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Should you get the Marriott Bonvoy Amex for 15 elite night credits and 10x points on stays?

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As we covered on Tuesday, all Marriott Bonvoy members are getting elite night credits equivalent to 50% of the status they earned in 2020.

This means that if you were Platinum Elite in 2020, you will receive 25 elite night credits.  You are half way to renewal already.

The full list is (this is based on the status you earned in 2020 and which was carried over into 2021):

  • Ambassador Elite – 50 elite night credits
  • Titanium Elite – 38 elite night credits
  • Platinum Elite – 25 elite night credits
  • Gold Elite – 13 elite night credits
  • Silver Elite – 5 elite night credits

Marriott Bonvoy elite nights bonus

Because I have the Marriott Bonvoy Amex, I am in great shape for 2022

It seems likely, given this move, that Marriott will NOT rollover status again into 2022.

If you want elite status next year, you are going to have to earn it.

Marriott has just made it very easy for you by dropping half the nights you need to renew into your account.

You can make it even easier by getting the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card, which comes with 15 elite night credits.

Marriott Bonvoy elite nights bonus

This is why this offer works for me

I am currently Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite.  I am guaranteed this status until Spring 2022 thanks to Marriott’s status extension, but will drop down after that.

Renewal is now looking pretty good though:

  • I will be gifted 25 elite night credits because I am Platinum Elite
  • I have already received 15 elite night credits for having the American Express card

This puts me on on 40 nights for 2021 without going anywhere near a hotel.

I will need just 10 nights during the year to retain Platinum Elite.  I would also trigger 5 ‘Suite Night Upgrade’ awards for hitting 50 elite nights.

The new Bonvoy promotion will earn double night credits

Marriott Bonvoy will soon launch a new promotion which will run from 16th February to 27th April.

All stays of 2+ nights during this period will earn double elite night credits.  This is an even easier way to push yourself status renewal, or even a higher tier.

You also earn double base points on all stays.  This means you will get at least 20 points per $1, and more if you have elite status.

The Bonvoy Amex offer of 10x points on stays has been extended to 31st March

Very quietly, Marriott has also extended the very generous deal for their Amex cardholders.

You will earn 10 points per £1 spent at Marriott Bonvoy hotels until 31st March.

The only condition is that the bonus is capped at 20,000 points.

(The cap is a new rule. It is not clear if the cap applies to spend between 1st January and 31st March or if it also includes bonuses given in Winter 2020 under the first iteration of this offer.)

I admit that the timing of this extension is not great, since the chances of hotels opening up before the end of March is not huge.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Would the 15 Marriott Bonvoy Amex elite night credits work for you?

Let’s look at this by tier.

If you’re Gold Elite this year …..

You will be given 13 elite night credits.  If you got the Marriott Bonvoy American Express, you’d receive a further 15 nights.  This gets you to 28.

You’d then need 22 paid or reward nights in 2021 to earn the 50 nights required for Platinum Elite, which would also get you five Suite Night Awards.

Remember that stays during the February to April promotion will earn double elite night credits as long as you stay 2+ nights.

If you’re Platinum Elite this year …..

You’ve been given 25 elite night credits.  If you got the Marriott Bonvoy American Express, you’d receive a further 15 nights.  This gets you to 40.

You’d need 10 paid or reward nights in 2020 to earn five Suite Night Awards.  You’d need 35 paid or reward nights in 2020 to earn the 75 nights required for Titanium Elite.

Remember that stays during the February to April promotion will earn double elite night credits as long as you stay 2+ nights.

If you’re Titanium Elite this year ….

You’ve been given 38 elite night credits. If you got the Marriott Bonvoy American Express, you’d receive a further 15 nights.  This gets you to 53.

You immediately trigger a ’50 night bonus’ of which the five Suite Night Awards are by far the best option.

You’d then need a further 22 paid or reward nights to renew your status.

Another option for a Titanium would be to swap the five Suite Night Awards at 50 nights for 5 additional elite night credits.  This would mean you only need another 17 nights to renew instead of 22.

Titanium renewal would also trigger a ’75 night bonus’ – choose from five Suite Night Awards, a Free Night Award, gift Gold Elite status, five Elite Night Credits or a $100 charity donation.

Remember that stays during the February to April promotion will earn double elite night credits as long as you stay 2+ nights.

Don’t underestimate what a good deal this is for a Titanium Elite.  The 15 elite night credits from the Amex card will trigger your ’50 night bonus’ and guarantee you Platinum Elite for 2022 even if you don’t do a single night in a Marriott property this year!

If you think getting the credit card makes sense, our full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is here and you can apply here.

The rules say that new cardmembers will receive their 15 elite night credits within 60 days of applying.  In reality, they seem to arrive within a couple of weeks.  In future year they will appear in the first week of January, as mine did this year.

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, Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Comments (64)

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

  • M says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:02

    To be honest I am always quite confused by the hotel statuses and cards, the articles often say thing like “if you’ve already got Super Titanium Premium Elite Gold Circle Jade Status (okay maybe not exactly that), then you will get an extra night!”
    Is there a beginner’s article for someone who has got no hotel status and no preference for a particular chain? 😊

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 08:49

      Click the hotels tab in the menu to find intro articles on Hilton, Marriott and IHG. Similar articles on Radisson, Accor and Hyatt exist if you search.

    • Doug M says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:07

      M – I think a lot of the info is deliberately confusing because the chains don’t want direct comparisons. If you have no existing status and no preference for a chain then just use booking com or hotels com and book the cheapest option. Hotels com basically give you a free(ish) night for every 10 you stay, to the value of the average of the 10 paid nights. You can also head there from an Avios or FC shopping portal and possibly earn those points too.
      Many will argue that is you have status in a particular chain and book direct they’ll treat you better than a generic booking like Expedia. This maybe true, but if your destination is USA then they have so many people with status that it mostly means little or nothing.
      One of the main benefits of certain statuses is free breakfast, which can be a real saving for a family, but even then in many places they’ll be better options outside the hotel.
      None of what I offer really simplifies it, as if you want to gain the absolute best deal for you, you have to do the research and understand the benefits of each scheme and how likely you are to achieve a meaningful status.

    • Harry T says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:13

      If you spend less than 35-50 nights in hotels a year, choose the best deal for cash or points you can find and don’t worry too much about status. Book through Emyr if you stay at luxury hotels and want some special treatment and extra perks.

      Unfortunately the schemes are complicated at first glance and take some concerted self study to evaluate. I chose Marriott last year because I can easily manage the nights required for Platinum and they have the right footprint and hotel quality for my needs. I have been treated very well with Platinum status too. Nothing can replace doing your own research and evaluating your own requirements and preferences. Rob has some good articles and so does OMAAT.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      15 Jan15 January 13:13

      Also never forget that (certainly for independents) contacting the hotel, telling them that Hotels.com or whoever has the best price so you were going to book through them and then politely asking them if they can offer anything to make booking direct worthwhile can produce almost any result; from not bothering to reply all the way to a significant discount and offer package. Always worth a try.

      • Harry T says:
        15 Jan15 January 13:41

        And don’t forget that Marriott has a Best Rate Guarantee which gives you 25% off a competing rate if it fits their T&Cs

  • Kevin says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:20

    Would you able to get 10 elite night credit for being creation Marriott card holder as 2020?

    • Guernsey Globetrotter says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:23

      Last year I definitely got credit from the Creation Marriott card (10 elite nights) and ALSO the 15 from the Amex Bonvoy card. This year I have so far received the 15 nights from the Amex but nothing from the Creation card. I am hoping that this will post in April as it did last year (I assume this is the card anniversary for me) but others have said they think receiving both is against the T&Cs. Still, it wouldn’t be the first time that IT and T&Cs did not align!

      • Kevin says:
        15 Jan15 January 21:08

        My anniversary seems to be in July/august. Please kindly posted here if you got 10 nights in the next few months.

  • George K says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:21

    Pretty sure that the 10x Amex cap at 20,000 points was in place last year. I remember seeing it on the fine print.

    • MT says:
      15 Jan15 January 08:59

      I remember the 10x points cap last year to of 20k. In regards it being extended, do we know if it was extended to all card holders and was it extended before the old offer went or has it just been reintroduced as stays I made in December didn’t get 10x points, just the usual 6. Or could it be the offer is only for new card holders?

      • meta says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:12

        The cap was definitely in place last year. It says so in the email I got from Marriott announcing the offer.

        @MT I got 10x points for my December stays. I would contact Amex.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:23

        Cap has always been in place I read it as £5k spend would qualify for the extra 4x

        It was due to end 31st Jan so it’s been extended while still in place.

  • Tony says:
    15 Jan15 January 10:01

    I always find it a little disheartening when you see what you can get on the other side of the pond, e.g. the Marriott Bonvoy gold card gets you the 15 elite nights with no annual fee. And don’t get me started on IHG’s premier card with its 140k points welcome offer! C’est la vie.

    • MT says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:52

      You can blame the regulation over here limited the amount Amex can make on card purchases I believe.

    • Harry T says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:09

      They can’t charge high fees in the UK so you don’t get benefits with high value. There’s also far more competition for reward credit cards in the US. Amex has no real competition in the UK.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      15 Jan15 January 13:16

      The cost of that is baked into every retail price, as retailers prices ultimately have to reflect their undelying costs – and US merchants’ payment processing costs are high, which feeds through to the prices at the till. Consumers are not getting those deals for free.

      • Alan says:
        16 Jan16 January 08:42

        Yet US consumers still pay less than us for goods so I’d say it’s working out pretty well for them. All the additional export red tape here is only going to push up costs further.

      • Chrisasaurus says:
        16 Jan16 January 08:58

        And because Amex / reward cards are not held equally by all, specifically it’s tilted towards more towards those with money than not, it’s actuallly just another transfer of wealth upwards

  • Dan says:
    15 Jan15 January 10:47

    Rob, would be interested to hear how you justify the A/F on this card?

    Cost vs Benefits and Break even ponding to get value on it?

    • Harry T says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:06

      Try and find somewhere to stay that costs £75 for 15 nights. This is a good card for people who actually stay with Marriott a fair bit.

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 12:22

      I think the value proposition is tricky unless you value the 15 elite night credits. That said, 10x points for spend in Marriott hotels was fantastic in Q4 last year – this isn’t permanent though.

      There is a great card here waiting to get out, but they need to change the terms. Instead of Gold for £15k and Cat 4 (!) free night for £25k, perhaps make it a Cat 5/6 free night at £10k and Platinum at £25k. This would interest me.

      • Matt says:
        15 Jan15 January 13:11

        The 15 night credits will be the difference between Gold and Platinum for me (if we ever get to travel again!), so it’s definitely of value. Some more night credits as a bonus could make it my primary card permanently.

      • Dan says:
        15 Jan15 January 13:56

        Thanks. Would I be right in thinking that this card was recently refreshed and therefore any new benefits will probably be years away – if they do come?

        Relatively new to the game – so not sure how often these co-branded cards gets a refresh.

        • Rob says:
          15 Jan15 January 14:02

          That’s fair to say, yes, unless someone is badly behind budget somewhere!

  • MR says:
    15 Jan15 January 10:58

    I am Gold Elite and have the card, so will have 28 nights. Would welcome recommendations on the cheapest way to do 11 nights (in the UK) to get to 50 total and claim Titanium Elite.

    • Harry T says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:08

      Find a cheap Moxy or Courtyard and stay for 6 nights during the double nights promo period.

      • Chrisasaurus says:
        16 Jan16 January 09:02

        Trying to decipher MR’s maths but so think that already assumed double nights as (s)he would need 11×2 to get to 50 nights from 28.

        The fact that would make Plat not Titanium I think is just and error and a red herring in their part

    • Alex says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:22

      A quick look on Marriott website, cheapest options in the whole of the UK are coming up unsurprisingly around airports – Glasgow,Inverness,Manchester and Gatwick. All sitting around £40-50 a night on the dates I looked at.

    • MR says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:24

      Thanks for the replies. Any reports of success of asking the hotels to mark the stay as completed even in a no-show scenario?

      • ChrisW says:
        15 Jan15 January 11:44

        Check in, leave key card on bed. Leave. Easy.

        Luton Airport has cheap Marriott hotels.

    • BP says:
      15 Jan15 January 12:57

      50 nights would get Platinum. 75 nights for Titanium

  • Nate1309 says:
    15 Jan15 January 11:14

    What is the 5 night suite award? Is it easy to use?

    • Ikaz says:
      15 Jan15 January 11:53

      I would recommend reading up on this more in detail, it isn’t a simple process, flyertalk has a decent thread on the process.
      You receive 5 upgrade vouchers, all nights in a stay need to be upgraded so you can’t use them on a 6 night stay, you can use them on 5 * 1 night stays or 1*5 night stay or anything in between.
      You need to apply the vouchers to the booking and they get confirmed 1-5 days before the stay. When you apply the voucher, you select the rooms that you are willing to accept, some hotels actually exclude suites to this process and only have mid-level rooms
      The upgrade is not guaranteed to clear even if the suite is available for cash
      You can’t use them at all brands (Ritz carlton is excluded for example)
      I have tried (and succeeded) to use mine at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London as was upgraded from the entry level room to their executive suite that was priced at ~£900 per night and am planning on getting more to apply to hotels around Asia when I am next allowed over there

    • Mike says:
      15 Jan15 January 14:09

      How is the hotel reimbursed for this? Is it just a benefit they have to offer and Marriott pay them nothing for the privilege?

      • Rob says:
        15 Jan15 January 14:23

        Yes. Suites are allocated by Marriott and the hotel has no control over it AFAIK. This does not mean that you get a suite if one is available though as the hotel controls how Marriott can access its availability. No hotel is going to give up all its suites 5 days in advance and miss out on a last minute cash booking.

        Note that some brands don’t take part (St Regis is the plushest option, plus JW Marriott) and upgrades are not guaranteed. My understanding is that they do usually clear at 4-5 days though or not at all giving you time to rebook elsewhere if you choose.

  • Mr. AC says:
    15 Jan15 January 11:41

    Bah. I’m in the middle of my “2 year cool off” period with Amex. If I take out the Marriott Amex card right now, it’s going to wreck my plans to maximize sign up bonuses in 1 years time. Otherwise I would’ve jumped on this…

    • Matt says:
      15 Jan15 January 13:15

      If you’re planning to get bonuses on the Plat and BAPP then you can hold this card anyway – it would stop you getting Gold and BA free bonuses though.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      16 Jan16 January 09:07

      You’re making bold assumptions about the bonus landscape in 1 year…

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