Homes & Villas By Marriott, which is Marriott’s vacation rental platform, has just launched a potentially lucrative promotion…
In this post:
Earn 5x Bonvoy bonus points on a vacation rental
Marriott Bonvoy is offering 5x points on all home rentals if you make a Homes & Villas by Marriott booking, meeting certain requirements:
- Registration is required prior to booking
- You must book between June 3 and June 26, 2024
- You must stay by March 31, 2025
- The booking must be for a consecutive stay of at least five nights
- Only cash bookings qualify, and not bookings where you redeem Bonvoy points (you shouldn’t redeem Bonvoy points for this anyway, since you only get 0.6 cents of value per point)
As a reminder, if you’re booking a stay with Homes & Villas by Marriott, you can expect to receive the following number of points as a Bonvoy member (not factoring in the current promotion):
- Earn 5x Bonvoy points per dollar spent
- Marriott Bonvoy elite members receive their usual points bonuses for these stays as well, of 10-75%
- Marriott Bonvoy elite members receive bonus points as a welcome gift — Gold Elite members receive 500 Bonvoy points, while Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite members receive 1,000 Bonvoy points
- Paying with a co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit card could earn you up to 6x points per dollar spent, as this counts the same as Marriott spending for those purposes
Since this promotion offers 5x the standard number of base points, that means you would earn an additional 20x Bonvoy points per dollar spent.
Is booking through Homes & Villas by Marriott worth it?
Under normal circumstances, the value proposition of Homes & Villas by Marriott is questionable. Virtually all the properties bookable through the platform are also bookable through other vacation rental platforms. In my experience, Marriott’s platform is often priced 10-15% higher than other platforms for the same property. So Marriott is taking a commission on an inflated rate, but members can also receive perks.
It’s always worth crunching the numbers on the value of booking through Homes & Villas by Marriott, as there are situations where it will represent a good deal. I’d say this is potentially the most lucrative promotion we’ve ever seen from the program, assuming you’re staying five or more nights.
With this offer, you can earn 25x Bonvoy points per dollar spent, and that doesn’t factor in elite bonuses or credit card rewards. For example, a Titanium member would earn an additional 3.75x points per dollar spent, plus you could earn an extra 6x points per dollar spent when using a Marriott credit card. That comes out to nearly 35x points per dollar spent, which could be an exceptional value. Personally I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so that’s a great return.
You obviously shouldn’t rent a home just to take advantage of this offer. However, if you’re going to rent a home anyway, this definitely sways the math in favor of booking through Marriott.
Bottom line
Homes & Villas by Marriott has a promotion whereby you can earn 5x the number of Bonvoy points you’d usually earn, meaning you’d earn a minimum of 25x Bonvoy points per dollar spent. Ordinarily the value of booking through Homes & Villas by Marriott isn’t necessarily great, though promotions like this definitely help the math.
If you’ve been considering giving Homes & Villas by Marriott a try, this promotion would be the time to do so…
Are any OMAAT readers taking advantage of this Homes & Villas by Marriott promotion?
Two issues with the Homes and Villas.
1. It is like booking an AirBNB, but there is a lack of support from Marriott
2. It is more expensive than other providers for the same property
Looked at options on Homes & Villas by Marriott for our last 3 trips (Amalfi, Cappadocia and Nadi), but ended up booking through AirBnB and VRBO instead. Properties were better and prices were lower. Bonvoy really needs to up their game if they want to compete.
Seems like Marriott has been running a lot of "big headline" promos for Homes & Villas lately. I can't imagine that the program must be too popular if they're pouring this much effort into promotions compared to the promotions we're seeing on the hotel side. Wonder if this is a signal of soft demand?