Welcome offers
Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card
The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card is the best credit card for free hotel nights.
With this welcome offer, you can earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
It’s a Card we recommend keeping because each year at renewal, you get an Annual Free Night Award (for up to 35,000 points at hotels worldwide) and 15 Elite Night Credits per year, counting towards your Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.
With this Card, you earn 5 points per dollar on all purchases at Marriott Bonvoy properties and 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.
Finally, this Card comes with comprehensive insurance: baggage delay, lost or stolen baggage, $500,000 travel accident, flight delay, hotel or motel burglary, rental car theft and damage, Purchase Security, Purchase Protection.
Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.
Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card
The Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card is the best credit card for self-employed, professional and small business owners who travel.
With this welcome offer, you can earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
It’s a Card we recommend keeping because each year at renewal, you get an Annual Free Night Award (for up to 35,000 points at hotels worldwide) and 15 Elite Night Credits per year, counting towards your Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.
With this Card, you earn 5 points per dollar on all purchases at Marriott Bonvoy properties. And you can earn 3 points per dollar on:
- Gas
- Dining purchases
- travel purchases
And 2 points per dollar on all other purchases.
Like all American Express Canada Cards, there is no minimum income requirement.
Couple or business owner? Get two cards!
By applying for the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card, you can earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
If you also apply for the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card, you could also earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
That’s up to 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points with both credit cards.
If you are a couple – or with a travel companion – you can earn between 100,000 and 200,000 Marriott Bonvoy points!
So, with the welcome bonus from both Marriott Bonvoy, you could get approximately 25 free nights at a hotel costing 5,000 points per night:
NIGHT | POINTS | NIGHT | POINTS |
1 | 5 000 | 14 | 5 000 |
2 | 5 000 | 15 | Free |
3 | 5 000 | 16 | 5 000 |
4 | 5 000 | 17 | 5 000 |
5 | Free | 18 | 5 000 |
6 | 5 000 | 19 | 5 000 |
7 | 5 000 | 20 | Free |
8 | 5 000 | 21 | 5 000 |
9 | 5 000 | 22 | 5 000 |
10 | Free | 23 | 5 000 |
11 | 5 000 | 24 | 5 000 |
12 | 5 000 | 25 | Free |
13 | 5 000 |
25-night stay = from 100,000 points !
What can you get with Marriott Bonvoy points?
Marriott Bonvoy's Rewards Chart
Marriott Bonvoy points allow you to stay in one of the group’s 8,000 hotels in over 130 countries! And there is something for every budget: from 5,000 points per night. For example, Bali is one of the cheapest destinations!
And if you stay 4 nights in a row at a hotel using points, the fifth night is free!
You could earn up to 12 free hotel nights with 50,000 points or 25 free hotel nights with 100,000 points.
An excellent investment
Both credit card have an annual fee, starting in the first year:
- $120 for the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card
- $150 for the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card.
In exchange, you’ll get many nights at a choice of over 8,000 Marriott hotels! There are over 250 hotels in Canada.
Take a look at these hotels in South Africa, for example, which start at 5,000 points per night (we’ve written a full article on this destination here):

Or as in one of these hotels in Indonesia from 5,000 points per night:

For example, during our round-the-world family trip, we stayed at numerous Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Bali costing between 5,000 and 15,000 points per night.
7,000+ Marriott Bonvoy hotels Map
Exclusive to Milesopedia! We’ve grouped all 8,000 Marriott Bonvoy member hotels into:
- this world map
- this Canadian map
Maps already browsed more than 220 000 times!
So you can easily find the one that’s right for you based on their location! And check out all the milesopedia member testimonials at the end of the article to give you some ideas!
Couple, friends: combine your points!
A little-known advantage of Marriott Bonvoy: you can transfer up to 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per year from one account to another!
So, in our point-earning strategies, we advise a couple or travel companions to each apply for the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card or the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card and then combine their points into one account to book their free hotel nights!
For two, it’s a good way to earn more than 100,000 points, which paves the way for a lot of free hotel nights!
You can make the transfer online.

An example of Marriott Bonvoy points redemption
Let’s take an example with this beautiful hotel in Bali, the Element by Westin Bali Ubud (where we stayed at):




This hotel is accessible with Marriott Bonvoy points for only 12,000 points / night!

Stay for 5, Pay for 4 Policy
By booking five consecutive nights in the same hotel with Marriott Bonvoy points, one night free! All the more reason to make the most of the points earned via your Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card or your Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card.
Taking the above example of the Element by Westin Bali Ubud hotel for 5 nights, this comes to 49,500 points instead of 61,500 points!


In other words, it’s a 20% saving on this 5-night stay! Check out the details on the Stay for 5, Pay for 4 perk in this article.
Closer to home, here are some reviews on the excellent hotel: Delta Hotels Sherbrooke Conference Centre:



So you can spend your holidays “at home” with your points, as many members of the milesopedia community have done.
Convert Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles
If you’re not interested in free hotel nights, you can opt for another option: earn airline miles.
Marriott Bonvoy partners with numerous airline programs such as Aeroplan, Flying Blue, United MileagePlus, etc. For most loyalty programs, Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio.
So 30,000 points = 10,000 miles.

And for every 60,000 points transferred, Marriott adds a 15,000 points bonus or 5,000 bonus miles!
Thus, 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Aeroplan points / Flying Blue miles / Avios miles, etc!
Other benefits
The Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card and the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card offer you many advantages such as:
- 5 points per dollar on Marriott purchases
- 2 points per dollar in all your purchases
- Annual Free Night Award for up to 35,000 points every year after your first anniversary
- Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
- 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year; it will get you closer to Gold Elite status (25 nights)
- One free additional card
- Travel insurance (delay/loss/theft of baggage, flight delay, travel accident, hotel or motel burglary)

Annual Free Night Award at Card Renewal
After one year, if you renew your annual fee, you will automatically get an Annual Free Night Award with a 35,000 points value, which will be valid for one year (from the date of issue of the certificate).
Enough to treat yourself to a night in a hotel like this one in the heart of Manhattan, New York! Like in one of these three hotels during the 2023 holiday season (choose the Residence Inn, ideal for families):


Here again, the card fee should be seen as an investment: $120 CA for the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card or CA$150 for the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card for a night in a beautiful hotel in the heart of Manhattan costing $479 + taxes and fees, that’s unheard of!
Bottom Line
The Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card and the Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card are currently the best credit cards for free hotel nights.
The $120 (or $150) annual fee should be viewed as an investment.
Its welcome bonus is a must for your upcoming travels. Here are our two promotional links for these cards:
See the best Marriott Bonvoy credit card offers.
If you want examples of Marriott Bonvoy points uses by the milesopedia community, check out this discussion topic in the Facebook group!
We picked up a few examples a little below!
Member testimonials
Here are some examples of how the milesopedia community uses Marriott Bonvoy points!
We personally went to Manhattan last May: 35,000 points for a night of US$350 so for 140,000 points, we had 5 nights (and paid 4 nights), which is worth, $2300!
PL C.
We leave with our family for Europe for 26 days in December/January and have booked 18 nights with our Bonvoy points. (New York 3 nights, Vienna 5 nights, Wroclaw 3 nights, Dresden 2 nights, Leipzig 2 nights and Paris 3 nights).
Marie Andrée C.
8 nights in Louisiana between New Orleans, Houma, Lafayette and Baton Rouge – 1 night at the Marriott at the Montreal airport to limit my mother’s fatigue and travel before a very early morning departure for Mexico.
Pierre-Luc V.
2 nights at Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel:70,000 points. 2 nights in London, booked 4 days early at the London Marriott Hotel County Hall:120,000 points. And I transferred 126,000 points in 52,000 American AAdvantage miles.
Jorge L.
I’m trying to maximize the value of points generally. And it was at the JW Marriott Hotel Ankara (mentioned in the article) that I managed to have the most value per point, followed by the Meridian N’fis in Marrakech, then the Element Me’aisam – Dubai. I usually avoid categories 4 and up. Except when I have an annual certificate to spend.
Poly G.
Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel:75,000 points for 5 nights! I mentioned that it was the birthday of my spouse. So I received a free night, a bottle of wine and a small party cake!
Patrick E.
AC Hotel Valencia – Late August to last September. 5 nights for 30,000 points. We had an upgraded room with king bed and the very friendly receptionist even gave us breakfast for two (16 euros ch.) for free!!!!
Alain M.
Three nights in Honolulu next March, five nights in Tokyo in April, and surely more bookings to come for our mini-tour of the world 2020!
Dominique M.
The Ritz-Carlton – Tokyo when it was at 60,000 points. 5 nights for 240,000 points. With the upgrade in suite, we are talking about a value of nearly $10,000 which cost me $500 in annual fees for Bonvoy/SPG cards I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again in a room/hotel of this level. It is now a category 8 to 85,000 points at night, but if you can have it in low season for 70,000 points, I highly recommend it.
Mathieu L.
I am currently at the Residence Inn Toulouse-Blagnac Airport… superior room upgrade with welcome gift (a plate of sweets) – Very convenient to visit the Airbus Museum.
Murielle D.
We’re leaving for 18 nights in South Africa in November. 9 nights for 97,500 Marriott points. Value of $2372.37.
Pascal J.
This summer in Italy, 385,000 points for 16 days worth $4,500 in addition to a saving of $800 on lunches thanks to Platinum status.
Last summer, Paris, Nice and Marseille. 13 days. 260,000 points plus 2 certificates. Value of about $4,000. Then 5 days in Virginia in high season. 140,000 points, worth $2,200.
Mario D.
5 nights in San Francisco, 1 night in Sydney, 2 nights in Melbourne, 2 nights in Brisbane, 2 nights in Gold Coast!
Bénédicte P.
This article was not sponsored. The views and opinions expressed in this review are purely my own.