Marriott co-branded credit cards offer a variety of perks, and one of the perks available on some cards is an anniversary free night award. This can be hugely valuable, so in this post I’d like to go over all the details you need to be aware of when it comes to redeeming these certificates.
Continue reading: How To Redeem Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Awards For Best Value
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Bonvoy'd yet again... With the recent devaluations ('breakeven' on Marriott points used to be closer to 0.8 cents per point, but it's now worth closer to ~0.6 cpp, so more akin to Hilton or IHG, which are ~0.5 cpp), and the increased maximum 'top-off' (add up to 25K to 85K certificate), 'best value' sure has been a moving target lately.
If you can do better than breakeven at an aspirational property, go for it; but, much of the time, you'd need to go overseas (and it's not like getting to the Maldives is 'easy' these days with everything going on in the ME). Sometimes there are sweet spots domestically (like, St. Regis DC, $1K+ cash price for 100K points, but it's not that exciting). Making me reconsider whether it's worth paying the annual fees on these mostly-overrated Marriott credit cards...
It's time to stop lying for the corporation and pretending these are free night certificates instead of what they actually are which is a coupon for some points. These are "partial night certificates" where they pay roughly half the cost of a night, if that. The Bonvoy Boundless is an absolute joke with its 35k "free night". You can't find a room for 35k points if you wanted a run down motel in Bucktooth, Idaho. I have two Ritz Carlton cards and the "free nights" certs don’t work at 90% of Ritz Carltons even with the top up, which is not free, it costs you $250 worth of points as a "fee" for using the free night cert.
Our experience has been negative using these awards. Never been able to use them in our travels.
Can you use a free night award for multiple nights?
Say you have a 35,000 point free night award. Can you use it for a two night stay at a hotel costing 17,500 points per night? The answer is no, unfortunately. Each certificate is valid for a single night stay at a property costing up to 35,000 points.
To clarify on this, one can use a cert for one of the nights on a multi-night stay. They just have to use points for the other night(s).
I constantly struggle to find value with a 35K certificate in a city and location that I want to stay. The new top off of 25K will help make them usable but to RC's point these are Free Night certs in name only.