You can redeem your Marriott Bonvoy points in a variety of ways including hotel stays, transfers to airline mileage programs, gift cards, and special VIP events.
In this post, we will cover everything you need to know about using Marriott Bonvoy points.
Redeeming Marriott Points for Hotel Stays
Marriott Bonvoy divides their 7,000+ hotel properties into eight categories for using your points.
The higher the category, the higher the points cost.
You can see which hotels are in what category searching a location using Marriott’s hotel redemption tool.Â
Marriott also assigns certain dates Off-Peak, Standard, and Peak rates for each hotel.Â
These dates roughly translate to low, medium, and high demand times for the hotel, and can change at any time.
For example, a hotel could be Off-Peak for a date and then a week later, it could be changed to a Peak date. If you already made a booking at the Off-Peak rate, it will stay at that rate.
| Marriott Award Chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Off Peak | Standard | Peak |
| 1 | 5,000 | 7,500 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 10,000 | 12,500 | 15,000 |
| 3 | 15,000 | 17,500 | 20,000 |
| 4 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
| 7 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| 8 | 70,000 | 85,000 | 100,000 |
You can use your Marriott points at any of their hotel brands.Â
The full list is below:
- AC Hotels
- Aloft Hotels
- Autograph Collection Hotels
- Bulgari
- Courtyard Hotels
- Delta Hotels
- Design Hotels
- Edition
- Element
- Fairfield Inn & Suites
- Four Points
- Gaylord Hotels
- Homes & Villas by Marriott International
- JW Marriott
- Le Meridien
- Marriott
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- Marriott Vacation Club
- Moxy Hotels
- Protea Hotels
- Renaissance Hotels
- Residence Inn
- Ritz-Carlton
- Ritz-Carlton Reserve
- Sheraton
- St. Regis
- SpringHill Suites
- The Luxury Collection
- Tribute Portfolio
- TownPlace Suites
- W Hotels
- Westin
To book a hotel stay using your points:
- Visit Marriott.com.
- Enter the location, dates, rooms.
- Check the “Use Points / Certificates” box.
- Click the “Find Hotels” box.
- Select your desired hotel.
Marriott Fifth Night Free
You can get the fifth night free when you redeem your Marriott points.
If the nightly points rate varies, Marriott will apply the free night to the lowest points level of your stay.
It also works for every fifth night (i.e. 10, 15, 20 nights), which can be a great way to save points on longer stays.
Marriott’s fifth night free also works with free night certificates you get from Marriott credit cards:
You can also use a combination of points and cash for part of the stay as long as you redeem points for five of the nights.Â
In the six night stay below, I am redeeming points for five nights and cash for one night.
But if I tried to redeem cash for two nights and points for four nights, the fifth night free would not work.
To unlock this points and cash option, click “Customize Payment” on the room choice screen.
Cash and Points
You can use a combination of Cash + Points to book a hotel night.
The Cash and Points award chart is below.
| Cash + Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Off Peak | Standard | Peak |
| 1 | $55 + 1,500 | $55 + 3,500 | $55 + 4,500 |
| 2 | $65 + 4,000 | $65 + 6,000 | $65 + 7,000 |
| 3 | $80 + 6,000 | $80 + 8,500 | $80 + 9,500 |
| 4 | $105 + 8,000 | $105 + 12,000 | $105 + 15,000 |
| 5 | $140 + 13,500 | $140 + 17,000 | $140 + 21,000 |
| 6 | $190 + 19,000 | $190 + 25,000 | $190 + 30,000 |
| 7 | $250 + 25,000 | $250 + 30,000 | $250 + 40,000 |
| 8 | $440 + 27,500 | $440 + 42,500 | $440 + 57,500 |
Marriott’s Cash + Points is a good deal when the cash rate is very high.
But it is a bad deal when the cash rate is very low.
For example, you could book a King Studio at Residence Inn Chicago Downtown for $155 per night after taxes, which is fairly cheap for that hotel.
However, the Points and Cash rate is $223.06 + 25,000 points for the same room.Â
So you would be paying an extra $68 plus 25,000 points by using Marriott’s Points and Cash option rather than booking the hotel with cash.
That is a really awful deal, which is why I like Hilton’s Points and Money option, which always offers a good deal.
But Marriott’s Points and Cash rate can be a good deal when cash rates are very high.
For example, the Residence Inn Chicago (above) has higher cash rates during the summer, which regularly exceed $300+ per night.
Here, your points would get you about 0.74 cents per point in value using the Cash + Points option.
- Math: $446.12 – $223.06 = $223.06/ 30,000 = 0.74.Â
The other disadvantage of Marriott’s Cash + Points award is that you don’t earn points on the cash portion of the award, which is 10 points per dollar at most hotels for Members and higher for Marriott elite members.
But you will receive one elite night credit for each hotel night booked.
PointSavers
You can save up to 20% on certain hotels with Marriott’s PointSavers promotion.
You are still subject to Off-Peak, Standard, and Peak rates, but I frequently find that the PointSavers frequently occur during Off-Peak times.
| PointSavers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Off Peak | Standard | Peak |
| 1 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 8,500 |
| 2 | 8,000 | 11,000 | 13,000 |
| 3 | 12,000 | 16,000 | 18,000 |
| 4 | 17,500 | 22,500 | 27,500 |
| 5 | 27,500 | 32,500 | 37,500 |
| 6 | 35,000 | 45,000 | 55,000 |
| 7 | 45,000 | 55,000 | 65,000 |
| 8 | 65,000 | 80,000 | 90,000 |
You can find the official list of PointSavers hotels on Marriott’s website and scroling down to the participating hotels list.
But that is not a complete list.Â
I find most PointSavers hotels by doing a regular hotel search for my dates and seeing if any hotels show the lower rate.
Marriott Airline Transfer Partners
Another option to use your Marriott points is to transfer to airline points programs.
Marriott has the most transfer partners of any transferrable points program, which allows you to transfer to many unique programs.
The transfer rate is three (3) Marriott points to one (1) airline mile for most programs.
There is also a transfer bonus of 5,000 airline miles when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points.
You should always try to transfer in increments of 60,000 Marriott points to take advantage of the bonus.
If you do, the effective transfer rate is 2.4 Marriott points to 1 airline mile instead of 3 to 1.
Below are all of Marriott’s airline transfer partners and the typical time required to transfer points to those programs.
Marriott Bonvoy Points Transfer Partners
|
|
|---|---|
| Marriott points transfer at a rate of 3 Marriott points to 1 airline mile with a transfer bonus of 5,000 airline miles when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points. | |
| Airline Points Program | Transfer Time |
Aegean Airlines
|
3 days |
Aer Lingus
|
3 days |
Aeroflot
|
20 days |
AeroMexico
|
4 days |
Air Canada Aeroplan
|
4 days |
Air China
|
5 days |
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
|
3 days |
Air New Zealand [200 to 1 Ratio]
|
24 hours |
Alaska Airlines
|
4 days |
Alitalia
|
7 days |
ANA
|
4 days |
American Airlines
|
48 hours |
Asiana Airlines
|
4 days |
Avianca Lifemiles
|
24 to 48 hours |
British Airways
|
3 days |
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
|
5 days |
China Eastern Airlines
|
Unknown |
China Southern Airlines
|
7 days |
Copa Airlines
|
3 days |
Delta SkyMiles
|
24 hours |
Emirates
|
3 days |
Etihad
|
3 days |
Frontier Airlines
|
6 weeks |
GOL
|
8 days |
Hainan Airlines
|
24 hours |
Hawaiian Airlines
|
24 hours |
Iberia
|
24 hours |
Japan Airlines
|
48 hours |
jetBlue [6 to 1 Ratio]
|
24 hours |
Korean Air
|
48 hours |
LATAM Airlines
|
48 hours |
Lufthansa Miles & More
|
3 days |
Qantas
|
48 hours |
Qatar Airways
|
3 days |
Saudi Arabian Airlines
|
5 days |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
|
48 hours |
South African Airways
|
3 days |
Southwest Airlines
|
24 hours |
TAP Air Portugal
|
48 hours |
Thai Airways
|
4 days |
Turkish Airlines
|
3 days |
United [3 to 1.1 Ratio]
|
7 days |
Virgin Atlantic
|
24 to 48 hours |
Virgin Australia
|
24 to 48 hours |
The best programs to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to are:
- Alaska Airlines.
- All Nippon Airways (ANA).
- Japan Airlines.
- Iberia (for travel to/from Europe).
- United Airlines (due to the higher 10% bonus).
Homes and Villas
You can also redeem Marriot Bonvoy points with the Homes & Villas program, which is similar to Airbnb and VRBO.
Your Marriot points are worth a fixed value of 0.6 cents per point when using your points for home stays.Â
You can also earn 5 Marriott points per dollar spent and one elite night credit per night on paid stay.Â
The booking process is a slightly complicated.
You must have the required number of points in your account to book a home, and you cannot use a combination of Points and Cash.Â
Marriott’s booking team will then take up to 48 hours to confirm your booking.
Each property has different cancellation policies, but most offer free cancellation up to 30 days prior to arrival.
The Home & Villas are not operated or managed by Marriott, but are typically run by other professional property management companies.
Homes & Villas can be a good option to use your points for unique locations that don’t have a Marriott property or when you need extra space for a family or friend vacation.Â
Marriott Bonvoy Moments
Marriott Bonvoy Moments allows you to book rare and unique experiences with your points such as a cooking lesson with a celebrity chef or throwing out the first pitch of Game 7 of the World Series.
There are five types of Marriott Bonvoy Moments:
Some Marriott Moments are packages, which have a fixed price to redeem.
But some Moments are only available as an auction like eBay.Â
The Moments program is currently paused due to COVID-19, but it is likely to resume in the future.
Marriott's Air and Car Program
You can book a flight or rental car with Marriott’s Air and Car Program and redeem points at around 0.4 cents per point.
Cruises with Marriott Points
You can redeem Marriott points for certificates toward a cruise, but you only receive 0.4 cents per point in value when using your points.
| Marriott Points | Cruise Certificate |
|---|---|
| 63,000 | $250 |
| 125,000 | $500 |
| 250,000 | $1,000 |
| 625,000 | $2,500 |
| 1,250,000 | $5,000 |
You will still earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on the cash portion of the cruise when using your points.
To book a cruise with points:
- Visit Marriott’s Cruise With Points website.
- Search for your preferred cruise.
- Call 800-596-0452 Monday-Friday from 8 am to 8 pm EST to make a reservation with your Marriott points.
Shop for Merchandise
You can redeem your Marriott points for merchandise such as electronics, kitchen items, sports equipment, and fashion items.Â
However, the points cost is generally way too high to justify the item.
For example, the Apple AirPods Pro retail for $199. If you were to redeem 85,000 points, you would only receive 0.23 cents per point in value.
Gift Cards
You can redeem Marriott points for gift cards.
Most gift cards are priced at the following levels:
- $25 for 10,000 points (0.25 cents per point)
- $50 for 17,500 points (0.29 cents per point)
- $100 for 30,000 points (0.33 cents per point)
Donate Marriot Points
Another option is to donate your Marriott points to one of the many charities that Marriott has a partnership with.
You can donate between $10 (2,500 points) and $500 (125,000 points), which is at 0.4 cents per point.
The Verdict
The best ways to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points is using them for hotel stays or transferring the points with a bonus to airline mileage programs.
