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Guide: Save on Hotels with Points

To the point With credit card points, find out how to save a lot of money on hotel nights when you travel!
Milesopedia recommends this card from American Express Canada

This post is also available in: FR

With hotel loyalty programs, you can earn points:

  • with hotel stays
  • with points earned through partner programs (airlines, car rental agencies, etc.)
  • with credit cards

1. Goal: Free hotel nights

With so many different ways to earn points, it’s pretty easy to quickly earn lots of points for free hotel nights!

And unlike Airbnb rentals(check out the Airbnb strategy here) which can have surprises (good or bad), all hotels are scrutinized by travelers through reviews left on various sites like Tripadvisor.

If you do your homework before you book, you should be assured of the quality of the hotel on your trip!

The St. Regis Dubai, The Palm – Marriott-09

For families used to book via Airbnb for comfort (especially for access to a kitchen), know that some chains like Residence Inn / TownePlace Suites of Marriott Bonvoy offer real apartments in which you can find a kitchen!

towneplace theme parks orlando suite

2. The program to save on hotel nights

marriott bonvoy logo

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy has over 8,000 hotels worldwide. Depending on the hotel’s price range, you can get a free night for as little as 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

You’ll find a complete map of all these hotels in this article, exclusive to Milesopedia. As well as the version for Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Canada. Thanks to those maps, you’ll be able to plan your next trip!

The fact that these hotels are not ONLY luxury hotels – they’re hotels that suit every traveller – is clearly demonstrated by the fact that they are available under 30 different brands.

For example, we have set up a trip to South Africa that is fully paid with Marriott Bonvoy points we’ve got from Marriott Bonvoy credit cards!

The loyalty program has its specificities that you should know, like the possibility to stay 5 nights for the price of 4 for any stay paid with points! This results in a 20% saving, which is far from negligible.

The Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program is simply THE best in Canada for free hotel nights worldwide.

3. Credit cards to save on hotel nights

With the objective and the loyalty program defined, we can now turn our attention to credit cards that earn points for savings on hotel nights.

Marriott Bonvoy credit cards

In Canada, two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards issued by American Express allow you to quickly and directly earn many Marriott Bonvoy points.

When you sign up for either of these credit cards, you can earn a welcome bonus in Marriott Bonvoy points. If you sign up for both credit cards, you can get both welcome bonuses!

If you are a couple – or with a travel companion – you can earn FOUR welcome bonuses in Marriott Bonvoy points!

Membership Rewards Credit Cards

If you need more points, you can get them with American Express Membership Rewards cards:

The American Express Cobalt® Card is particularly interesting because it earns 5 points per dollar (or 6 Marriott Bonvoy points) on many everyday purchases:

You can then transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1.2 ratio (5:6 if you prefer).

cobalt bonvoy transfert

Bottom Line

You could focus on a particular program like Marriott Bonvoy by applying first for the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card.

If you’re self-employed, a professional or a small business owner, you should know that it’s possible to apply for the business version, the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card.

And you could even apply for these cards on the same day, as American Express allows two sign-ups on the same day for your personal and business needs. So you can earn plenty of Marriott Bonvoy points with welcome bonuses. And double that if you’re a couple!

Then, to earn even more Marriott Bonvoy points, you could turn to American Express Membership Rewards cards like the American Express Cobalt® Card to earn more points with your everyday spending.

This post is also available in: FR

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Jean-Maximilien
Jean-Maximilien is an expert in Canada and France about Loyalty programs, Credit cards and Travel. He is the Founding President of Milesopedia.

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