Marriott Bonvoy Rewards Program Guide: Everything You Need To Know

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Marriott Bonvoy is one of the world's largest and most well-known hotel loyalty programs. The program has many diverse aspects, from ever-changing award prices to multiple elite status tiers. And you can redeem Bonvoy points for everything from free hotel stays to topping off your airline mileage account.

If you want to know more about the Marriott Bonvoy program, you've come to the right place. Now, let's dive into our ultimate guide to Marriott Bonvoy.

Marriott Hotel Brands

There are currently 34 Marriott hotel brands, ranging from the luxurious Ritz-Carlton to the homelike TownePlace Suites.

Across the 34 Marriott brands, there are nearly 8,700 properties in 139 countries. One of the reasons many travelers love Marriott is that there's usually a Marriott nearby — regardless of your destination.

Marriott Elite Status

The Bonvoy rewards program offers five Marriott elite status tiers in addition to a basic Member tier. Unlike other hotel programs, members don't qualify for elite status via stays or points. Instead, you can only earn Marriott Bonvoy elite status by accumulating elite night credits each calendar year.

Here's a quick look at the requirements and perks of each Marriott Bonvoy elite status tier:

If you book multiple rooms on a single night, you can earn points on all of the rooms. However, you'll only earn elite night credits for the room you occupy.

Check out our full guide to Marriott Bonvoy elite status linked above for more details. But, here are a few notes about some of the perks listed in the above table.

Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador Elite welcome gift options

Marriott Bonvoy offers Platinum Elite (and above) members a welcome gift choice on each stay. However, the choices you'll get vary depending on the brand you stay with and the region you stay in.

To see what type of choice you might have on an upcoming stay, check out the “guaranteed welcome gift” tab on the Marriott Bonvoy website. Alternatively, you can read section 4.3.c.iii of the Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions. Note: At some properties, you'll need to choose breakfast as your welcome gift if you want breakfast included in your stay.

Upgrades

Gold Elite members can expect upgrades to enhanced rooms based on availability. Enhanced rooms “may include rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities, rooms on Executive Floors.” However, rooms with direct club-level access at Ritz-Carlton are excluded.

Marriott Platinum Elite members and higher can expect upgrades “to the best available room, subject to availability on the day of arrival, for the entire length of stay.” Potential upgrades include “suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities, or rooms on Executive Floors.” Only Titanium Elite members and higher are eligible for suite upgrades at Ritz-Carlton properties. However, rooms with direct club access are still excluded.

Regardless of your elite status level, know that you won't get upgraded at the following brands and properties, which don't participate in this elite benefit:

• Marriott Vacation Club
• Marriott Grand Residence Club
• Sheraton Vacation Club
• Westin Vacation Club
• The Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale
• Ritz-Carlton Reserve

Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards

Remember that you can select Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards as your Annual Choice Benefit after 50 and 75 nights each calendar year. These can be used to confirm upgrades before arriving at the hotel.

The W Barcelona. Credit: Marriott

Earn Marriott elite status via credit cards

Many Marriott Bonvoy cards allow you to earn Marriott elite status and elite night credits toward earning a higher status just for holding the card. Here are the currently available cards you might want to consider:

Silver Elite status and 5 elite night credits:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold^® Credit Card

Silver Elite status and 15 elite night credits:

• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^® Credit Card

Gold Elite status and 15 elite night credits:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy^® American Express^® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card

Platinum Elite status and 25 elite night credits:

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card

You can earn the elite night credits mentioned above from at most one consumer card and one small-business card (currently only the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card) for up to 40 elite night credits per year. In addition, one of these cards — the Marriott Boundless — lets you earn additional elite night credits as you hit specific spending thresholds. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.

You also can snag complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status by enrolling with the following cards:

• The Platinum Card^® from American Express
• The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express

Will Marriott status match other loyalty programs?

Marriott typically doesn't offer a direct Marriott status match with elite status from another program. However, they do occasionally provide status challenges. Keep an eye out for the next time a status challenge is available if this interests you.

Marriott Kauai Beach Club. Credit: Marriott

United Marriott Status Match

The United Marriott status match, better known as the Marriott RewardsPlus program, allows for reciprocal status for select elite levels. Marriott Titanium Elite or Ambassador Elites can sign up for complimentary United MileagePlus Premier Silver status. United Premier Gold and above are eligible for Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.

Marriott Emirates Status Match

Alongside being able to transfer Emirates miles to Marriott, the partnership between Emirates and Marriott offers reciprocal benefits like priority check-in and boarding at the airport for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elites and higher. Meanwhile, perks like late check-out at hotels are available for Emirates Skywards Gold and Platinum members.

Marriott Singapore Airlines Status Match

The partnership with Singapore KrisFlyer offers a Marriott Singapore Airlines status match, and status challenges, as well as points transfers between the programs.

Marriott Lifetime Status

You can earn Marriott lifetime status based on your total nights stayed and the number of years you've spent at an elite tier. Here are the current requirements for lifetime status at each level:

• Silver Elite: 250 lifetime nights and five years with Silver Elite status or higher.
• Gold Elite: 400 lifetime nights and seven years with Gold Elite status or higher.
• Platinum Elite: 600 lifetime nights and 10 years with Platinum Elite status or higher.

You can check your progress toward Marriott Bonvoy's lifetime elite status by logging into your account. Unfortunately, it's not possible to earn lifetime status above the Platinum Elite level.

How to Earn Marriott Points

You can earn a substantial number of Marriott Bonvoy points through stays, credit card spending, partnerships, and promos. Here's an overview of how to earn Marriott points.

Stays and spending at Marriott properties

You'll earn a base of 10 points per dollar spent at most Marriott properties. However, your earning rate is lower at some brands:

• 5x points at Element, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Protea Hotels, City Express, Four Points Express, Homes & Villas by Marriott International, and Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy
• 2.5x points at Marriott Executive Apartments

The Royalton CHIC Cancun. Credit: Marriott

In addition to the base points earned by all members, those with elite status also get bonus points:

• Silver Elite: 10% bonus
• Gold Elite: 25% bonus
• Platinum Elite: 50% bonus
• Titanium & Ambassador Elite: 75% bonus

If you charge your purchases to your room, you'll usually earn points for on-property spending, including dining and spa services. However, note that you won't earn points on some charges, including resort fees, gratuities, and the cash part of Cash + Points awards.

You'll also earn 1 elite night credit for each night you stay at most Marriott properties. A few brands have reduced earnings:

• 1 elite night credit for every two nights stayed at Protea Hotels, City Express, Four Points Express
• 1 elite night credit for every three nights stayed at Marriott Executive Apartments

Note that none of Marriott's Residences properties, such as JW Residences and Renaissance Residences, are eligible for points or elite night credit earning even when they offer a paid membership rate. Residences properties do not participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Related: How To Earn Marriott Elite Night Credits

What is the best Marriott credit card?

The easiest way to earn Marriott points is by using the best Marriott credit card. Here's an overview of the Marriott Bonvoy cards, including welcome offers, key benefits, and the annual fee for each card.

You can only earn elite night credits from at most one personal card and one business card, though. For example, you can earn 40 elite night credits each year if you carry the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card and Marriott Bonvoy Business Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Events

Whether you’re an event organizer, planning a reunion, or want to maximize the points earned on your wedding, you can earn bonus points and elite night credits through the Marriott Bonvoy Events conference program.

Marriott Executive Apartments, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Design Hotels, Bulgari Hotels and Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Hidden Boutique Resort, Vistana Hotel, and Homes & Villas by Marriott International do not participate in Marriott Bonvoy Events.

Members can earn up to 60,000 points per event (2 points per dollar spent, up to $30,000 per event). Elite members get a points bonus, offering even more points per event.

Plus, you can earn 1 elite night credit for every 20 room nights you book (up to 20 elite night credits per event) when you host an event.

Marriott promotions

Marriott runs regular promotions for its members year-round, so bookmark our Marriott promotions post (we update it with each new promotion).

Marriott BreakAway program

Employees of eligible companies can book discounted rates through Marriott BreakAway. Discounts can be up to 30% off standard rates but may not always be the cheapest rate (i.e., your “member” rate when logged into your Bonvoy account might be better). The good news is that these discounted rates still count as a “qualifying rate” on which you earn points and elite nights toward status.

Marriott Bonvoy partners

There are many ways to earn Marriott points without staying at a hotel. For example, you can earn bonus Marriott points through Hertz car rental or when you book select cruises through Cruise with Points.

Marriott Eat Around Town

Marriott Bonvoy members can earn up to 6,000 bonus points after their first three dining experiences with the Marriott Eat Around Town program.

Link Marriott and Uber Accounts

You also can earn Marriott points on Uber and Uber Eats after you link Marriott and Uber accounts. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.

Check out all the ways to earn points through partners on Marriott's partner page.

Marriott Refer a Friend

With the Marriott Refer a Friend program, you can earn 2,000 bonus points every time the person you refer stays, up to five stays per referral. You can refer up to five new members each calendar year, allowing you to earn up to 50,000 points on referrals yearly.

Your referrals will also receive an additional 2,000 points per stay (up to 10,000 points).

W Maldives. Credit: Marriott

Buy Marriott points

You can buy Marriott points or receive them as a gift, up to a maximum of 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per calendar year. The purchases are processed through Points.com so you won't receive any travel-related bonuses for credit card spending. You can buy Marriott points in increments of 1,000 points at the rate of $12.50 per 1,000 points.

Transfer points to Marriott Bonvoy

You can also transfer American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Bilt Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy.

Do Marriott Points Expire?

Do Marriott Points expire? Yes, Marriott points expire after 24 months without qualifying activity on the account. You can keep them alive by spending on a Marriott Bonvoy card, enjoying a stay at a Marriott property, and much more.

Redeeming Marriott Bonvoy Points

With a massive global footprint of nearly 8,700 hotels, the combined Marriott portfolio is home to 34 brands catering to every budget.

It's becoming more difficult to find outsized value when redeeming Marriott points for stays since Marriott moved to dynamic pricing in 2022. But, there are many ways to redeem Marriott points for luxury stays and budget-friendly stays. And Marriott offers a few other options for redeeming points.

Redeem points for stays

Marriott Bonvoy uses dynamic pricing for its free night awards. You'll have to search the Marriott website or app to determine how many points you'll need for a stay.

But, you can get a complimentary award night when redeeming points for a stay of at least five consecutive nights at the same hotel. Specifically, you'll get the lowest point-value night free. Best of all, you can use this perk multiple times on longer stays. For example, you could get two nights free when redeeming points for a 10-night stay.

The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. Credit: Ritz-Carlton

Get discounted points stays with Marriott PointSavers awards

Even in the world of dynamic pricing, you can still find Marriott PointSavers discounted awards. For limited periods of time, you can use PointSavers to redeem your points for a discounted rate on a standard or premium room at participating properties.

Marriott no longer publishes a list of rotating PointsSavers properties. In order to find the PointSavers rate, you can search for a stay using points, and the discounted rate will pop up, if available.

Marriott Cash and Points awards

You also can redeem points for a Marriott Cash and Points award. These awards start at just $55 plus 3,500 points but aren't available for all stays.

Redeem points for a premium room

When booking a stay, you may have the option to upgrade to a better room or a suite using points or cash. Upgrade awards are only available at select properties, though. And requirements vary by property, room type, and season.

Book award stays for other people

You can use your points to book stays for other guests up to five times each calendar year. To do so, contact Marriott to make a gifted award redemption request. You cannot use a free night award certificate to gift a room to someone else.

You'll need to provide your name and Bonvoy number plus the name of the staying guest to make the booking. You won't be able to change the reservation once it's booked, but you can cancel and rebook (assuming you're still within the free cancellation window).

The downside to booking a gifted award redemption stay is that neither you nor the person actually staying at the hotel can earn any points or elite night credit. Plus, the guest staying won't get to enjoy your elite benefits.

Marriott transfer partners

You can take advantage of Marriott transfer partners by transferring Marriott points to airline miles at a 3:1 rate with most programs. You'll also get 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred with most programs (excluding American Airlines AAdvantage^®, Avianca LifeMiles, Delta SkyMiles, and Korean Skypass). As such, you'll get 25,000 miles for every 60,000 points transferred to most airlines.

United Airlines has an enhanced bonus of 10,000 United miles when you transfer at least 60,000 Bonvoy points at one time. That means you will receive a total of 30,000 United MileagePlus miles when you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points.

Check out the full list of transfer partners below:

You can transfer up to 240,000 points to airline programs per day.

Marriott Moments

Marriott Moments allows members to redeem Marriott points for special culinary, entertainment, lifestyle, and sports experiences.

Through Marriott Bonvoy Moments, you can bid points on an auction or redeem points for fixed-price experiences. For a full rundown, check out our comprehensive Marriott Bonvoy Moments guide.

Shop with your points

You can redeem your Marriott points for various items on Marriott's website. Unfortunately, the redemption rate is usually embarrassingly low, so we don't recommend doing so.

Use your points for other travel

You can redeem Marriott points for various other travel options, including:

• Airline tickets and car rentals with more than 250 airlines and car rental companies.
• Cruises through the Cruise with Points program.
• TSA PreCheck application fee.

However, consider your redemption rate before redeeming for these options. AwardWallet users have redeemed Marriott points at an average of 0.94¢ per point. If possible, we don't recommend redeeming your points for less.

Donate your points

Finally, you can donate your Marriott Bonvoy points to various charities. You must donate at least 2,500 points to do so online. But you can donate as few as 1,000 points to Hotels for Heroes by calling 801-468-4000.

Hotel Paracas, a Luxury Collection Resort in Peru. Credit: Marriott

Transfer Marriott Points to Another Account

Marriott Bonvoy members can transfer Marriott points, up to 100,000 points per calendar year, between accounts that have been open for a minimum of 30 days with qualifying activity (or 90 days without qualifying activity).

The 100,000-point limit applies only to transfers from your account to another member. According to section 2.8.a of the Marriott terms and conditions, you can receive up to 500,000 points into your account each calendar year from other members.

To transfer your points to another member, you can use the Marriott online points transfer tool.

Marriott Bonvoy Best Rate Guarantee

Marriott Bonvoy has a best rate guarantee providing assurance “that you’ll always get the best rate available when you book directly with Marriott.” To use this guarantee, Marriott says you should:

1. Make a reservation using any official Marriott reservation channel.
2. Submit a Best Rate Guarantee claim if you find a lower rate for the same hotel, same room type, and same reservation dates on a non-Marriott channel.
3. If Marriott approves your claim, it will match the rate and give you either an extra 25% discount on the room (20% discount for Design Hotels) or 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

However, there are a lot of conditions and exclusions. Head over to the best rate guarantee terms and conditions for all the details.

Final Thoughts

There's still a ton of value to be found in the Marriott Bonvoy program, despite its move to dynamic award pricing in 2022. Marriott Bonvoy credit cards can give you a nice boost toward earning high tiers of elite status. Moreover, you can get Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status just by having the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card.

The top ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and elite status are usually credit cards and stays. Meanwhile, the top ways to redeem Marriott points are usually hotel stays and transfers to unique airline partners.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card (Rates & Fees), Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card (Rates & Fees), and Marriott Bonvoy Bevy^® American Express^® Card (Rates & Fees)

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

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