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Think you have to stay at a Marriott hotel to earn Marriott Bonvoy® points? Think again.
Whether you’re taking a break from traveling or just between trips, you can build your Bonvoy balance in plenty of ways without checking into a Marriott hotel. From everyday purchases to bonus-earning partnerships, and even hosting events or booking cruises, you can rack up thousands of points without ever setting foot in a Marriott room.
Here are 14 ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points without a hotel stay, including a few that might surprise you.
Open and Spend on a Marriott Credit Card
Chase and
Marriott cards that are currently accepting new applications include the following:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card: Earn 45,000 Bonus Points after spending $1,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card!
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: Earn 3 Free Night Awards after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. Redeem your Free Night Award for a one-night stay at properties with a redemption level up to 50,000 points per night. Certain hotels have resort fees. Special Offer through 6/30/2027: Get up to $100 in statement credits after spending $500 on eligible airline purchases. That's $50 in statement credits semi-annually.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card: Earn 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after you spend $4,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in the first three months.
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Bonus Points and 1 Free Night Award after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. The Free Night Award has a redemption level up to 50,000 points at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Resort fees and terms apply. Offer ends 11/4/26.
Once you've opened a Marriott card and have earned the welcome bonus, you can put as much or as little of your everyday spending on the card as you desire. The more you use it, the more points you'll earn.
$250Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- 6X points on purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy
- 4X points on up to $15,000 in combined purchases per year at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
$650Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- 6X points on purchases at Marriott Properties
- 3X points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
$125Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- 6x Marriott Bonvoy® points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program.
- 4x Marriott Bonvoy® points on each dollar of eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
- 2x Marriott Bonvoy® points per dollar on all other eligible purchases
Spend Some Down Time at a Marriott Hotel
Marriott also lets members earn points on activities at local hotels and resorts. This includes eating at a participating hotel restaurant, playing a round of golf, or relaxing with a spa day. You will earn 5 points per $1 spent on dining and 10 points per $1 spent on golf or on health and wellness.
These points will post to your account whether or not you're staying at the hotel. If you are staying at the hotel, feel free to charge them directly to your room folio to earn points. If not, link a credit card on the earning page, use it to pay, and your account will be credited with your bonus points.
Dine at an “Eat Around Town” Restaurant
You can also earn points through one of the Marriott Eat Around Town partners. Marriott Bonvoy members earn 4 points per $1 spent, and Marriott Bonvoy Elite members earn 6 points per $1 spent when dining at a participating restaurant and paying with a linked card.
These restaurants aren't limited to those in your hotel. You'll find many of your local favorites, from coffee shops to neighborhood sushi joints. Through January 5, 2027, you can join Marriott Eat Around Town and earn up to 6,000 points in the first 60 days:
- 1,000 bonus points after the first dine of $30 or more
- 2,000 bonus points after the second dine of $30 or more (3,000 total points)
- 3,000 bonus points after the third dine of $30 or more (6,000 total points)
Transfer Points to Marriott
You can transfer points to Marriott from American Express Membership
While you can transfer points from these programs, you probably shouldn't. Since free nights at Marriott hotels can exceed 100,000 points, transferring points from your
You can also transfer select airline miles to Marriott. Some transfer at a 1:1 ratio, while others transfer at a lower ratio. Either way, we don't recommend this because you will typically get much better value by using those miles directly with the airlines:
Spend Money at an MGM Property
Thanks to the MGM Resorts and Marriott partnership, you can move points from MGM to Marriott. For each 1,000 MGM points, you'll get 800 Marriott points. Earning MGM points is easy and goes well beyond hotel stays. You can add your Marriott number to your MGM reservation, but you can also earn points through other activities like casino table play and slot machines.
Refer a Friend to Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott offers bonus points to members who refer friends to the Marriott Bonvoy program. You can refer up to five friends per year and earn 2,000 points per stay each friend makes, up to five stays per referral. This means you could potentially earn 50,000 bonus points in one year.
Remind your friends to book directly with Marriott to earn points for their stays, rather than through a third-party site like Expedia or Booking.com, since those stays won't earn points. That way, the next time a friend asks how to earn Marriott points quickly, you can point them to how you do it.
Host an Event at a Marriott Hotel
Host a business meeting, conference, family reunion, wedding, or other event at a Marriott hotel and earn 2 points per $1 spent — up to 60,000 points total — on eligible room, food, beverages, and audio/visual charges. Even better, elite status bonuses will boost those earnings by up to 75%. That means Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members can earn up to 105,000 points per event!
You'll also earn one Marriott Elite Night Credit for every 20 room nights you book — up to 20 Elite Night Credits per event.
If you want to double-dip, consider inviting some of those attendees to sign up for Marriott Bonvoy at your next event. That way, you can earn points on their stay through the referral program and earn points from the meeting itself.
Related: Do Marriott Bonvoy Points Expire?
Earn Points From Your Shopping
Shopping online through Marriott Bonvoy Boutiques lets you earn additional Marriott Bonvoy points for your online purchases. This shopping portal lets you bring home the comforts and experiences of staying at a Marriott property. The Boutiques include mattresses, bedding, bath items, and fragrances.
Eligible purchases earn 5 points per $1 spent, and Marriott co-branded cardholders earn additional points per dollar on Marriott spending, depending on their card.
Transfer Points from Friends or Family
A huge perk of the Marriott Bonvoy program is the ability to transfer Marriott points between accounts, up to 100,000 points sent and 500,000 points received each calendar year. You can also make a maximum of two transfers per month and six transfers per year. While this isn't a way to earn points in the normal sense, it's a great option for families to pool points to book one big stay.
Alternatively, if you have friends with points expiring in their account, they can send their points to you instead of letting them go to waste.
Starting a transfer is easy. You can begin directly on the website with Marriott's online transfer tool. Note that you must transfer in increments of 1,000.
Link Your Marriott and Uber Accounts
Link your Marriott and Uber accounts and earn points for food and grocery deliveries with Uber Eats and on rideshares taken with Uber. Here's how the earning breaks down:
- 3 points per dollar on Uber premium rides: UberXL, Uber Black, Uber SUV, and Uber Comfort.
- 2 points per dollar on UberX rides booked with Uber Reserve.
- 2 points per dollar on Uber Eats restaurant and grocery orders of $40 or more delivered to a Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, or Element hotel.
- 1 point per dollar on all other Uber Eats restaurant and grocery orders of $40 or more.
Ordering Uber Eats to your hotel may seem counterintuitive, but I've done it many times. Hotel lobby food and drink options aren't always the widest-ranging or most diverse, and sometimes you just need a late-night snack delivered right to you. Uber often has access to dozens of nearby restaurants and convenience stores, and you can earn points in the app quickly and easily. Just make sure the destination is the hotel name so the points credit properly.
Rent a Car
Marriott partners with Hertz to offer bonus points when renting with Hertz, Dollar, or Thrifty. Members earn 500 points per rental with Hertz or 250 points per rental with Dollar and Thrifty. Marriott Bonvoy Elite members get even more: 200 additional points per Hertz rental (700 total) and 250 more per Dollar or Thrifty rental (500 total). Booking a rental car with a linked Marriott account gives you unlimited miles, free cancellations, and the ability to reserve now and pay later.
While 500 or so points per rental may sound decent, it's not much in the grand scheme of things. You may be better off using a card like the
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
Book a Cruise
Book your next cruise through Marriott's Cruise With Points program and receive up to 3 points per $1 spent. Most Marriott cards also offer 2 points per $1 on all spending, so you can potentially earn 5x total on cruises. Options include many popular cruise lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and more. Because cruises often cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, this is a lucrative way to earn a solid amount of Marriott points.
Another benefit of booking through Cruise With Points is that Marriott honors any loyalty benefits available to you from the cruise line you're sailing on. Furthermore, they offer a lowest-price guarantee. If you find a better price, they will refund 110% of the difference.
Buy a Marriott Vacation Package
Book a vacation package through Vacations by Marriott. You can bundle a room and flight, a room and car, or a room, flight, and car into one vacation package. Choose your vacation type — from family-friendly to romance-centered — and earn bonus points based on the package you book. Earning rates are calculated based on the room rate, and additional parts of the package, like flights or rental cars, do not earn points.
Occasionally, Vacations by Marriott runs elevated earnings on vacation packages, so check regularly for the latest deals.
Buy Marriott Points
Finally, you can also earn Marriott points by pulling out your credit card and simply buying them. Although buying points isn't always a good idea, you can sometimes score a good deal during Marriott buy points promotions.
This can be a great way to get the points you need for a free night if you're a few hundred or a few thousand short, but buying in large quantities or speculatively can be quite expensive.
Bottom Line
You don’t need to check into a Marriott hotel to earn Bonvoy points. From credit cards and dining to car rentals and cruise bookings, there are plenty of ways to boost your balance.
Next comes the fun part: redeeming your points. Here's some inspiration on how to use them for Marriott stays:
- Marriott Bonvoy Redemptions for the Budget-Savvy Traveler
- Best Marriott Points Redemptions for Luxury Stays
Page Contents
- Open and Spend on a Marriott Credit Card
- Spend Some Down Time at a Marriott Hotel
- Dine at an “Eat Around Town” Restaurant
- Transfer Points to Marriott
- Spend Money at an MGM Property
- Refer a Friend to Marriott Bonvoy
- Host an Event at a Marriott Hotel
- Earn Points From Your Shopping
- Transfer Points from Friends or Family
- Link Your Marriott and Uber Accounts
- Rent a Car
- Book a Cruise
- Buy a Marriott Vacation Package
- Buy Marriott Points
- Bottom Line
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees)
