The Complete Guide To Marriott Bonvoy: Earning and Redeeming Points

Marriott Luxury brands feature bespoke and superb amenities and services.

Marriott Premium brands offer sophisticated and thoughtful amenities and services.

Marriott Select brands offer smart and easy amenities and services.

Marriott Longer Stays brands provide customers with a more homey feel.

Marriott Collections brands are uniquely designed and each offers distinctive and luxurious experiences.

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.

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):

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 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 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:

This offer is limited to 60,000 bonus Marriott points.

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.

All Marriott Bonvoy members will receive their fifth night free when booking an award stay of four nights – be sure to refer to Marriott’s award chart to seek out how many you’ll need to utilize for an award stay at a Marriott property.

In the case that you do not have enough points to redeem, you are able pay Cash + Points or by using the Points Advance feature. Cash + Points allows you pay for the stay via both cash & points. Click here to view the Cash + Points chart.

Points Advance enables you to book an award stay if you do not have enough points at the time being – with that said, you must earn the remainder of the points at least 14 days before you check in. This may be a viable option if you’re planning to travel at peak times of the year (New Year’s, spring break, etc.).

In comparison to other hotel loyalty programs, Marriott Bonvoy has (by far) the most airline transfer partners:

Marriott Bonvoy Airline Partner Programs

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’re able to also transfer your Marriott points to Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards® and Diners Club® International.

You’re able to book hotel + air packages using your Marriott points.

The miles you receive as part of your award travel package can be used towards any participating airline of your choosing. With that being said, it’s ideal to choose United Airlines as you’ll receive 10% more miles (more info 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.

You can use your Marriott Bonvoy Moments and redeem them for premium sporting event tickets, celebrity meet-and-greets, and more. Some 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

Now some events have a fixed-amount of points you’ll have to redeem whereas otheres are up for auction.

Due to these experiences being exclusive to Marriott Bonvoy members, there is no cash value so there’s no way to assume its value for redemption.

It’s not recommended that you use your Marriott points for the redemption options below as it will grant you way less than $0.01 value for each point.

*If you have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, your TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee is already covered.

Being a Marriott Bonvoy member, you’re able to earn points on a maximum of three rooms at the same time (but the rooms must be paid for by you to qualify). Keep in mind that other hotel loyalty programs may require you to physically stay in the room to earn the points.

For business owners who pay for their employee’s room stays for conferences, events, business meetings, etc, this is a great, valuble way to rake in points.

Note: You’re only able to earn elite qualifying nights for one room at a time and must stay in the room for it to qualify.

Whether you prefer a non-smoking room or one with extra pillows each time you check in, you can simply log into your Marriott Bonvoy account and set your room preference(s).

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.

The available preferences include:

• Accessibility
• Preferred bed type
• Preferred pillow type
• Smoking preference
• Floor location
• Mini-fridge
• Extra towels
• Extra pillows

These preferences aren’t guaranteed, but the hotel staff will try their best to accommodate your needs/requests.

Marriott’s Look No Further feature is a best rate guarantee perk – you’re able to get 25% off rate you find on a third-party website that’s lower or a 5,000-point bonus.

Marriott Bonvoy and United MileagePlus have partnered to offer you bigger & improved rewards with the RewardsPlus program. Marriott Bonvoy Titanium & Ambassador members are able to enroll to enjoy complimentary United MileagePlus Premier Silver status. As for United MileagePlus Gold members (or greater), these members will receive complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold status.

Points/miles perks 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)

Additional 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

From time to time, Marriott’s Platinum Elite Status Challenge allows you earn Platinum Status if you stay at Marriott properties for 16 nights within a 60- or 90-day window.