Patience: Marriott’s Best Ever Points Sale May Be Bettered

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In the past 24 hours, Marriott launched a new sale in which it’s offering Bonvoy members the opportunity to buy points with a bonus of up to 60% thrown in. Historically speaking, this is the highest bonus we have ever seen Marriott offer (it matches the bonus offered back in May) but there’s an outside chance that there’s something better to come.

Key Terms

• Transactions must be completed between 9:00 a.m. ET November 19, 2020, and 11:59 p.m. ET November 25, 2020, to be eligible for the 60% bonus Points offer with a minimum purchase of 2,000 Points.
• Purchased Points do not count towards Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.
• A member may purchase or receive as a gift from another member a combined maximum of 150,000 Points during the promotional period only.
• Points that have been already purchased or received as a gift in 2020 are included in the 150,000 Points limit.
• The 60% bonus Points earned with this promotion are not included in the 150,000 Points limit.
• Points may be purchased in increments of 1,000, up to 50,000 Points (with a minimum purchase of 2,000 Points required for promotion eligibility); in increments of 5,000, up to a maximum of 100,000 Points; or in increments of 10,000, up to 150,000 Points.
• Points can be purchased at a rate of US$12.50 per 1,000 Points, US$62.50 per 5,000 Points or US$125 per 10,000 Points.
• Points purchases will be processed up to seven (7) business days after purchase.
• Base Points purchased will be deposited into members’ Accounts first. Bonus Points will be deposited up to 48 hours after that initial deposit.
• You must be a member in good standing to both purchase and receive Points.
• New members may purchase Points thirty (30) days after enrollment if their Marriott Bonvoy Account reflects qualifying activity as described in the Marriott Bonvoy Program Rules.  After one (1) year from enrollment, new members are eligible to purchase Points regardless of their Account activity.
• Once Points have been purchased or gifted, no refunds will be permitted.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page

The Math

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 60% bonus at the cheapest rate we’ve ever seen them sold.

If you buy just 2,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you’ll end up with 3,200 points (after the 60% bonus is factored in) for just $25.00…

…and that works out to a cost/point of ~0.781 cents.

If you buy 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll end up with a total of 240,000 points at a cost of $1,875…

…which also comes to a cost/point of ~0.781 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.

I value Marriott Bonvoy points at around 0.6 cents each so, at first glance, these points are still quite expensive…but there may be times when buying points here isn’t such a bad deal. To see what I mean we have to start with the current Marriott Bonvoy award chart which now includes peak and off-peak award rates.

At 0.781 cents/point this is how much a night at each category would cost if you were to buy points in this promotion:

If you’re looking to book a Marriott property in one of the less high-demand locations or if you’re planning to stay at a Marriott during a quiet period it’s unlikely that you’ll find much value in buying points in this sale. If, however, you’re considering making a Marriott booking in an expensive city like New York (or London, Tokyo, Moscow, etc…) there’s a good chance that this sale could save you some money…but you’ll need to do the math to be sure.

A very good example would be a hotel like the Langley which almost always charges more than $450/night (including taxes)…

…and this makes it cheaper to buy points than it is to pay with cash even in peak season (this particular date is available for 50,000 points which would see a guest save approximately $90/night assuming all 50,000 points were purchased for 0.781 cents each).

Another thing to keep in mind is that by buying 240,000 points in this sale, a Bonvoy member would automatically have enough points for a 5-night booking at any Category 7 property (outside of peak season) and a 5-night booking at all properties in Category 6 and below at any time of year. $1,875 for 5 nights ($375 per night including all taxes) at properties such as…

• Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club
• The Wailea Beach Resort
• The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort
•  The W Hong Kong
• The Bodrum EDITION
• The London EDITION
• The Solaz Luxury Collection Resort in Cabo

…is just about as close to a great deal as you can get.

Click To Buy Marriott Points

Why Patience May Pay Off

I can’t help but feel that the fact that Marriott is choosing to end this promotion the day before Thanksgiving (and therefore a couple of days before Black Friday) has some kind of significance. Why end your ‘best ever’ points sale a couple of days before the one day that a lot of people recognize as the biggest sale day of the year? Marriott must have some kind of plan for Black Friday so it’s possible that it plans to announce a new enhanced sale shortly after this one ends.

I have no insider knowledge and there’s always a chance that Marriott has absolutely no intention of offering an enhanced deal on November 27th or November 30th so if you choose to wait and see what happens next week, you’re taking the risk that you’ll miss out on what can be an excellent sale. Personally, I could probably find a very good use for 240,000 Bonvoy Points right now so I’m tempted to take part in the sale as it stands, but I’m choosing to hold off. If no better deal materializes and I miss out on this 60% bonus I won’t be too annoyed but I’ll be livid if my suspicions turn out to be correct and by buying points in this sale I make myself ineligible for any better deal that may be on its way.

Bottom Line

Marriott is now selling its currency at ~0.781 cents per point through Wednesday next week and that can represent a very good deal for someone who does some research and uses the points to save on a future stay. With this sale ending two days before Black Friday, there’s a chance that we’ll see an even better sale appear shortly after this one ends, but you’ll have to be prepared to miss out on this deal if you want to wait and see if Marriott has something special in store.

Click To Buy Marriott Points