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See Manchester United and AC Milan in Cardiff by redeeming your Marriott Bonvoy hotel points

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Marriott Bonvoy has made 10 football hospitality packages available for points on its ‘Moments’ experiences page.

The tickets are for the International Champions Cup game between Manchester United v AC Milan in Cardiff on 3rd August.

Manchester United AC Milan Cardiff

The package includes two tickets, “food and beverages” before the game and “great seats for the match” – which are not totally helpful descriptions of what, exactly, is included.

Bidding starts at 30,000 points and ends on the 30th July.

Assuming that you can pick up a package for the minimum bid, you are paying £150 (based on our valuation of a Bonvoy point at 0.5p).  With adult tickets running from £28 to £68, this is a decent deal if they are top price seats given the hospitality included.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

Marriott Bonvoy

Comments (90)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Tom says:
    20 Jul20 July 05:01

    Good to see you’re on time today 😀

  • LewisB says:
    20 Jul20 July 05:13

    Have Marriott Bonvoy purchased a suite at the Principality? I may have to start collecting the points again if so, be nice to find some hospitality packages so local on points. Not bothered about this, but rugby hospitality however!

    • AndyGWP says:
      20 Jul20 July 12:15

      It could be more to do with it being a neutral venue and them sponsoring Man U. I’m just guessing though!

  • BJ says:
    20 Jul20 July 06:36

    OT: Over on LL John has an article on claims against BA in the UK for data debacle. Never heard it mentioned here: is this something we should be doing?

    • Shoestring says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:26

      If you got the BA data breach letter, I guess you should do it if you feel your stress & worry was worth £2-5000. Do an email search for [Criminal Theft of Customer Data, more information] & [Update on Theft of Customer Data].

      Mine is (I guess) from the second breach & reads:
      Dear Customer,
      On 6 September 2018, we regrettably announced that we were the target of a criminal data theft involving the personal and financial details of customers making or changing bookings at ba.com, or via the British Airways app.
      Since then we’ve been conducting a thorough investigation with specialist cyber forensic investigators, liaising with the National Crime Agency. As a result of the investigation I am writing to let you know that you may have been affected by the data theft, when you made a reward booking between 21 April and 28 July 2018.
      While we do not have conclusive evidence that the data was removed from British Airways’ systems, it is possible your personal data may have been compromised. This includes your full name, billing address, email address and payment card details. Your CVV number has remained confidential. As a precaution we recommend you contact your bank or card provider and follow their advice.
      We are very sorry that this criminal activity has occurred. We’ll reimburse our customers who have suffered financial losses as a direct result of the theft of their payment card details.
      For your reassurance, we’re offering you free credit and identity monitoring services, provided by Experian, one of the UK’s leading Credit Reference agencies.

      • boi says:
        20 Jul20 July 11:49

        I received that letter and I made booking/changes within the timeframe. But I dont think I still have the letter. Does this still matter?
        I actually think we experienced identity theft because this year hubby received several letters about car insurances taken in his name (he doesnt even own a car). Is it worth joining though I have no concrete proof of BA data breach as culprit?

        • Shoestring says:
          20 Jul20 July 14:07

          BA have been fined £183m for their criminal negligence in terms of GDPR & the data breaches. That means they are seen as very guilty. So a class action should almost certainly succeed in getting compo for the people who suffered from the negligence.

          • Shoestring says:
            20 Jul20 July 14:56

            now that I think about it*, I was worried sick with the thought my card had been compromised – I couldn’t really sleep, I was that stressed. Amex emailed me & said your card might be compromised but don’t worry, however that just increased my stress & worry, I had a few sleepless nights, I can tell you. Worry, worry, worry. I was the epitome of worry.

            *£2-5000 compo

      • BJ says:
        20 Jul20 July 17:29

        Thanks Harry.

      • Albert says:
        20 Jul20 July 18:07

        Thanks – the LL article suggests that two firms (SPG Law and Hayes Connor) are suing BA. Having little to no insight these processes, is the advice to sign up with one of them, or both?

        • Rob says:
          20 Jul20 July 23:14

          Can you still sign up? Thought there was a cut off.

          • meta says:
            21 Jul21 July 01:30

            Yes, I sent an email to Hayes Connor on Friday evening and got all the T&C on Saturday morning. Need to run it by a lawyer friend and ask them to clarify about the insurance bit as they differ from one document to the other and will then sign up. Got a letter, had a fraud on my BA Amex (somebody spent £2k at John Lewis). Got a notification on the phone at half past midnight on 1 Jan, so had to call fraud team taking me away from New Years celebrations…

  • David says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:20

    OT: What is the contactless on Amex Plat (when using the card directly, not via Android Pay or similar)?

    I assumed it was £30, but yesterday I was daydreaming when it came to pay something and tapped for sixty-something pounds, realised straightaway that it wasn’t going to work… but it did!

    • Tom1 says:
      20 Jul20 July 07:48

      The standard limit is £30 afaik.
      Some retailers (Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are two that I know of) have removed the limit for Apple Pay contactless. However, having said that I have never got it to work with with Amex as the card behind Apple pay.
      Can never understand why Amex often fails on contactless, but works chip & pin in some stores. Wilkos im looking at you 👀

      • Lumma says:
        20 Jul20 July 09:17

        It comes down to the card machine but the vast majority have no limit for device payments but £30 for card (the contactless sign still shows up when the total is over £30 but will ask you to put the card if you try and tap)

      • Peter K says:
        20 Jul20 July 09:23

        CO-OP is the same in that chip and pin with amex works but not contactless. It’s to do with the processor or something as amex contactless works differently to visa/Mastercard.

      • RussellH says:
        20 Jul20 July 11:12

        AIUI, setting up contactless payment for Amex needs to be done manually for each terminal, and is quite separate from setting up the terminal for Visa/MC. The managers of some smaller chains and shops – notably, as Tom1 says, Wilkinsons, do not seem to know this, or perhaps, do not take the time to read the instructions. It does not seem to be a problem with little, owner-run shops – probably because the operating info goes directly to the person(s) behind the counter.
        No problems here at Cooperative Group Coop shops. No experience of other Coops.

    • David says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:37

      I found my receipt and confirmed I wasn’t going mad, so I asked about this in live chat in the app and the answer I got was:

      Hi, We approve the contactless charges as per the transactions you make. For example, if you keep making purchase with a particular merchant, or you make them regularly, then we do approve charges more than £30, however they cannot exceed £75.

      • RussellH says:
        20 Jul20 July 11:18

        Interesting info.
        Earlier this year I used my supp on my partner’s BA Amex because it had a 20% off offer at a restaurant we wanted to try. I had not used the card in person for some years, and forgot to check the card’s PIN (it turned out to be one that I had stopped using around 5 years ago). The card was rejected twice, but went through the third time on signature. And we got the discount (and it is on the same card again now).
        I did get a warning e-mail from Amex, and I assured them via chat that all was OK.

    • Flyoff says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:45

      I understand retailers can increase the limit but I assume it is at their risk. I have spent £200 at a retailer using contactless after the sales assistant advised a previous customer had spent over a £1000 with his card using contactless.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Jul20 July 09:01

        Contactless via your phone or via your physical card?

        Contactless via your phone has no limit if set up correctly by the merchant as you have passed through security. i.e. it’s your PIN, thumb or face approving the transaction after adding the card to your phone via an authentication process.

        • Paul says:
          20 Jul20 July 09:45

          Apple Pay via Apple Watch is unlimited at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, but not at Tescos

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 Jul20 July 10:54

            Suspect Tesco are trying to push their own app for contactless payments.

    • Nick_C says:
      20 Jul20 July 12:30

      Aldi allow more than £30 on contactless Amex, as I discover by accident and to the surprise of the checkout assistant. My transaction was only £38, but I googled and found a thread on MSE where the record so far at Aldi is £90 (and yes, everyone asks how you can spend £90 in Aldi)

    • John says:
      20 Jul20 July 20:51

      In Hong Kong, you can spend up to HK$3000 with no cardholder verification. This may be for local cards only though. It is similar to contactless but cannot be described using that word, as contact needs to be made by inserting the card into the reader to read the chip. It also takes >30 seconds.

  • MD says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:58

    OT as bits.

    Noob question. I’ve spent enough on the IHG Premium credit card to trigger the free night, but where on earth do I find it? Can’t see it on the Creation of IHG websites, or in the app. I can only see my free Ambassador night voucher, nothing else. Is it common for it not to show up?

    TIA.

    • Travel Yoda says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:15

      It is only given at end of membership year. The old card was straight away.

      • MD says:
        20 Jul20 July 09:26

        Really? Wow, totally missed that. Can’t see any reference to it in the T&Cs but I’m probably blind. Thank you!

  • Cat says:
    20 Jul20 July 08:30

    We’re the only ones in Luton Clubrooms so far this morning!
    Its very pretty, the help yourself fruit, yoghurt and pastries are a nice touch, but service is slow (the chef came out and audibly told a staff member that our breakfasts had been ready for 10 minutes, waiting for someone to bring them to us). Breakfast needs some work too – the sausage was burnt and dry, and I don’t understand why there’s chilli flakes on an Eggs Benedict…

    • RussellH says:
      20 Jul20 July 11:21

      I do not understand why there is chili at all.
      Chili on an egg should be hanging, drawing and quartering, with, this case, the chef’s head over the kitchen door lintel.

    • Lady London says:
      20 Jul20 July 12:27

      Bit like someone plunking cinnamon on your capuccino without asking..

      • Cat says:
        20 Jul20 July 13:25

        Exactly Lady London!
        Incidentally, we’ve just arrived with H for a spot of camping in the Alsace, before I head Mont Blanc-wards for the trek next week!
        My French is clearly out of practice – after a couple of stumbles at a cafe, I just came out with “Er, je n’aime pas le plastique pour seulement une fois”. I suspect the next 3 weeks will be a steep revising-curve.

        • RussellH says:
          20 Jul20 July 14:04

          > je n’aime pas le plastique pour seulement une fois

          Sorry, but yes, I had to work hard at that one, though I have no idea what the correct French might be.

          The serious potential problem with ‘plastique’ is that it can mean ‘plastic explosives’.
          Many, many years ago, when white Algerian colonists were running an anti- de Gaulle bombing campaign in Paris, my father went into a cafe near the Gare du Nord and asked the proprietrix if he could leave his suitcase there for a couple of hours (rather than pay for the consigne, I imagine). She agreed he could leave the case, but did ask him first “Il-n’y-a pas de plastiques dedans?” (ie There are no plastic bombs in there, are there?)
          I have no idea whether this usage is still current, though.
          And the concept of a re-usable explosive is also an interesting one…

          • Shoestring says:
            20 Jul20 July 14:15

            sacs de plastique non réutilisables
            sacs à provisions en plastique à usage unique
            sacs plastiques jetables

        • RussellH says:
          20 Jul20 July 14:07

          …and there may still be a very few very elderly alsaciens whose French is also bad, because they are more comfortable in German.
          Last time I had that experience was around 15 years ago.

          • Lady London says:
            20 Jul20 July 15:57

            German I can remember!
            “Einweg” anything is disposable, non useable.
            I think Nachhaltigkeit might be their word for sustainability.

            As Shoestring says for les sacs on plastique.
            The odd mumble about l’environnement, l’ecologie/ecologique, “bio” anything (organic), “durable” for sustainable will go down a treat.

            Btw Cat if you’re up that mountain next week, temperatures steadily rise daily from 33 degrees Celsuis on Monday, to 36 on Thursday. But don’t worry storms will be along Friday and Saturday to cool you off to 35 then 33 degrees when it really gets stormy. It’ll be about 14 degrees at night.

            Have you got your sunscreen as height will make the air thin?

          • Cat says:
            20 Jul20 July 17:05

            The waitress did give me an odd look, and I did wonder at the time if my use of “plastique” as a noun might be making her think of explosives. Oops! Incidentally, it was a straw that was about to go in my Orangina – I can manage sac en plastique, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember the French for straw!
            I’m setting off on Saturday Lady London, in the storms! Unless the weather forecast changes massively, that rules out the rather exposed, above the treeline variante, as hiking that with metal poles in a storm would be unwise, to say the least. I quite like hiking in the heat, but this could be interesting! It should be a bit cooler in the mountains, and frankly, 14 degrees at night sounds wonderful after the 27 degrees that my energy efficient new build has tormented we with for the last month!
            I have plenty of sunscreen, I’ve brought the French stuff (coals to Newcastle, I know, but Voldeportal is generous with Space NK) that I use in the Seychelles, bless you for checking though Lady London!
            RussellH -there are still a few elderly people dotted about who prefer speaking German (which I’m usually more comfortable conversing in), and reusable explosives sound rather terrifying, possibly something that require UN multilateral treaties banning their use!
            Thanks for the helpful comments guys! Harry, Lady London and RussellH, you guys rock! X

          • RussellH says:
            20 Jul20 July 17:56

            Lady London:-
            ‘Einweg’ is certainly right – you see it still on some drink bottles, even though they carry a deposit. Cat’s straw would be ‘ein Einwegkunststofftrinkhalm’, plastic being ‘Kunststoff’. ‘Plastik’ = sculpture. (Though you do see cloth carrier bags emblazoned ‘Jute statt Platik’.)
            I am not sure that ‘Nachhaltigkeit’ is correct, though (but see below). That word does describe exactly what Cat needs for her running, though – endurance etc.
            There is no mention of sustainability in my (now elderly) German dictionary, and nothing in Duden to suggest an appropriate word either,
            [Later] I have just browsed a few German hotel marketing group websites that stress ecological awareness as a selling point, and they DO use ‘nachhaltig’ for sustainable, so I would now guess that yopu are quite correct.

  • C F Frost says:
    20 Jul20 July 09:23

    Hawes & Curtis and NatWest. Currently running a good sale (three shirts for £54). 15% NatWest Rewards for NatWest cardholders which converts at 1.175 to Avios. And 5.25% back at the site that can’t be mentioned. So, a £108 spend on six shirts (plus postage) should return 1990 Avios and £5.67 cash.

  • Waddle says:
    20 Jul20 July 09:28

    OT: Downgrading Plat to Gold charge
    This can be done as I was offered this over the phone and readers on this site have also confirmed. As it is a stimple downgrade on the same account I assume there’s no credit check? And do the offers put onto the Plat before the downgrade carry over?

    • C F Frost says:
      20 Jul20 July 09:57

      And furthermore: does the accrued plat spend count towards the £15k PRG annual spend amount required for its 10k MR reward? Not sure.

    • paulm says:
      20 Jul20 July 10:02

      Yes if you do on the phone they will confirm no credit check and you get 1st year free on gold. Offers carry over. Did this recently.

      • Ben says:
        20 Jul20 July 10:21

        Weird. I was told downgrading to gold from a platinum wasn’t possible and the only product I could get would be the green card but that this would have to be a separate application online only….!

    • Matthew says:
      20 Jul20 July 10:23

      I thought gold ‘charge’ card didn’t exist anymore and just the credit card version. My wife only got offered downgrade to green for this reason?!

      • memesweeper says:
        20 Jul20 July 11:52

        I *think* it might be possible to downgrade plat charge to gold charge *if* you previously had gold charge and upgraded. Otherwise the gold charge is closed to new applicants.

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