My Bonvoy Amex Free Night Conundrum

With the loyalty programs of Marriott and Starwood having recently been merged, we’ve also seen some changes made to their co-branded American Express cards, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.

While the points earning structures of these cards have been worsened, there’s one great new benefit. Both of these cards now offer a free night award on your account anniversary every year, valid at a property retailing for up to 35,000 points.

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I recently wrote about how to actually redeem these certificates. I have both of these cards, and I’m lucky that both certificates have already posted to my account thanks to my account anniversary date.

That brings me to a situation I constantly find myself in with other hotel credit cards, which I’m now also facing with the SPG Amex cards. I’m curious how you guys approach this.

How do you properly maximize a free night certificate?

There are several hotel credit cards that offer free night certificates on account anniversaries, and some hotel loyalty programs (like World of Hyatt) even offer free night certificates for achieving certain status, or completing certain tasks.

I’m obsessed with maximizing the value of things, and that’s a real problem when it comes to these certificates. I always want to maximize the value as much as possible, to the point that I end up redeeming these in a scramble last minute before they expire.

Three ways to approach redeeming these certificates

The way I view it, there are three general ways to approach redeeming these certificates issued with credit cards:

• Redeem for any stay that costs at least $95; these cards have $95 annual fees, so assuming you redeem for a stay that would cost you more than $95 (after factoring in the points you’re forgoing by redeeming rather than booking a paid stay) you’re coming out ahead
• Redeem for a stay that would otherwise cost as many points as possible; if your alternative is redeeming points for a stay, then you’ll want to use these certificates for a property that would otherwise cost as many points as possible (ideally 35,000)
• Redeeming for a stay that would otherwise cost as much cash as possible; if your alternative is paying cash for a stay, then you’ll want to use these certificates for a property that would otherwise cost as much cash as possible

All of the above options sound easy enough to do the math on. The real challenge here is deciding what you think the maximum value you’ll get out of a stay is. In other words, if I redeemed this certificate for a stay that would cost $200 I’d be happy. But what if I otherwise have a stay that would cost $300 before the certificate expires? I’d be kicking myself for not having redeemed the certificate there.

Some real life examples

Let me give an example of four upcoming reservations I am thinking of making, all for one night stays (these are stays I’m actually planning on making, so this isn’t a theoretical example). I’m trying to decide the best strategy to take. For context:

• I have nearly three million Marriott points
• Despite that, I still value them at 0.7-0.9 cents each, so I don’t redeem them just because I can, but rather only when I think it’s a good deal
• I have two anniversary free night certificates that were recently issued to me, expiring next August

So the first reservation I need to make is at the JW Marriott Quito. I could:

• Pay $180 in cash (though it’s $222 once you factor in taxes and fees)
• Redeem 22,500 points
• Redeem a free night certificate

The second reservation I’m looking at is at the Marriott Kigali. I could:

• Pay $221 in cash (though it’s $273 once you factor in taxes and fees)
• Redeem 16,000 points
• Redeem a free night certificate

The next stay I’m looking at is at the Aloft London Excel (I’m flying into London City Airport, so this seems like a convenient option). I could:

• Pay $256 in cash
• Redeem 25,000 points
• Redeem a free night certificate

Lastly, I am looking at staying at the Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport, where I could:

• Pay $176 in cash
• Redeem 17,500 points
• Redeem a free night certificate

In looking at these four stays:

• In all four circumstances redeeming points would be be a moderately good value (in the case of the Marriott Kigali it’s an exceptional value)
• If I view this in terms of the opportunity cost of points, redeeming the free night certificates at the JW Marriott Quito or Aloft London Excel would be the best option, though in no case am I getting anywhere close to maximizing the 35,000 point limit
• If I view this in terms of the opportunity cost of cash, redeeming at the Aloft London Excel and Marriott Kigali would be the best options
• All of this assumes that I want to redeem two certificates now, rather than waiting for potentially better options, since they’re valid for another 11 months

Bottom line

I don’t actually have a conclusion here as to what I’m going to do. However, my general approach is that I think I need to hoard these certificates less and just redeem them when I see a good opportunity, rather than trying so hard to optimize, to the point that the certificates end up near their expiration date.

With that in mind, in terms of a redemption amount that “feels good,” I tend to think that if I redeem for a stay that would cost $190+ (more than double the annual fee), I’m very happy with that.

In the above situation I think I’ll redeem free night certificates at the JW Marriott Quito and Aloft London Excel, redeem points at the Marriott Kigali (since it’s that good of a deal), and probably pay cash at the Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi, just to balance things out a bit.

What’s your approach to redeeming these types of certificates? Do you have the same hoarding/points maximizing issue I have?