Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Save 30% when you buy Marriott Bonvoy hotel points – worth it?

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

Marriott Bonvoy is offering 1,000 bonus points per night and double elite night credits on stays between 13th February and 29th April. Click here to read more and click here to register.

Keep up to date with new hotel offers by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

You currently have only your second opportunity to buy Marriott Bonvoy at a discount since the scheme launched in February – and this is more generous than the offer which ran in the Summer.

Via this page of the website, you will save 30% on all points purchases until 18th October

The annual purchase cap of 50,000 points has been doubled to 100,000 points, although the maximum you can buy in one go remains 50,000 points.  At the top end you are paying $437.50 (£351) for 50,000 points under this offer.

My rule of thumb is that a Marriott Bonvoy point is worth 0.5p so this offer is not great at 0.70p per point.

However, you might find it worthwhile if:

you are topping off your account before making a points booking, or

you are planning a stay at a property where you know you will get outsized value

The snag with Marriott Bonvoy is that the annual points buying cap is too low to allow you to exploit the deal.  The St Regis New York, for example, can easily run to $1,300 per night including taxes, which makes 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (on a ‘Standard Reward’ day) a great deal.  The problem is getting enough points.

However …. you CAN transfer up to 100,000 Bonvoy points per year from one member to another.  You need to ring up to do this, which is a bit annoying, but that is the only restriction.  This is one way around the limit on points purchases.

The link to buy is here if you are interested.


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.)

Comments (103)

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

  • Alex says:

    OT; Amex gold card

    the two lounge keys you get with the card – are they registered to your name? or could you gift them to another family member who doesn’t have PP to use…

    • Alex says:

      lounge club*

      • Shoestring says:

        you get a Lounge Club card in your name (which can also give entry to 1 guest free if you are there as well getting the other free entry)

        so no, it won’t work if you don’t accompany the guest

        • Liam says:

          It shouldn’t work, but there’s always a chance. My girlfriend once used my Lounge Club card when I wasn’t travelling with her. I wouldn’t bet on it working like this, though.

  • Shoestring says:

    [British Airways pilots who go on strike will lose generous travel perks for themselves and their families for three years, the airline warned on Friday, as it retaliated against the mass walkouts set to ground almost all its flights on Monday and Tuesday.
    All BA staff and their families are eligible for travel benefits, ranging from 90 per cent discounts on flights, to a free set of business class tickets annually, depending on their length of service and seniority. The flights, which must be taken on a stand-by basis, are one of the most popular benefits of working for the airline.
    In the email, seen by the Financial Times, Angela Williams, director of people at BA, warned that pilots that take part in the walkouts would see their staff travel perks removed for three years. Any flights already booked will be cancelled.
    It also said pilots that use discounted tickets to travel to work will have this benefit removed from October 31. Ms Williams added that taking strike action was a “serious breach” of their employment contract.]

    Now confirmed by BA that striking pilots will lose pay (strike days); lose staff travel for 3 years (including the cancellation of existing bookings); lose eligibility for the All Colleague Bonus and the Pilot Only Deferred Bonus.

    • The Original Nick says:

      That’s totally outrageous!

      • Roy says:

        It’s hard to see how this can do anything but escalate the situation. The risk is that both sides become increasingly entrenched.

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      Losing pay for the strike days makes sense (so long as you were scheduled to work those days), but now the rest is confirmed… Looks like BA taking the Michael a bit.

      I hope as part of their agreement to stop striking, in addition to everything else, they ensure their (previous?) benefits become contractual.

      This could become a fight BA lose quite easily; If you get benefits for so long they can be deemed contractual (depending on wording of contract).

      Which could result in high payouts from Constructive Dismissal cases (potentially). Not sure how that works with strikes though…

      • Nick says:

        The wording at every point for all staff groups referring to perks and contracts is that staff travel benefits are non contractual and can be changed by the company at any time (as they were in 2009, with no negotiation – because there didn’t have to be any). No employee of BA can be under any illusion that the benefit is standard, contractual, or anything similar.

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

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.