Marriott Bonvoy: Year-end action list with Marriott Bonvoy

As a Marriott Bonvoy member, you have to take action regarding:

• Credit cards
• Points account
• Loyalty status
• Hotel bookings

If you haven’t already, take advantage of the current promotion on the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card. These are points that are easy to earn, and will get you many free hotel nights.

And if you’re a couple, or friends traveling together, each subscribe to the Marriott Bonvoy^MD American Express^MD* Card: you’ll be able to pool your points into a single Marriott Bonvoy account with a simple call (more details later).

And since recently, you can even earn 12,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for free when you subscribe to the new American Express^® Green Card!

What’s more, if you’re self-employed, a professional, or a business owner, I recommend that you also subscribe to the small business version of the card: the Marriott Bonvoy^MD Business American Express^MD* Card.

These are also easily earned points, which you’ll accumulate on your Marriott Bonvoy account.

The new year is the time to make good resolutions! For example, you might decide to use the spending categories of your credit cards correctly!

If you’re interested in Marriott Bonvoy points, here’s our strategy:

• Earn 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar for your groceries, home food deliveries using the American Express Cobalt^MD Card (its points transfer into Marriott Bonvoy points at the rate of 5:6).
• Earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar for your stays at Marriott Bonvoy hotels using the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card.
• Earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on travel purchases (flights, car rentals, cruises) using the Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card.
• Earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on gas purchases using the Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card.
• Earn 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on select Plastiq bill payments using the Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card.
• Earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on all your purchases using the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card.

If you hold a card offering Membership Rewards points, including the American Express Cobalt^MD Card, it would be worth taking stock of your needs for the coming year, particularly in terms of hotel nights!

This is a good time to transfer Membership Rewards points to your Marriott Bonvoy account (5 Membership Rewards points = 6 Marriott Bonvoy points).

This will allow you to earn more free nights or participate in hotel point-to-Aeroplan point conversion promotions (and thus transform your Membership Rewards points earned on the American Express Cobalt^MD Card into Aeroplan points at a great rate)!

If you have held the Marriott Bonvoy^MD American Express^MD* Card or the Marriott Bonvoy^MD Business American Express^MD* Card for less than one year, you will receive an annual certificate at renewal. annual one-night free certificate worth 35,000 points..

If, like me, you’ve been a Marriott Bonvoy^MD American Express^MD* Card or Marriott Bonvoy^MD Business American Express^®* Card holder for over a year (i.e. you’ve already renewed the annual fee), this annual certificate has been deposited in your Marriott Bonvoy account (usually 7-8 weeks after renewal).

This annual certificate is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. So take advantage of this end of the year to check its expiry date and apply it on a reservation!

If you and your spouse/friend each hold the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card or the Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card, you have earned points in your respective Marriott Bonvoy accounts.

With Marriott Bonvoy, you can transfer up to 100,000 points per year for free from one account to another. It’s a calendar year: so you have until December 31 of that year to transfer up to 100,000 points to the account of the person of your choice!

This is particularly handy when you want to take advantage of the“Stay 5 nights for the price of 4” benefit or the higher status of one of Marriott Bonvoy’s members.

To earn Marriott Bonvoy points in addition to those obtained via the Marriott Bonvoy^MD American Express^MD* Card or the Marriott Bonvoy^MD Business American Express^®* Card, you need to stay at one of the group’s hotels!

You’ll also need to stay “cleverly” by signing up for points accumulation promotions! If you follow milesopedia – sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss anything – you need to be up to date with the latest promotions!

If you have obtained Marriott Bonvoy Platine Elite status (50 Elite Nights), Marriott Bonvoy has emailed you asking you to choose a benefit:

• Five free upgrades to a suite (Suite Night Awards™)
• Silver Elite status gift
• 40% off your favourite mattress
• five Elite Night Credits
• a $100 charity donation

If you haven’t reached 50 nights for this year, you’ll surely be useful to choose the“Five Elite Night Credits”(which are valid for the current year and not the year ahead). You have until January 07th, 2022 to make your choice (which will be retroactive).

Otherwise, the obvious choice is“Five complimentary suite upgrades“. Although by “negotiating” via the Marriott Bonvoy app chat (or by emailing the hotel), it’s not guaranteed to get a suite upgrade thanks to status.

On the other hand, by using one of the complimentary suite upgrades, your upgrade will be guaranteed!

If you have obtained Marriott Bonvoy’s Titanium Elite status (75 Elite Nights), Marriott Bonvoy has emailed you asking you to make an additional choice of benefit:

• Five free upgrades to a suite (Suite Night Awards™)
• A free night
• Gold Elite status gift
• 40% off your favourite mattress
• five Elite Night Credits
• a $100 charity donation

To make your choice, check out this page.

Here, I choose the free night (worth 40,000 points) and not the five Suite Night Awards. I think it’s more valuable to me! But it’s up to you to decide!

If you don’t do anything before January 07, 2022, the next five free upgrades will be automatically applied to your account.

With the introduction of peek and off-peak rates, a free night in a hotel can have three different prices. When you book, you have blocked a rate, and it will be the one you will pay in points.

But be aware that these rates change regularly! So it may be appropriate to check your booking if you have booked your night at the peak or off-peak rate! You may be able to benefit from a lower rate (standard or off-peak).

Each year, Marriott Bonvoy adjusts the categories of its 7,000+ hotels. This adjustment usually takes place in March.

This will also be an opportunity for us to update our complete geographical map of Marriott Bonvoy hotels!

Being a member of a loyalty program means knowing the rules and learning to take advantage of them! I hope this year-end checklist will help you with your travel plans.

Don’t hesitate to come and discuss about this in our facebook group!

Check the best Marriott Bonvoy credit card offers.