means nightly rates fluctuate by season, demand and other factors. Still, you can expect to redeem between 5,000 and 100,000 points per night for a standard room, depending on the property.

While higher-end property rates are steep, Marriott’s fifth-night free benefit can come in handy. This discount applies to five or more consecutive nights booked with points and means you’ll get the lowest-priced night for free. Ultimately, if you’re looking at stays of more than five nights, this is a great option for maximizing your points.

You’ll get the most use out of your Bonvoy points on hotel stays when the cash rates are high. However, every use case is different. If you prefer to save some cash and have Bonvoy points in your account, you have the flexibility to use them as you want.

Redeem Marriott Bonvoy points using Cash + Points

If you don’t have enough points for a free night, you can redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for a Cash + Points award. This essentially allows you to redeem half the required points alongside a cash co-pay.

If you’re short on points, having the flexibility to redeem what you do have in this way is a perk of the program. However, Cash + Points awards don’t qualify for the fifth-night free benefit and often provide a lower value than award nights.

Redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for flights by transferring to partner airlines

If you’re unable to find a good hotel redemption or prefer to use your points for flights, you can always convert your Marriott Bonvoy points to airline miles. Marriott Bonvoy partners with 39 different airlines for this option.

The vast majority of airline programs allow you to convert your Marriott points to airline miles at a 3-to-1 rate, though it does vary. When transferring points in increments of 60,000 to most airline loyalty programs, you’ll receive a boost of 5,000 bonus airline miles. This means 60,000 Marriott points transfer to 25,000 airline miles.

Note that this bonus does not apply to transfers to American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, Delta SkyMiles and Korean Airlines Skypass. Meanwhile, you’ll get a higher 10,000-mile bonus when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points to United MileagePlus.

Transferring points to airline miles can be a solid redemption option, depending on the cash or award price of the ticket. However, you’ll often get less value converting to airline miles when compared to redeeming for hotel stays.

Redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for cruises

Marriott’s cruise program allows you to earn and redeem points on bookings with every major cruise line. Points are worth about 0.4 cents apiece, so a $1,000 cruise would generally cost about 250,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

This isn’t the best way to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points, but it is an alternative if you want to use points for a cruise experience. However, you’ll get much more value by redeeming your points for hotel bookings or transferring to an airline partner.

Marriott Bonvoy elite status

Marriott has five elite status tiers and the requirements range from 10 to 100 nights per year. You can earn some level of elite status from holding the right Marriott credit card or working your way up to it the old-fashioned way.

Through hotel stays, every qualifying night counts toward status and you can earn additional elite night credits by booking events at Marriott properties.

Earning Marriott elite status can make your future stays more rewarding and comfortable. All Marriott Bonvoy members receive complimentary Wi-Fi and discounted member rates. However, elite members get additional perks like bonus points on stays, room upgrades, complimentary breakfast and more.

Silver elite status (10 nights per year)

You can earn instant Silver elite status just by having the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card. Here are the noteworthy benefits of Silver status:

Gold elite status (25 nights per year)

You can fast-track your way to Marriott Gold elite status with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex, Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful or Marriott Bonvoy Bevy — all three cards offer complimentary Gold elite status. The Amex Platinum Card offers complimentary Marriott Gold status too.

Through the RewardsPlus partnership, United Airlines Premier Gold members can upgrade to Bonvoy Gold by linking their Marriott and United accounts.

Gold members get all the benefits of Silver, plus a few additional perks:

Platinum elite status (50 nights per year)

Card holders of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex get automatic Platinum status. The stand-out benefit for Platinum elites is the annual gift choice benefit. Newly minted Platinum members can choose between five nightly upgrade awards, gifting Silver status to another member, 40% off a mattress, five elite night credits or a $100 charity donation.

We usually recommend that Platinum elites choose nightly upgrade awards. These certificates let you confirm a suite or premium award. Each nightly upgrade award is good for one night at most Marriott hotels, so a three-night stay requires three certificates.

In addition to the Gold benefits, Platinum members receive:

Titanium elite status (75 nights per year)

Marriott Titanium Elite members receive the same benefits as Platinum Elite members. In addition, they qualify for a second annual gift choice benefit upon earning Titanium Elite status along with a 48-hour reservation guarantee.

Here’s a look at the additional benefits:

Ambassador elite status (100 nights per year + $23,000 in annual spend)

Marriott’s top-tier Ambassador Elite membership is unique in that it has a $23,000 spending requirement in addition to a night requirement. If you’re spending 100 paid nights at Marriott hotels, that works out to an average nightly rate of $200.

In exchange for their devoted loyalty, Ambassador elites receive access to Ambassador Service and Your 24. This benefit lets Ambassador Elite members check-in and then checkout at any 24-hour interval, on their own time.

Ambassador Elite members also receive the following benefits in addition to the Titanium perks:

How much are Marriott Bonvoy points worth?

Marriott Bonvoy points are worth about 0.84 cents apiece, according to frequent flyer website The Points Guy. However, the actual value you get from your points will depend on how you choose to redeem them.

For example, if a hotel you’re considering is pricing out standard rooms at a cash rate of $400 per night and the same room type requires 50,000 points per night to book, you’re looking at a 0.8 cents per point redemption value.

That being said, there are no hard-and-fast rules. You should redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points however you see fit — whether that be on hotel stays, flights or anything else that interests you.

Bottom line

The Marriott Bonvoy program is the world’s largest hotel chain’s loyalty program. Given the amount of hotel choices and benefits available, it’s a program worth knowing if you travel often.

Click here for rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.

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