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Get a 60% bonus when you buy Marriott Bonvoy hotel points – best deal ever offered

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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.

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As we trailed last week, Marriott Bonvoy has launched a ‘buy points’ deal – and it is the most generous deal they have ever run.

Via this page of the website, you will get a 60% bonus on all points purchases until 30th June.

Of course, as Marriott Bonvoy has only been running for a couple of years in its current form, saying this is ‘the best ever offer’ doesn’t mean so much.  However, it IS better than all other recent deals.  These have either offered a 50% bonus or a 30% discount, which are effectively the same thing.

Do I qualify to buy points at a discount?

There are two restrictions on using this offer.  Your Marriott Bonvoy account must be either:

90 days old, or

30 days old if it has some activity on it

Because this offer runs for more than 30 days, non-members could still qualify.  You could open a Marriott Bonvoy account now, transfer a handful of American Express Membership Rewards points across and then buy in 30 days time.

How many Marriott Bonvoy points can I buy?

The annual purchase cap of 50,000 points pre-bonus has been doubled to 100,000 points although the maximum you can buy in one go remains 50,000 points pre-bonus.  With the bonus, you could pick up 160,000 Bonvoy points although it would require two separate transactions of 80,000 each.

At the top end you are paying $625 (£487) for 80,000 points under this offer.

What is a Marriott Bonvoy point worth?

My rule of thumb is that a Marriott Bonvoy point is worth 0.5p.  You are paying a little more than that (0.60p) under this offer so it isn’t a steal.

However, you might find it worthwhile if:

you are planning a stay at a property where you know you will get outsized value (and it really isn’t that hard to get more 0.6p if you are travelling to peak cities at peak times), or

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

you are close to 60,000 Bonvoy points and want to make a transfer into airline miles (you get a bonus of 5,000 airline miles when you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points into 20,000 airline miles)

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.  Even with the increased cap, the most you could buy from scratch is 160,000 points which doesn’t even get you two nights.

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.  You don’t need to share an address.  This is one way around the limit on points purchases.

Buying Marriott Bonvoy points is a way of buying cheap airline miles

Because you can buy 60,000 points in one go, this deal is also a way of picking up 25,000 airline miles in programmes where you can rarely buy them cheaply.

The usual transfer rate from Marriott Bonvoy into airline miles is 3:1, which is already generous.  If you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points at once, however, you get 5,000 bonus airline miles which means a total of 25,000 miles.

Do NOT do this with Avios, because there are regular offers to buy Avios for 1p – 1.1p.  However, it might make sense for other airlines.

Buying 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points under this offer will cost $475 (£370).  If you turned this into 25,000 airline miles, you are paying 1.48p per mile.  With SOME airline schemes, you might find this valuable, especially if it is a scheme where you find it very hard to earn miles in the UK.

The link to buy Bonvoy points with a 60% bonus is here if you are interested.  The offer runs to 30th June.

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 (87)

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

  • Steve says:
    19 May19 May 06:53

    On the Amex Bonvoy card; what happens if I sign up without a Marriott account, do they create one for me?

    • BJ says:
      19 May19 May 07:12

      They open one for you but don’t let them, it can get messy getting the number. Before applying for the card just go to the Marriott home page, sign up and you will get your number instantly. It only takes a few minutes, then you can add the number to your amex application.

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 07:43

        BJ is right. The same applies to taking out the Platinum card with all its associated hotel statuses. Must faster and cleaner to open an account in five minutes and add the number, rather than waiting on Amex to potentially screw it up – or at least take much longer.

    • Tony says:
      19 May19 May 10:06

      Remember there is a stay twice get one night (C4) free offer out there – search HFP for that article

  • Berneslai says:
    19 May19 May 07:30

    I was about to buy some points to cover a 50k points advance booking I made for September. The price has just gone up to 60k points per night so I think I’m going to cancel rather than buy points that devalue.

    • Czechoslovakia says:
      19 May19 May 07:38

      Past experience was that they honoured the originally booked rate, under the old Marriott Rewards scheme at least.

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 07:45

        There’s a rather prominent box you have to check at the bottom of Points Advance bookings now to acknowledge that you are not locking in the rate. It has been this way for a few months now. It does represent a worsening of the programme, but it was actually pretty generous in the first place to let you hold inventory at a certain “price”. Bonvoy is still the only programme that lets you book inventory before you have the points.

        Worth looking at the cash prices for your booking that has a higher points requirement and seeing if you can still get good value per point there.

    • BJ says:
      19 May19 May 07:58

      Interesting, I wonder if they have been quietly hiking prices

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 08:00

        It’s just their dynamic redemption pricing that was brought in this year. Can fluctuate ten thousand either way quite easily in the mid to higher categories. The big devaluation was in March this year when they increased the category of a lot of hotels.

        • BJ says:
          19 May19 May 09:00

          Thanks Harry, I had missed that detail somewhere along the line. Marriott with Accor is 4= in my chain preferences so I don’t follow in much detail. If you wondering I personally rate it low because of poor status recognition in past when I did use them more, and because in London/Europe where I’m more lonely to pay a high cash rate, I find Hilton offers better value for money even before factoring in my Diamond perks.

  • Jimbob says:
    19 May19 May 07:45

    Don’t forget the get 5 rewards nights for 4 night offer, effectively getting 20% off.
    And reward booking are cancelable, unlike the very cheapest advanced bookings.

    • BJ says:
      19 May19 May 08:00

      At the moment though policies at most chains are offering better than usual flexibility for stays paid with cash.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        19 May19 May 08:18

        Noticed Marriott prepaid (and still discounted) are now refundable as long as cancelled 1 day prior to arrival.

  • Harry T says:
    19 May19 May 07:47

    I’ll probably buy the full whack, but my only concern is whether there might be a better offer in a few months if Marriott bleeds a bit more cash. Anyone want to weigh in?

    Also, it’s a trifle annoying that you can only buy such a limited amount of points, and your better half can only transfer you 100k points a year. Hilton is better in this regard.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 07:58

      Most countries are opening back up and it’s an asset light model this might be one of the better. Chances to buy.

    • BJ says:
      19 May19 May 08:05

      My tuppence worth…we are already surfing the worst of this outbreak globally. Don’t see the promotions, flexibility etc getting much better than they are now. What might make a difference is changes in FX as TGLoyalty pointed out last night.

  • Wally1976 says:
    19 May19 May 07:49

    If Marriott would give free breakfast for gold members or platinum membership with Amex platinum I would be far far more interested in their scheme. As it is Hilton wins hands down for me currently.

    • BJ says:
      19 May19 May 08:13

      This why speculative purchasers might be better taking 250k Honors points for the same money. I am not a fan of speculative purchasers though, it is too easy to get burned. Far better to have specific destinations and hotels in mind, evaluate whether the Marriott or Hilton offer is best, buy the points and lock in the reservation. Ask yourself two questions … how many evaluations have Marriott had in the last 18 months? What was the scope of the last devaluation of their properties at the lower end of their portfolio?

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 08:19

        BJ speaks wisdom here.

        Bonvoy is a lot worse for redemptions now unless you stay at the luxury properties (and would pay something like the cash price), or you can find the odd place that’s still a lower category than Marriott could sell it for. Failing that, some countries have better value redemptions than others simply due to unusually high cash prices.

        Hilton can be a little better, especially as Gold with free breakfast is easy to acquire. However they have a nasty habit of only offering Premium awards redemptions at their priciest properties, to effectively prevent points bookings. As Genghis recently reminded me, its worth checking the availability of anywhere you want to redeem at before buying points.

        • BJ says:
          19 May19 May 08:53

          Don’t want to be the party pooper here but people who do have the means to contemplate spending £1000 on hotel points (speculative or otherwise) need to remember that same £1000 spent on paid stays can also generate points. For example, I’ve generated tens of thousands at both IHG and Hilton during promotions for as little as £100.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            19 May19 May 09:09

            Marriott hasn’t been that generous in past. However I would not be buying £1k of points to spend on hotels I can get for £1k it would have to be somewhere that costs £1500 to even contemplate it.

            Considering you will earn c10% in points without a promo from Marriott/cards and 4-8% from the money back portals.

        • Harry T says:
          19 May19 May 13:22

          Good point, BJ. Always worth weighing up the points that could be earned from paid stays, especially if you earn 6 Bonvoys per £1 on a Bonvoy Amex. My plan is to pay for stays in August to November as part of a Platinum challenge, and then use points to pay for stays when I’m Plat (if the numbers work out for the redemptions).

          As TGLoyalty points out, Bonvoy are a bit rubbish at promotions.

    • Alan says:
      19 May19 May 08:38

      Totally agree. Their programme and spread of properties is poor in comparison.

    • Anna says:
      19 May19 May 08:50

      Agree Hilton is by far the best program because of the free breakfast. I like Bonvoy for high end properties on the 4 for 5 points stays, but only when there are alternative food options within walking distance as their restaurant prices are invariably high to outrageous. The Westin GCM is a good example of this – their breakfast buffet is about £30 pp but directly across the road is a nice little shopping centre with a couple of diner-style restaurants where you can get breakfast for under £10.

  • Karl says:
    19 May19 May 07:53

    If the GBP-USD was around the traditional par rate of $1.60 I’d be interested but not for me at $1.22.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 07:58

      If GBP was at 1.35-1.45 I’d be be biting their hands off.

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 08:00

        Perhaps if we wait a month or so, Trump can finish off the US economy and the exchange rate will improve? I’m serious.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          19 May19 May 08:20

          Ill be waiting until as late as possible as I have enough for now – all gone after a planned summer redemption though.

          • Harry T says:
            19 May19 May 08:26

            Going anywhere exciting with those Bonvoys?

            Are you Marriott Plat, TGLoyalty? Have you found it worthwhile? Looks like I could have a crack at the Plat challenge later this year if things go to plan. Wondering if it’s worth it.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            19 May19 May 09:05

            Yeah I’m a Plat. 15 nights from Bonvoy will help to maintain that going forward I think.

            But even with gold I had no real complaints Free breakfast isn’t my main goal I’ll just go elsewhere or pay.

            I’m actually thinking of Venice with lots of cruises cancelled this summer it might not be so crazy. I had Abu Dhabi F1 booked but will probably let that go when it’s confirmed its moved. Though I’ve actually seen some good Cash rates in other cities I mentioned the other day.

          • Harry T says:
            19 May19 May 09:39

            So the other perks of Plat have been useful – lounge access, 4pm checkout etc?

            Good idea about Venice – could be an opportunity to explore it without tourists crawling over every edifice.

            I’ve booked Abu Dhabi Grand Prix too – they’ve told me I can move my stay when the change of dates is confirmed. As I’ve speculatively booked a 241 in F to Abu Dhabi for the most likely weekend, I think I’ll go.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            19 May19 May 14:02

            All the Plat perk are worthwhile including Breakfast and lounge if you pick the right hotels but the best one is 4pm checkout, everyone actually respects it unlike with Hilton where you have to beg in Europe.

            Tbh I’ve paid a little more and booked via Emyr on a couple occasions (he gets the BFR where all members get 5% off that plus some £ back) for a few hotels in the past as that sometimes offers better package than Platinum.

          • Harry T says:
            19 May19 May 14:38

            @TGLoyalty
            Thanks. I really value 4pm checkout on weekend trips in Europe.

            If you book through Emyr, do you still receive Marriot points and status benefits? I know you do if you book through FHR.

          • Lyn says:
            19 May19 May 15:23

            @Harry T – yes, booking through Emyr does give you all the normal loyalty points and status recognition. This is one of the real advantages of booking through Emyr. Somehow even though Rob reminds us of this in his occasional articles about Bon Vivant it still doesn’t seem to be common knowledge.

            You probably know this already, but Emyr can also offer club lounge access for some Intercontinental hotels, which can really be worthwhile.

          • Harry T says:
            19 May19 May 15:25

            @Lyn
            Thanks, really good to know.

            As I’m IC Ambassador, I should really try and learn the IC hotels where he can get me club lounge access.

            Emyr has been very helpful in regards to booking some hotels in South Africa for next year.

          • Lyn says:
            19 May19 May 20:06

            @Harry T – IC LeGrand in Paris and IC Madrid are the ones I know of from personal experience for club lounge access through Emyr, but there are probably several others.

          • Rob says:
            19 May19 May 20:23

            https://headforpoints.com/2019/12/23/how-to-get-free-intercontinental-club-lounge-access/

        • Anna says:
          19 May19 May 08:54

          The £ seems to be tanking worse than the dollar 😢. I think if it gets back to $1.25 I might be buying for specific redemptions.

      • Rob says:
        19 May19 May 10:06

        Depends where you’d redeem, surely, since if it was 1.45 then cash rates would also be cheaper in £ for the US and all countries pegged to the $.

    • Dave says:
      19 May19 May 08:58

      GBPUSD hasn’t been 1.60 for 5 years.

    • Genghis says:
      19 May19 May 09:07

      But then you’d be more likely to not use the points, at least on ex-UK redemptions in the near term? Instead you’re more likely to pay cash?

      Now buying points when the rate is 1.6 but then moves to 1.2, that’s the ticket. Also one disadvantage of earn and burn. Yet I see the risk of devaluation being greater than the opportunity for big fx swings.

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 09:37

        Good points, Genghis. As Marriott has already devalued it’s programme rather substantially this year, I can’t see them attempting any more shenanigans in the near future, particularly with lots of empty rooms. So this could be an opportunity for arbitrage before they devalue again.

        • Riccatti says:
          19 May19 May 11:44

          @Harry T, you would say so.

          Marriott Bonvoy is NOT Starwood. It will keep squeezing where possible. Before the merger Marriotts were overpriced to capture a business traveller on a corporate contract.

          March 2020 devaluation is an example and we will see the saga of Marriott not extending status despite Covid-19, not globally anyways.

          Totally irresponsible people work for Marriott Bonvoy (in Europe and in the US). They might drop a hotel from Marriott system at less than 5-day notice to you, and then ignore you.

        • Riccatti says:
          19 May19 May 11:50

          The front-line Bonvoy agents work hard.

          Its more about their corporate management and middle-executive-level teams. The program is “yield management” at its worst.

  • Alan says:
    19 May19 May 08:37

    Meh, pretty poor offer. I value at 0.4p (like other hotel points), but number of properties isn’t as good and Marriott Gold gives almost no benefits.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      19 May19 May 13:01

      The quality of some hotels is fair higher though

      As with all of this you have to weigh up what you are looking for and who can deliver.

      • J says:
        19 May19 May 14:17

        Yeah I find Marriott have more options for places I’d like to go and often slightly better properties vs Hilton. Hilton is obviously the better programme though.

  • Anna says:
    19 May19 May 09:03

    I’ve just booked 5 nights on Bonvoy points at 270k points for next Easter at the Westin Grand Cayman (an increase of 30k on my cancelled booking for the same time this year 😒). Despite the economy being in free fall and borders being closed indefinitely, the cash price for my dates at the moment is $6500! I don’t know if this is insane optimism or just enhanced Cayman price gouging for when the tourist industry potentially re-opens. I absolutely would not pay $1k plus per night for this hotel as you can get a vastly superior property for this kind of cash somewhere else, but it is worth the price of the points IMO.

    • Doug M says:
      19 May19 May 09:09

      It’s been said before, but discounting makes no sense right now. People afraid or unable to travel will not be enticed into doing so by a £500 hotel for £350.

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 09:30

        Plus, I’ve heard the luxury properties are loathe to drop their prices below a certain threshold as they don’t want to attract the “wrong” clientele, and they want to maintain a certain image of exclusivity etc.

        • Lady London says:
          19 May19 May 10:47

          This is the situation where higher end could well offer substantial discounts such as via Emyr or just possibly something on Amex. Their preferred shape being lots of extras included for little or free but tending to keep the headline cash rate as high as they can. Expect more of these as things get going again

          • Rob says:
            19 May19 May 10:51

            Agreed. There is a Fairmont on The Palm in Dubai, for eg, which – for those who live in the UAE – will let you stay for free until the end of October. (Technically, you pay as usual but you get 100% of your room rate back as food, beverage and other incidentals credit). Expect more of this.

          • Harry T says:
            19 May19 May 11:01

            Great points. I’ve heard on flyertalk of luxury hotels offering anything but an actual reduction in the “price”. This is why it’s worth running stuff past a decent luxury TA like Emyr to see what freebies you can get thrown in.

      • Riccatti says:
        19 May19 May 11:57

        Except that discounting always works.

        If they want to thing a property to decent occupancy level, they will have to discount.

        Otherwise is it’s a gamble that a few guests can be found such that they cover operating budget.

        • Rob says:
          19 May19 May 12:14

          Works for who? If you get heads on beds for £100 instead of £500 but these people refuse to pay £30 per person for breakfast and £100 per person for dinner, but still take space around the pool and cause ‘distancing’ issue for those who are paying £500 and dropping another £500 per day on incidentals, it’s not worth it.

          There is also, especially at resort hotels, a desire to keep a certain sort of guest ‘profile’ around the pools ….

          • Anna says:
            19 May19 May 14:41

            Now now, Rob! As I recall, it was HFP which first recommended avoiding paying for the breakfast at The Langley by having it at the visitor centre instead!

          • Rhys says:
            19 May19 May 15:17

            That’s because The Langley breakfast service was complete and utter chaos!

          • Riccatti says:
            19 May19 May 20:36

            Only at pretence properties “to keep a certain sort of guest ‘profile’ around the pools ….” such as One and Only and occasional Jumeirah and I am happy to visit them on business dime.

            But those properties are not your average CGM Westin or Las Vegas or even Miami hotel — the days when those were chic properties restricted to the A-list (if they ever were) are long gone.

            Or consider Essex House in NYC, they serve the same stale scrambled eggs for breakfast as any of Fairfield Inn.

            I wasn’t talking about dropping prices below the brand value. I simply state that resort properties, especially in now remote parts of the world will have to offer enticing prices.

            As matter of fact, I saw it all for myself staying at some JW Marriott in March 2020 to satisfy certain country 14-day requirement: hotel got emptier every 2-3 days, it was an eerie feeling to walk entire empty wings knowing you only one person in the room at the end.

            It felt very, very uncomfortable and dangerous to stay at a hotel that served < 20 people. However luxurious that property was. On final nights, I had problems going to sleep and woke up from noises because I realised there are no people around a vast area and should anything happen, no one will come to help.

        • Lady London says:
          19 May19 May 15:29

          discounting can kill a brand brand-wise or from the view of net profits. it is definitely not worth discounting where demand is inelastic – which -till things are clearer and buyers who have the choice are more comfortable – is what we have at all levels.

          The higher end brands lose most due to the brand effect. In terms of demand current circumstances means we’d be trying to push standing water uphill.

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