How to gift a Marriott Bonvoy reward night to someone else

We often get questions about how to gift a hotel reward night to someone else.

This is usually fiddlier than it should be, and often not possible if you want to stick strictly to the T&C of the scheme. The reason is often that hotels don’t want to be paying for elite benefits if the actual guest is not an elite member, or do not want to encourage the unofficial sale of reward stays.

Marriott Bonvoy has recently tweaked its rules on how to book a reward night for someone else so it’s worth looking at how you can do it.

Before you ask, the only hotel reward scheme that officially lets you grant elite privileges to other people is World of Hyatt. A top-tier Globalist member can call up to book a reward night for someone else, and that person will receive all Globalist privileges (upgrade to a suite if available at check-in, free parking, free breakfast, 4pm check out etc).

How can you gift a Marriott Bonvoy free night to someone else?

The process is outlined in 3.2.c of the Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions here.

Before you bother gifting a night, remember that you can now transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to another person online. There is no fee for this and you can gift up to 100,000 points per year.

Arguably this is less faff than the method for gifting reward nights, unless your recipient does not meet the criteria for receiving gifted points. These are to have a Bonvoy account over 90 days old, or at least 30 days old with qualifying activity.

Here are the terms and process for gifting Marriott Bonvoy awards:

• you can only gift five stays in a calendar year

• you can EITHER call Marriott Bonvoy to book the reward night OR make the reward night booking online in your name and then call Marriott Bonvoy at some future time to swap over the name

• any changes to gifted reservations must be made by telephone

• the recipient will not receive your elite status benefits (whilst not clear in the rules, it appears that they will receive any elite status benefits of their own)

• neither you nor the recipient will receive elite night credit for the stay (reward nights usually qualify for elite night credit so this is a negative)

There are two points here to note:

• the ability to swap the room name to a third party later on allows you to jump on a redemption online if you see one, and change the name later at your convenience

• if the recipient is chasing or has Marriott Bonvoy status, it may be better to transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to them and let them book the reward directly, because they will then receive elite night credit for the stay

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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.

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.

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

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.)