Ends today: 50% bonus on Chase transfers to Marriott (this may have its uses)
Way back in September, Chase launched a promotion in which it has been offering a 50% bonus to cardholders who convert Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy points and that promotion is set to end today. The last time we saw such a promotion (August) there was a 70% bonus on the table, so this is a transfer off to pass on unless what is discussed below applies to you.
Buy Marriott Bonvoy points from just 0.86 cents each (45% bonus)
Marriott has unveiled a new points sale today and this sale appears to be an slight improvement over the last sale we saw which ended back in September. Back then, the best bonus on offer was for 40% while this time around we're seeing bonuses as high as 45%.
Marriott Bonvoy and Aeroplan now offer reciprocal elite status
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These are the major 4Q 2024 hotel promotions from Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott
Now that we're into October and into the fourth quarter of 2024, there's a good chance that we're not going to see any more major hotel promotions announced before the end of the year and with that in mind, here are all the big promotions from Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott that cover some or all of the period between now and 31 December 2024.
How Marriott Bonvoy’s Starbucks partnership works (+ earn 1,000 bonus Bonvoy Points)
Starbucks and Delta have had a loyalty partnership for almost two years, but it was only in June of this year that Starbucks launched a partnership with a hotel loyalty program. That program was Marriott Bonvoy and the partnership with Bonvoy gives U.S. Starbucks Rewards members and US Marriott Bonvoy members cross program earning opportunities.
Four key reasons why points are better than Marriott Free Night Certificates
Over the past couple of years, when Chase and American Express have boosted the welcome bonuses on their Marriott co-branded cards, they have sometimes chosen to offer successful new applicants the chance to earn three or more Free Night Certificates instead of the more usual points bonanza.
Now live: Marriott’s two promotions for stays through 26 November 2024
A few weeks ago, Marriott announced two promotions that would run until 26 November 2024, so this is your reminder that as of today, both promotions are live. Registration is required for both promotions so if you haven't done so already, you should probably head over to Marriott.com and do that right now.
Earn 2x Marriott elite night credits with Homes & Villas
After saying that the last promotion that was run would be the last big promotion of the year, Marriott Homes & Villas launched a new promotion over the weekend in which its offering Bonvoy members double elite night credits on select stays made by the end of the year.
Marriott’s new global promotion for stays through 26 November 2024
It's a double promo day for Marriott because as well as launching a new promotion for select holders of its co-branded credit cards, it has also launched a new global promotion covering stays between 10 September and 26 November 2024.
New Marriott cardholder promotion: 2,000 bonus points on select stays
A little earlier, we wrote about a new promotion that Hyatt has launched for holders of its co-branded credit cards, and it now looks like Marriott has followed that lead with its own promotion for most co-branded cardholders in eleven countries across the globe.
How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points with Uber in the US
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Earn 24,000 bonus points/stay and get 10% off select bookings with Marriott Homes &...
If the last Marriott Homes & Villas promotion didn't tempt you into a booking or didn't cover the geographic area in which you're planning a stay, perhaps this latest offer of 24,000 bonus points per stay + 10% off at select properties worldwide will suit you better.
An illogical free night certificate rule Marriott Bonvoy needs to change
I recently booked a stay at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square and leaving aside the fact that I wasn't particularly impressed with the property (reviewed here), there was something else about the booking that stood out for me - Marriott as has an illogical (some may say ridiculous) rule when it comes to booking rooms with a Free Night Certificate.
A look inside the Marriott Bonvoy suite at London’s O2 arena
Marriott Bonvoy Moments is the successor to SPG Moments and is a program that allows Marriott Bonvoy members to spend their points on sports, concerts, and experiences at various arenas around the world and, in some circumstances, these can offer Bonvoy members a good alternative use for their points.
Be careful, Marriott’s new promotion isn’t quite as generous as it has been in...
Marriott's latest global promotion is now live and it's one of the best Marriott promotions that we've seen for a while. It isn't, however, quite as generous as a similar promotion that it has run in the past, so this is a gentle warning not to expect too much.
Complete guide to the Marriott Bonvoy elite breakfast benefit
One of the benefits that comes with Marriott Bonvoy Platinum and Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status is complimentary breakfast, but Marriott has made the benefit so complicated that you need a definitive guide to understand it. Here is your guide.
Great Marriott Bonvoy promotion: Bonus elite nights and bonus points on stays through April
Marriott Bonvoy has launched a great new promotion (which may or may not be targeted) in which it's offering bonus elite night credits and bonus points for every night consumed during the 76-night promotion period.
Reminder: RewardsPlus is currently running a special promo for United & Marriott top-tier elites
As we covered the Marriott/United partnership yesterday, now seems like a good time to for a reminder that top-tier Marriott Bonvoy and with United MileagePlus elites are being offered a limited-time promotion which allows them to earn upgrades in the other's loyalty program.
How the Marriott Bonvoy & United Airlines partnership works
In recent weeks we have highlighted Marriott's recently enhanced partnership with Singapore Airlines and its partnership with Emirates, so it makes sense to now cover the more major of Marriott's airline partnerships - it's partnership with United Airlines MileagePlus.
How the Marriott and Emirates partnership works
Marriott's partnership with Singapore Airlines was making news a couple of weeks ago, but that's not the only airline partnership that the hotel giant has. There's Marriott's strong partnership with United Airlines and as I'm about to discuss, there the partnership with Emirates as well.
The hotel points game is alive and well, you just have to play harder
At the risk of sounding old, I'm going to say that the miles & points game was a lot easier 15 years ago. Back then, most travel loyalty programs still had fixed award charts, international flight upgrades weren't rarer than unicorns, hotels didn't (usually) play games with elite benefits, and 'Bonvoy' wasn't a verb.
Details of the new Marriott Bonvoy/MGM Rewards partnership (brace for disappointment!)
Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards have finally announced the details of their upcoming partnership that is set to go live at some point this year. The partnership covers benefits offered to each program's members when they stay at Marriott and MGM properties, the assimilation of four MGM properties into three of Marriott's brands, and the creation of the MGM Collection.
The Marriott Bonvoy & Singapore KrisFlyer status match offer
When you look into the Bonvoy program closely, you'll find that Marriott has relationships with considerably more airlines that any other hotel loyalty program and that with some airlines, like Emirates and United Airlines, it even has a reciprocal benefits agreement (of sorts).
Marriott Bonvoy is giving members ‘soft landings’ this year
If you had Marriott Bonvoy elite status in 2023 but didn't earn enough elite night credits to retain elite status 2024, you may be expecting to lose that status after your benefits run out at the end of February. That is, after all, what usually happens (when pandemics aren't ravaging the planet).
Marriott Bonvoy changes to suite night awards for 2024
With the deadline for Marriott's Annual Choice Benefits approaching (7 January) and with the default option for those not meeting that deadline being 5 Suite Night Awards, this seems like an opportune time to remind TFM readers that Marriott Suite Night Awards will be getting a new name and will work in a slightly different way this year.
Marriott’s 4Q 2023 worldwide promotion is now live
While the latest World of Hyatt global promotion doesn't go live until next month, Marriott's idea of a 4Q 2023 promotion is now live so if you haven't already registered, now is probably the time to do so.
A mostly pointless Marriott Bonvoy elite status is getting more expensive
Ambassador Elite status is the very highest level of status that you can earn with the Marriott Bonvoy program and it's the only Bonvoy Elite status that currently comes with a spending requirement. In 2023, that spending requirement will be going up.
Will Marriott devalue Bonvoy Platinum Elite status?
It's not much of a secret that there are few things that Marriott likes more than a good old-fashioned devaluation so following the news that Bonvoy Platinum Elite status is now being handed out as a credit card benefit, speculation has been growing that the benefits associated with Platinum Elite status will soon be cut. So, is a devaluation imminent?
Which major hotel loyalty programs offer Lifetime Elite status?
Hotel elite status can be both vastly overrated and extremely useful depending on which status level and which hotel program we're discussing, and people's opinions can vary quite significantly. But, as a rule, having status is better than not having status so people will go to varying degrees of effort to maintain their hotel privileges from year to year.
Marriott Bonvoyed my Suite Night Awards too
Most people with extensive experience with Marriott know that Bonvoy Suite Night Awards are not as valuable as Marriott would like everyone to think. Sometimes, they can be utterly useless. Still, having Suite Night Awards in your account is better than not having any at all so when Marriott appeared to have extended the validity of some of my SNAs to the end of this year I was pleased. Surprised, but pleased.
This is the kind of nonsense Marriott Bonvoy needs to cut out
There are a number of serious issues with the Marriott Bonvoy program and a lot of them are a result of Marriott allowing various brands and individual properties to plow their own furrow and to pick and choose what aspects of the Bonvoy program they want to adopt.
Marriott Bonvoy dynamic pricing is yielding some unexpected results
Over the past few days, the Marriott Bonvoy program has moved over to a dynamic pricing model for award bookings, and while some of the results of that move are far from unexpected, some of the things that I'm seeing are a little surprising.
Marriott’s move to dynamic pricing is delayed…but only by a few hours
Yesterday was supposed to be the last day that Marriott Bonvoy members could book awards at a variety of high-end properties (and a number of less high-end properties) at the rates set out in the program's award charts, but that's not how things have turned out.
Marriott Bonvoy eliminates award charts & moves to dynamic pricing tomorrow
Towards the end of October last year, Marriott dropped the bombshell news that it was planning to make significant changes to how the Bonvoy program works, and now that we're less than 24 hours away from these changes coming into effect, I thought I'd post a reminder of what we should expect.
Is this a new annoyance on Marriott’s website?
Ordinarily, I find Marriott's website to be pretty user-friendly and mostly free of the kinds of glitches that cause me to want to rip what remains of my hair out of my head (I wish I could same the same about ba.com!) but in the past few weeks, I've noticed one particular oddity appear three times while I've been performing award searches and I like to know if anyone else has noticed anything similar.
Marriott.com adds lowest rates calendar to booking searches
In the past couple of days, Marriott has made a small enhancement (a real one) to its website and it now offers customers the option of accessing a property's rates across a whole month directly from the search results page. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't groundbreaking, but it's a nice addition to Marriot.com.
Go to Super Bowl LVI with Bonvoy Moments
Marriott Bonvoy Moments is the heir to SPG Moments and is a program that allows Marriott Bonvoy members to spend their points on sports, concerts, and experiences rather than on hotel stays. Right now (and has been the case in most recent years), Marriott is giving Bonvoy members a chance to use their points to book tickets to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.
A Good Example Of A Truly Bad Marriott Bonvoy Policy
Marriott is the largest hotelier in the world (by some distance) so it stands to reason that its Bonvoy rewards program has more members than any other hotel rewards program around. Sadly, size isn't everything, and while a lot of Bonvoys deficiencies are well documented, I've just been given another reminder of just how bad some of Marriott Bonvoy's policies can be...even if you hold top-tier status.
How To Apply Marriott Suite Night Awards To A Reservation In 6 Simple Steps...
Marriott Bonvoy allows its members to choose 5 suite night awards as part of their benefits package when they earn 50 elite night credits in a year (the Annual Choice Benefits), and it allows members to choose a further 5 suite night awards as part of their benefits when they earn 75 elite nights in a year. That makes it pretty important to know how to apply these upgrades online.
My Ritz-Carlton Award Booking Dilemma
From a social distancing point of view and from a 'staying healthy' point of view, the Ritz-Carlton Tenerife and Tenerife itself seem like as good a place as any to visit right now...but I'm hugely conflicted about how to book the accommodation.
Bonus Elite Night Credits Have Now Posted For Marriott Lifetime Elites
Almost exactly a month ago, Marriott announced that on top of the elite status extensions that it has offered to all of its Bonvoy elites, it would also be adding bonus elite night credits to member accounts by the end of this month. On Friday night, most Bonvoy accounts were updated (unexpectedly early) but the accounts of a lot of Lifetime Elites remained unchanged, and this led to some confusion.
Marriott Raises $920 Million From Chase & American Express
Marriot has just announced that it has raised $920 million in cash through the agreements it holds with JPMorgan Chase and American Express and, in doing so, follows Hilton in using its credit card partners to raise much needed liquidity during the current crisis.
Marriott Hacked (Again): Have You Been Bonvoyed?
If you've ever had any dealing with Marriott you'll probably already know that its IT systems are pretty useless but what you may not know is that its IT systems aren't very secure. In fact, their security appears to be laughably easy to circumvent.
I Knew Marriott Would Make This Mistake…But At Least It’s In My Favour!
In August last year, Marriott announced a couple of significant changes to the way its Points Advance reservations work and when these changes came into effect in September, I pointed out that the Bonvoy program's systems appeared to be incapable of dealing with one of these changes correctly. I also pointed out that I thought I could see how Marriott's solution to this system flaw may actually benefit some guests....and I was right.
How to find your Marriott Free Night Certificates in your Bonvoy account
This post is the first in a series of three which will examine how to find Marriott free night certificates in your Bonvoy account (via desktop and via mobile app), how to apply a free night certificate to a single night booking and how to apply a certificate to a multiple night booking.
This Is What Comes In The Marriott Lifetime Titanium Package
I had absolutely no idea that Marriott sends out special packs to Bonvoy members who earn Lifetime Elite status (I haven't even been sent an elite status card for the last 3 years) and, even though I earned the status back at the end of 2018, it was only over the recent holiday period that I received my pack in the mail.
Annoying: Marriott Has Made Suite Night Awards Officially Harder & More Expensive To Use
I've had mixed fortunes with Marriott's Suite Night awards this year with great success at stays in Sydney and, most recently, in Venice, but I've also had my fair share of frustrations with various properties choosing not to allow me to apply a Suite Night award to my reservation because Marriott allows them to opt-out of offering that particular benefit (the London Edition and the Langley both spring to mind).
Now it looks as if Marriott has officially made Suite Night awards officially harder to use.
Marriott Bonvoy Introduces Dynamic Award Pricing (Sort Of)
The introduction of seasonal pricing finally came into effect at Marriott Bonvoy over the weekend but, now that we can see how it's going to work, it's safe to say that what we've been given isn't what most people were expecting.
Marriott Bonvoy Program Changes – What You Really Need To Know
Last Thursday Thursday Marriott finally got around to announcing that some long-expected changes to its Bonvoy loyalty program will be coming in to effect from 14 September 2019, and it announced a few small unexpected tweaks to the program to – this is what you need to know about the changes ahead.
Marriott Revives Starwood’s Emirates Partnership – Make Sure You Register!
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We Didn’t Get Bonvoyed! (A Marriott Success Story)
Joanna and I have recently returned from a trip to Australia where we stayed at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel for 5 nights. I made the award night booking back in 2018 and when I received my suite night upgrades (courtesy of my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status) I applied five of them to this stay.
Marriott’s Loyalty Program May Soon Have An Even Bigger Image Issue
Bonvoy was a terrible name for Marriott to call the merged Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs and whatever they paid the company that came up with that name was too much....but that's the least of Marriott's problems right now.
Marriott Bonvoy Isn’t Really Encouraging Lifetime Elites To Be Loyal
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Marriott Bonvoy Adds New Experiences & Benefits In Asia-Pacific Region
Marriott has announced that it has introduced "exclusive member benefits" across the Asia-Pacific region as it expands its Marriott Moments offering and adds kids, dining and spa benefits too.
9 Marriott Properties To Book Before 5 March 2019
Marriott recently announced its hotel category changes for 2019 which will soon see over 285 of its properties charging more for an award night than they do right now.
These hotel category changes will be effective for bookings made from 5 March 2019 onwards which means there are only 18 full days left to lock in the exiting rates at properties moving up a category....and I've selected 9 such properties which are worth a closer look.
I Have Lifetime Status With Marriott But I May Defect To Hilton
I have been a Marriott loyalist for as long as I can remember and I recently earned the highest level of lifetime status that Marriott has on offer....but I'm seriously considering a move across to Hilton.
Marriott Unveils Its New Loyalty Program Name – Marriott Bonvoy
It's been a poorly kept secret for some time (although a lot of us hoped it wasn't true) and today Marriott has announced that it will be renaming its new loyalty program "Marriott Bonvoy" from 13 February 2019.
I’ve Finally Booked A Big Ticket Marriott Redemption For Next Year
Since Marriott introduced its new award chart in August it has been possible to book awards at numerous aspirational properties around the world for just 60,000 points per night but, sadly, that's only going to be the pricing for a limited time.
The window to book these properties for 60,000 points per night will probably close on 1 January 2019 when Marriott is expected to introduce a Category 8 level into its award chart - a category into which all the aspirational properties will be placed.
Here’s The Problem With Marriott’s Suite Upgrades
Before Marriott Rewards and SPG were merged Marriott didn’t officially offer its elites upgrades to suites. Very occasionally (and usually on short trips) Marriott properties have upgraded me to a suite in the past but, more often than not, the upgrades I’ve received have been to a slightly larger room on a high floor.
That’s always been fine for me as I rarely need the space that a suite offers but I know that the lack of suite upgrades has been a bugbear for some.
Those crying out for suite upgrades had their wish granted when Marriott updated its elite benefits following the merger of the Marriott Rewards and SPG loyalty programs but, now that the new rules are in place, I’m not sure guests will be getting what they may expect.
Is It “Gauche” To Ask For A Room Upgrade You’re Entitled To?
On a recent visit to the JW Marriott Hong Kong I found myself at the front desk politely requesting a room upgrade my Platinum status entitles me to (per Marriott's own rules). I posted this fact in my review of the property and a reader commented that he agreed with my stance but that a poster on Flyertalk had said that requesting an upgrade was "gauche" (even if it's an upgrade you're entitled to).
BIG NEWS: Marriott Announces New Credit Card Deal With Chase AND Amex
Marriott's takeover of Starwood threw into question the future of the hotel chain's credit card contract. Marriott has traditionally had its co-branded cards issued by Chase while Starwood has had a long association with Amex and we've been waiting to hear what the outcome of recent negotiations would be.
Now we know.
Credit Card News & Offers
