How to Maximize the Marriott Bonvoy Referral Promos

Marriott’s referral program allows you to earn points when you refer others to the hotel’s loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, or to its credit cards.

Marriott Bonvoy members can earn up to 50,000 bonus points each year by referring friends and family to the program. However, it’s not as simple as just getting them to sign up for the program — they have to actually complete stays at a Marriott before you earn any points.

You need to be a cardholder to refer friends and family to Marriott credit cards. The bonus offers fluctuate, but can be as high as 200,000 points per year. So if you hold a Marriott card, referrals can be a smart way to earn extra points.

In a nutshell, there’s some strategy to maximizing the Marriott Bonvoy referral program.

Refer a friend to Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy members can earn up to 50,000 bonus Bonvoy points each year by referring friends and family. The reward is 2,000 bonus points for each stay that your referral makes in the first 365 days after enrolling, up to five stays. For each person you refer, you can earn 10,000 points.

Each Bonvoy member can refer up to five new members per calendar year, resulting in a potential of 50,000 points earned.

If you’ll want to refer more than five travelers in a calendar year, you should focus on the five who will actually complete the most stays. If you sponsor five new members and each stays only once in the first year, you’ll earn 10,000 bonus points from those members. You would come out ahead by referring just two new members that each stay three times (12,000 bonus points).

By joining the program through your unique referral link, new Marriott Bonvoy members will also earn 2,000 bonus points per stay for their first five stays. That’s a potential maximum of 10,000 bonus points in a year on top of the points they otherwise earn for each stay.

» Learn more: Your guide to hotel bonus point promotions

Restrictions

To qualify for the promotion, your friends and family members will need to keep Marriott Bonvoy points as their currency earning preference. If they'd like to earn airline miles instead of Bonvoy points, they should wait to make that change until after their first five stays (or the 365-day new member period ends).

Note that the definition of a stay is “consecutive nights spent in the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity.” That means your referral can’t book five consecutive one-night stays at the same hotel to try to maximize the promotion. Those five bookings would be considered one stay for the purposes of this and other promotions.

» Learn more: Marriott Bonvoy Program: The complete guide

Refer a friend to a Marriott credit card

Once you have a Marriott Bonvoy credit card, you can earn bonus Bonvoy points by referring friends and family to sign up for a Bonvoy credit card. Marriott has four credit cards: two from Chase and two from American Express.

Chase-issued Marriott credit cards

Chase’s Marriott credit card referral bonus currently offers 40,000 bonus points per successful referral, up to a maximum of 200,000 bonus points per calendar year. The usual offer allows you to earn up to 100,000 points per year, so if you have friends to refer, now's the time to do it.

To benefit from this promotion, you need to hold the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card or the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. You can refer someone to either of these cards, even if it's different from the card you have. After your friend is approved, it can take up to eight weeks for the bonus to post to your account.

AmEx-issued Marriott credit cards

AmEx’s refer-a-friend bonuses differ from Chase’s in two ways: the bonus varies based on the card and you can refer someone to a card you don’t have. To see the offers available, log in to your American Express account and click on the “Refer-a-friend” link at the bottom of the page.

Then, you will see a page listing all your active AmEx cards along with referral bonuses. Scroll to the middle of the page where you will find the personalized referral link that you can share.

When someone opens your link, they will see a referral for the card you provided. However, direct them to select the “View all cards with a referral offer” button. From that page, they will be able to see which customized Marriott card offer is available.

If you want to make the most of Marriott’s refer-a-friend promos

Through the Marriott Bonvoy referral program, you can earn up to 50,000 bonus Bonvoy points each year. To make the most of it, find five friends and family members to sign up for a new Bonvoy account who you're confident will complete close to five eligible stays in a year.

You can earn even more bonus points by adding a Marriott credit card to your wallet and referring friends to Marriott credit cards. These offers can be as high as 200,000 bonus points, providing an easy point earning opportunity for Marriott cardholders.