Marriott Bonvoy: The best uses of Marriott Bonvoy points
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Foreword
To use a loyalty program, you need to know how it works and its subtleties.
On this page, you’ll find a comprehensive overview of the Marriott Bonvoy program and what you need to know:
The 8 categories of Marriott Bonvoy hotels according to price list
The 7,000 hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy program are divided into 8 categories.
Depending on these, a free night will cost between 5,000 and 100,000 points. Find out more in this article.
Advance Marriott Bonvoy points to book hotels
The Marriott Bonvoy program lets you book hotels… without having the points in your account! In most cases, you can hold your reservation without points up to 14 days before arrival.
It’s a great way to plan your overnight stays and gradually earn points via the Marriott BonvoyTM American ExpressMD* Card or the American Express CobaltMD Card!
Find out more about the Marriott Bonvoy points advance in this article.
4 nights purchased with Marriott Bonvoy points = 1 night free
If you book 5 consecutive nights in the same hotel using points, Marriott Bonvoy will give you one night (the cheapest in points).
That’s a saving of 15-20% in points on a 5-night stay. Find out more about “Stay 5 nights, pay in 4” in this article.
Credit cards offering Marriott Bonvoy points
In Canada, we’re spoiled for choice with two credit cards that earn Marriott Bonvoy points:
Read more about the advantages of these cards in this article.
- Annual fee
- $120
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$600Total$600$100 deferred bonus, excluded from the first-year estimate and not counted in this total.Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $600
- Welcome offerAfter $3,000 in 3 months
- Up to 70,000 points
Apply Now
on American Express's website
Apply with confidenceCheck whether your application will be approved before you submit it, with no impact on your credit score*When you apply for a personal American Express Credit Card, we will tell you whether you are eligible without affecting your credit score. So you can apply with confidence.*Instant decisions are only available for consumer Card applications (also called “personal Cards”).
- Annual fee
- $150
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$700Total$700$100 deferred bonus, excluded from the first-year estimate and not counted in this total.Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $700
- Welcome offerAfter $5,000 in 3 months
- Up to 80,000 points
Apply Now
on American Express's website
Apply with confidenceCheck whether your application will be approved before you submit it, with no impact on your credit score*When you apply for a personal American Express Credit Card, we will tell you whether you are eligible without affecting your credit score. So you can apply with confidence.*Instant decisions are only available for consumer Card applications (also called “personal Cards”).
Transfer points between Marriott Bonvoy! accounts.
Marriott Bonvoy allows all members of its loyalty program to transfer points to another member, free of charge, up to a limit of 100,000 points per year.
Convenient for a couple hunting for underwriting bonuses credit cards linked to the Marriott Bonvoy program ! 100,000 points per year, allowing you to pool a large proportion of your points into a single account for easier bookings and/or higher status on one account than the other!
Read more about transferring points between accounts in this article.
Convert Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles like Aeroplan
The Marriott Bonvoy program converts points into miles of many air loyalty programs such as Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, United MileagePlan…
For every 60,000 points transfered, a bonus of 15,000 points is offered. Thus, 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan points.
More details on converting Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles in this article.
Using Marriott Bonvoy to convert Select Membership Rewards points into airline miles
The American Express Cobaltmᶜ Card allows you to transfer Select Membership Rewards points only to hotel programs like Marriott Bonvoy… and not to airline programs like Aeroplan.
Here, we use the Marriott Bonvoy program as a vehicle to transfer select Membership Rewards points into miles via Marriott points! The transfer rate is 1 select privilege point = 1.2 Marriott Bonvoy points (or 5 = 6 if you prefer).
So 50,000 select Membership Rewards points = 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan / Avios miles…
Marriott Bonvoy status benefits
Finally, the Marriott Bonvoy program has 6 status levels.
Find out more about the advantages and how to easily obtain a higher status in this article!
The best uses of Marriott Bonvoy points
Let’s get to the heart of the matter: the best uses of Marriott Bonvoy points.
Free hotel nights
The Marriott Bonvoy program is based on rewarding members with free nights!
With free nights starting at 5,000 points at select hotels and welcome bonuses offered by the Marriott BonvoyTM American ExpressMD* Card or the Marriott BonvoyMD Business American ExpressMD* Card can earn many free hotel nights!
Conversion to miles for airline programs such as Aeroplan
Second best use of points: convert Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles.
Thanks to the welcome bonus offered by the Marriott BonvoyTM American ExpressMD* Card, for example, you can convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and earn 25,000 miles in your Aeroplan account!
But that’s not all: if you do it as part of an Aeroplan conversion promotion (which runs 3 or 4 times a year), you can boost your conversion even further.
Aeroplan applies the conversion bonus percentage to the miles earned in the Aeroplan account.
So if the conversion promotion is“30% more miles” and you convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll get 32,500 Aeroplan points!
Knowing that Aeroplan reward tickets are available starting at 15,000 miles for a short-haul round trip or 25,000 miles for a round trip anywhere in North America, it becomes particularly advantageous to convert your Marriott Bonvoy points into Aeroplan points!
Converting Select Membership Rewards points into airline miles
American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred directly to a number of programs, including Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club and Delta Skymiles.
But the SELECT Membership Rewards points offered by the American Express CobaltMD Card can only be transferred to hotel programs such as Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy.
So… what should we do if we need air miles? Convert your Select Membership Rewards points into Marriott Bonvoy points! These Marriott Bonvoy points can then be converted into miles for numerous airline programs such as… Aeroplan!
Here, we use the Marriott Bonvoy program as a vehicle to transfer select Membership Rewards points into miles via Marriott points! The transfer rate is 1 select privilege point = 1.2 Marriott Bonvoy points (or 5 = 6 if you prefer).
So 50,000 select Membership Rewards points = 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan / Avios miles…
The American Express Cobaltmᶜ Card earns 5 select Membership Rewards points / dollar purchase at select categories of businesses: grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants. And in grocery and convenience stores, you can buy gift cards for many other businesses (SAQ, Amazon …) to earn 5 points / dollar.
- Annual fee
- $191.88
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$255Total$255Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $255
- Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months
- Up to 15,000 points
Apply Now
on American Express's website
Apply with confidenceCheck whether your application will be approved before you submit it, with no impact on your credit score*When you apply for a personal American Express Credit Card, we will tell you whether you are eligible without affecting your credit score. So you can apply with confidence.*Instant decisions are only available for consumer Card applications (also called “personal Cards”).
Marriott Bonvoy activities: "Moments
Unknown to most members, Marriott Bonvoy Moments are an excellent opportunity to use Marriott Bonvoy points.
Whether for a sporting event…
… a concert…
…or a festival…
…Marriott Bonvoy reserves the best seats for its members!
Marriott Bonvoy Moments take place all over the world, and can be purchased directly with points… or by bidding!
For example, you can attend a Canadiens game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for just 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for 2 people:
- In the Marriott Bonvoy Luxury Suite
- With unlimited food and drink
50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to LIVE an experience like this… it puts the $120Marriott BonvoyTM American ExpressMD* Card fee in perspective!
| Credit card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $120 | |||
| $150 |
For your next Hilton stay, see the Hilton Honors American Express® Card available in Canada and the terms of its current offer.