One week only: Buy Marriott Bonvoy points from 0.83 cents each

Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Traveling For Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Traveling For Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.

Marriott has brought back a pretty good points sale this week in honor of its “Week of Wonders” promotion which runs through 13 October. Unlike last year’s Week of Wonders offer, however, Bonvoy elite members are not being offered an extra 5% bonus this year.

Key terms

• Transactions must be completed between 12:00 a.m. ET October 6, 2022, and 11:59 p.m. ET October 13, 2022, to be eligible for the 50% bonus Points purchase offer with a minimum purchase of 2,000 Points.
• Marriott Bonvoy® members worldwide are eligible for the 50% bonus Points purchase offer with a minimum purchase of 2,000 Points.
• The bonus Points earned with this promotion through the Buy Points or Gift Points pages are not included in the annual purchase limit of 100,000 Points.
• This offer is valid only for Points purchased through the promotion’s Buy Points and Gift Points pages.
• In 2022, members may purchase or receive as a gift a combined maximum of 100,000 Points per calendar year when purchased through our Buy Points and Gift Points pages (this website), Buy Points Points.com-powered window on Marriott websites, Marriott Mobile Apps or the Customer Engagement Centers.
• Members may purchase up to an additional 100,000 Points annually while booking a hotel stay through the reservation path on marriott.com.
• Purchased or gifted Points do not count toward Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status.
• Purchase rate is $12.50 USD per 1,000 Points.
• Points will be posted to the Member’s Account within 72 hours after the transaction is complete.
• A member must be an active member in good standing to purchase and/or receive Points.
• New members may purchase Points thirty (30) days after enrollment in the Marriott Bonvoy program.
• Once Points have been purchased or gifted, no refunds will be permitted.
• Purchasing Points using a Marriott Bonvoy cobrand credit card will earn Points as an everyday purchase.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page

The numbers

This is just about as simple as it gets – as long as you buy 2,000 points or more you’ll be buying Marriott Bonvoy points with a 50% bonus.

If you buy just 2,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you’ll end up with 3,000 points (after the 50% bonus is factored in) for just $25.00…

…and that works out to a cost/point of ~0.83 cents.

If you buy 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll end up with a total of 150,000 points at a cost of $1,250…

…which also comes to a cost/point of ~0.83 cents.

Click To Buy Marriott Points

Is this a good deal?

Note: Anyone even vaguely new to the miles and points world should read this post before proceeding.

There are three key things to know before I go any further:

1. This isn’t the best deal we see Marriott publishing. Marriott sometimes offers a bonus as high as 60% (points costing ~0.78 cents each) and there’s a chance that we’ll see a bonus of that magnitude offered around the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.
2. We sometimes see Marriott allowing Bonvoy members to purchase up to 150,000 points (excluding bonuses) so even if the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale doesn’t offer an improved bonus, it may offer the chance to buy more points.
3. Marriott is currently running a promotion in which ~4,500 properties are offering up to 15% off the cost of Reward Night bookings through the end of October (link) so, regardless of what may or may not be offered in the inevitable late November sale, if you need a few more points to make a booking for October 2022, this sale may be a good way to top up your account.

I value Marriott Bonvoy points at around 0.6 cents each so, at first glance, the points on sale here are still quite expensive, but there may be times when buying points here isn’t such a bad deal.

Marriott may have started to transition the Bonvoy program to a dynamic pricing model but for now, there are still some good deals to be found.

As I highlighted in another recent article, it remains reasonably easy (with a bit of research) to find stays where you’ll get at least 1 cent of value out of each Bonvoy Point you use and if you’re buying g points at under 0.85 cents each, that represents a nice saving.

Here, for example, are some deals in Los Angeles.

Here are some deals in Austin.

Here are some deals in Chicago.

And just to prove that the better value deals aren’t all in the US, here are some good deals in Australia and the UK.

Be aware, however, that just as it’s not particularly difficult to find a good use for points purchased in this sale, it’s also pretty easy to find a significant number of terrible deals too so make sure you pay close attention to what you’re booking.

Bottom line

Marriott is selling Bonvoy Points from ~0.83 cents through 13 October and if you need points to make a booking right away, this could represent a good opportunity to top up your account. If you have no immediate need for points or can wait to see what other deals come to light down the line, it may be worth waiting to see what Marriott publishes for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.

Click To Buy Marriott Points

Featured image: The JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort courtesy of Marriott