How to Use Marriott Points

Marriott Bonvoy is a rewarding hotel loyalty program that delivers value through its points redemptions, credit card perks, airline affiliations and programs like Marriott Bonvoy Moments. Despite some changes in recent years to the program — including ditching its award charts and switching to a dynamic model that tracks cash prices — there are still sweet spots and benefits worth exploring.

Ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points range from hotel stays and credit card spending to booking tours and local experiences or vacation homes.

You can also earn points when booking Uber rides, with a Marriott Vacation Club timeshare membership, dining out, transferring points from other credit card programs and taking a cruise.

Elite members can earn Marriott points when flying with Emirates (3 points per $1 spent). Once your balance fills up, it’s time to enjoy them. Here's how to use Marriott points.

Eligible hotel properties that earn and redeem Marriott Bonvoy points

Marriott Bonvoy members have over 30 different brands to choose from when making a hotel redemption.

Marriott has more than 8,700 properties in 139 countries and territories where you can earn and redeem points. With Marriott points, there's a wide variety of options for free redemption nights.

» Learn more: Top Marriott boutique hotels you can book with points

How to use Marriott points for free nights

The best way for most people to use Marriott points is to book free nights at Marriott hotels.

That said, it can be difficult to predict how much a hotel room will cost you. That's because Marriott Bonvoy uses dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing means the price of a redemption night varies depending on your travel dates.

How to understand the points "price" (and whether you're getting a good deal)

Start by logging into Marriott's website. Enter the destination, trip dates, number of rooms and how many guests per room. Check the “Use Points/Certificates” box and select the “Find Hotels” button.

The list of hotels will display the number of points required for a stay there, but there’s another way to see if there are cheaper redemption nights at the same hotel.

Select the “View Rates” button, then go to the top of the page and select “Edit Stay Details.”

Then, go to the dates section and select the “I’m flexible” tab, where you can search each property’s availability by a month at a time.

Select the month you want to search for to determine if there are cheaper redemption nights where you can save some points. This example shows rates for October 2024.

Once you choose the nights you want, select the dates to show the room categories available and their prices.

From this section, you can also opt to pay for some nights with points and others using cash (an option if you’re short on Marriott Bonvoy points). To do this, select “Use Cash + Points,” then the room category, which will adjust the cash and points options based on the total cost.

From here, use “Select” to pay how you choose and confirm your stay.

» Learn more: Are Marriott's Cash + Points rates worth it?

The Marriott Bonvoy app follows a similar process, which makes it easy to book reservations when you’re on the go, too.

You can take advantage of the fifth-night free benefit up to four times per stay (by booking 20 nights, you will receive four for free). The benefit only applies when redeeming points for the entire stay.

» Learn more: The best hotel credit cards right now

How to use Marriott points for unique experiences through Bonvoy Moments

Another excellent way to use points besides hotels is cashing them in for Marriott Bonvoy Moments. These range from chef-led cooking courses to top seats at major sporting events.

Some are even one-of-a-kind or money-can't-buy experiences. For example, one Bonvoy loyalist spent 2.4 million Bonvoys to choreograph a custom Bellagio fountain show.

You can find and book Marriott Bonvoy Moments through the official Bonvoy Moments webpage. Some can be booked instantly. Though, many of the best ones sell based on a bidding system.

How to use Marriott points for free flights

With 40 partner airlines, Marriott Bonvoy members can move their hotel points to different carriers starting with as few as 3,000 points and up to 240,000 points per day. To do so, the names on both the Marriott and frequent flyer accounts must match.

However, these tend to be ho-hum (and sometimes downright bad) redemptions. If you'll never use your Marriott points at a Marriott hotel again for some reason, then that can make sense. Or, transferring Marriott points to airlines can make sense if you just need a few hundred or so to top off a flight balance.

Look for flight transfer offers

If you absolutely must transfer your points for flights, at least try to do it at a time when you can take advantage of a bonus offer.

United MileagePlus is one of Marriott’s top partners, and Ambassador Elite and Titanium Elite members receive extra perks when traveling with the airline. To take advantage, members must first link their accounts. All members can earn an additional 10,000 United Airlines miles for each 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points redeemed for MileagePlus miles.

Depending on the airline, the transfer ratio varies. Most transferring 3 Marriott points to 1 mile, which isn't an ideal value. Still, this use of Marriott points makes sense if you’re short on airline miles that you need for an award.

Converting Bonvoys to frequent flyer miles

Here’s how to convert Marriott Bonvoy points to an airline’s frequent flyer program. You’ll need to log into your account first, then visit this page and select “Transfer Points.”

The transfer form, as shown below, is simple to complete, and you can enter the number of points you want to move between accounts.

Not all transfers are instant and — in rare cases — can take up to a week. If you’re using the miles for a flight redemption, be sure an award ticket is available before trapping points in a frequent flyer account.

» Learn more: The best Marriott transfer partners — and which ones to avoid

How to use Marriott Bonvoy points for shopping

If you prefer to shop with points instead of using them on travel, you can redeem Marriott points for gift cards. This isn’t the most valuable way to redeem points, but it's a reasonable option in certain situations.

The amounts change by the retailer, but generally you can receive a $25 gift card for 10,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, a $50 gift card for 17,500 points and a $100 gift card for 30,000 points.

This results in far less value than NerdWallet’s latest valuation of ​​0.9 cent when redeeming points for hotel stays.

In addition to gift cards, you can redeem Marriott points for merchandise from online merchants like Apple, Dyson, GoPro and The North Face. Marriott cleverly divides the merchants by category and even has a section for items that cost fewer than 10,000 points. You can also use points for Marriott-branded products like signature beds from Westin or candles from Edition.

It’s wise to compare the cost in points with the retail price to see where you can get the most value. Typically, hotel redemptions are always the best value when dealing with Marriott Bonvoy points.

» Learn more: The best new Marriott credit card offers

How to pool Marriott points with other members

A great feature for those who don’t travel frequently is points pooling — the ability to share points within one account with other members. The maximum number of points a Marriott Bonvoy member can transfer is 100,000 per calendar year.

A recipient can receive as many as 500,000 Marriott points per calendar year from other members. You need to transfer a minimum of 1,000 points per transaction in 1,000-point increments, and the recipient’s account should have been open for 90 days (or 30 days if they have qualifying activity).

Go to the online transfer tool to begin; you'll need both account numbers.

» Learn more: The best ways to rack up Marriott Bonvoy points

Using Marriott points recapped

The most important thing to know is that you can extract the most value from Marriott Bonvoy points by using them on hotel night redemptions. But, if you have limited travel plans or have so many points you don’t know how to use them fast enough, you can spend them on gift cards, merchandise or frequent flyer miles, too.

For those feeling generous, giving them as a gift to someone else to take their dream vacation may be the most rewarding way of all.