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Marriott Bonvoy is the largest hotel chain in the world, offering travelers access to an expansive, world-wide portfolio of properties, elite status perks, and flexible redemption options. With 31 brands at a wide range of price points, Marriott offers something for every type of traveler. Whether you're new to the program or looking to maximize your rewards, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about Marriott Bonvoy.
What is Marriott Bonvoy?
Marriott Bonvoy is the loyalty program for Marriott International, encompassing over 8,500 properties across 30+ brands in more than 130 countries. Marriott brands include The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, Courtyard, and SpringHill Suites.

You can earn points for hotel stays, through Marriott partners, and credit card spending, but credit card signup bonuses through Bonvoy’s many branded credit cards are the fastest way to earn points and free nights towards stays for most of us.

Marriott points can be redeemed for free nights, room upgrades, travel experiences, and can be transferred to airline miles (at a low rate).

How to Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points

1. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards

Marriott offers co-branded credit cards through American Express and Chase, allowing members to earn points through welcome bonuses and on everyday spending, with some cards providing access to exclusive benefits. Marriott cards typically provide a welcome bonus of Bonvoy Points, Free Night Awards, and/or statement credits. Here are the currently available Marriott cards and their offers:
Here are some of the most popular Southwest cards out there:

BRAND

Credit Card

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

Application

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2. Staying at Marriott Hotels
Bonvoy members earn base points on qualifying stays, with additional bonuses for elite members. The earning rate depends on the brand:
  • Most Marriott brands: 10 points per $1 spent
  • Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Element: 5 points per $1 spent
  • Marriott Executive Apartments & ExecuStay: 2.5 points per $1 spent

3. Transfer Credit Card Points

Marriott is a transfer partner for Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, which means these points can be transferred to Marriott points. Generally, this isn't the best use of these valuable transferable currencies, even during their frequent transfer bonuses, but if you have a specific high-value Bonvoy redemption opportunity and need to top off some points, it could be worth it.

4. Other Ways to Earn Points

  • Eat Around Town: Link any debit or credit card to earn Bonvoy points through Eat Around Town, it doesn't even need to be a Marriott card.
  • Meetings & Events: Marriott offers double points when hosting events at their properties.
  • Promotions: Frequent promotions allow members to earn bonus points on stays and purchases.
  • Partnerships: Marriott partners with several programs, allowing members to earn Bonvoy points on other purchases such as car rentals, cruises, Starbucks, and Uber.
  • Purchase Marriott Points: Marriott points can be purchased for 1.25 cents each. This is rarely worth it unless you're topping off for a high-value redemption or taking advantage of a purchase bonus.
How to Earn Marriott Bonvoy Free Nights
1. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards
Marriott often offers Free Night Awards as part of the welcome bonus for some credit cards that are in their suite of cards. These new cardholder offers frequently change, and current offers can be found above.
As a credit card benefit, you can earn Free Night Awards with the following cards:

2. 75 Night Choice Benefit

Achieving a 75 night Choice Benefit selection gives Bonvoy members the opportunity to select a Free Night Award certificate (up to 40K Points).

3. Targeted Promotional Awards

Bonvoy will sometimes run a targeted promotion that offers a Free Night Award certificate as a reward (e.g., a free night certificate after 1 or 2 paid nights).
Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status
Rapid Rewards offers two elite status tiers, providing various benefits to frequent flyers. To earn status, you need to earn Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) or fly a certain number of qualifying one-way flights

BRAND

Status Level

Nights Required

Key Benefits

Silver Elite

10 nights

10% bonus points, priority late checkout

Gold Elite

25 nights

25% bonus points, room upgrades, 2PM late checkout

Platinum Elite

50 nights

50% bonus points, lounge access, welcome gift, suite upgrades, 4PM late checkout, Choice Benefit when you reach 50 nights

Titanium Elite

75 nights

All of the above, plus 75% bonus points, 48-hour guarantee, reciprocal status on select airlines, better upgrade priority, an additional Choice Benefit when you reach 75 nights

Ambassador Elite

100 nights + $23K spend

All of the above, plus personalized ambassador service, Your24 check-in

A tier qualifying point is any Rapid Rewards point that will count toward A-List or A-List Preferred. Southwest has a well defined list of criteria that make it clear whether or not an activity will earn TQPs:
Best Ways to Redeem Marriott Bonvoy Points
1. Using Points for Stays
Marriott uses dynamic pricing, meaning redemption rates fluctuate based on demand. Free nights start at 5,000 points for lower-tier properties and go up to 150,000+ points for luxury hotels.
  • Fifth Night Free: When booking five consecutive award nights, the fifth night is free.
  • Cash + Points: Combine points with cash for stays when you're short on points.

2. Free Night Award Certificates

Free Night Award Certificates are issued as credit card perks, status benefits, and as promotional awards. Each free night certificate has a maximum value. For example, a 50K free night certificate can be used for a hotel night that costs 50,000 points or less.

  • Bonvoy Free Night Certificates range from 25K-85K in value, earned from credit card benefits, spend, or status Choice Benefits.
  • When using free night certificates, there is no fifth night free benefit like when using points.
  • If a hotel costs more points than the max value of your free night certificate, Marriott lets you top off the certificates with up to 15,000 Bonvoy points for stays more expensive than the value of the award certificate. If you use the certificate for a less expensive stay, you forfeit the excess points.
Unlike many other airlines, Southwest does not have traditional airline partners or belong to an airline alliance. Instead, Southwest focuses on providing a robust network of domestic and limited international flights on its own. However, Southwest has partnerships with several hotel, car rental, and retail partners that allow members to earn and redeem Rapid Rewards points.

3. Marriott Bonvoy Moments

Use points for exclusive experiences, such as VIP sports events, culinary experiences, and concerts.

4. Airline Transfers

Marriott points transfer to ~40 airline partners, including hard to get miles like Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, and American Airlines. However, the big reason Marriott is typically not highlighted as a transfer partner is because Marriott transfers are never 1:1—most hover around 3:1.

5. Travel Packages

Members can redeem points for Hotel + Air Packages, bundling free nights with airline miles.
Marriott Bonvoy Points Expiration Policy
Marriott Bonvoy points expire after 24 months of inactivity. You can keep your account active with any earning, redeeming, or purchasing activity. However, transfers, gifting, and receiving points do not count toward extending expiration.
Conclusion
While Marriott doesn’t offer the best value of any hotel loyalty programs, there are valuable redemptions to be found. The ability to earn points through credit cards, promotions, and partnerships makes it easy to accumulate rewards, and the global reach of Marriott means you’ll always have options for redemption.
However, dynamic pricing and limited award availability at top-tier hotels can make it challenging to extract maximum value. If you prefer a more consistently high redemption structure, a program like Hyatt may be a better fit.

Annual Fee: $95

$95

Sign-up Bonus: 60,000 points

60,000 points

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Editorial note: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.