Eat at the world’s best restaurant with your Marriott Bonvoy points

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The winner of The World’s Best Restaurant award for 2018 – see the full list here – was Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy.

Described as an ‘avant-garde Italian tasting temple’, it also won the award in 2016. (It won’t be winning it any longer as a rule change means that previous winners are now no longer eligible.) It holds three Michelin stars and is famous for quirky preparations like “Autumn in New York” and “Oops, I Dropped the Lemon Tart”.

Marriott Bonvoy is taking over Osteria Francescana on 11th October for a special dinner.

It is letting you book a table using Marriott Bonvoy points and, shamefully, the event has been overlooked so far. This is because Marriott Bonvoy lists its auctions by city, so it wouldn’t be spotted unless you searched for events in Modena.

As you can see from the event page here, bids for the 18 tables on offer are all hovering around the minimum bid level of 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This is what you get:

A members-only multi-course dinner at Chef Massimo Bottura’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Osteria Francescana
Wine pairings to accompany the meal
Meet & greet and photo opportunity with famed Chef, Massimo Bottura
Restaurant tour of Chef Bottura’s world-class art collection
One signed copy of Chef Mossimo Bottura’s cookbook
Access is for two people

I value a Marriott Bonvoy point at 0.5p, so this event is effectively ‘costing’ you £375 in foregone free hotel nights. If you are foodie, you won’t care – you’ll want this.

Bidding closes on 9th September. You can bid here.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card usually comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy credit card

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status. We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn American Express Membership Rewards points with American Express Gold (20,000 bonus points), the American Express Rewards Credit Card (5,000 bonus points) and – for small business owners – American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus points) and Business Platinum (40,000 bonus points).

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

(Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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Marriott Bonvoy

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Spaghetti Town says:

20 Aug20 August 14:46

Myself and my new girlfriend have booked the Conrad Bali, how do I have to register her so we both get the free breakfast or something?
- Spaghetti Town says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 14:47
  
  I’m Hilton gold.
  - Rob says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 14:58
    
    Assuming you’re sharing a room, breakfast is for 2. Check your MyWay benefits are set to get breakfast rather than 1000 bonus points.
    - Spaghetti Town says:
      
      20 Aug20 August 15:13
      
      Thanks
      - Genghis says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 15:21
        
        Enjoy. We had a good time there a couple of years ago. If you can get to Diamond, you’ll be treated very well.
      - Spaghetti Town says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 16:14
        
        Thanks Genghis – won’t be getting Diamond as my Gold status is a by product of a plat upgrade 😀
      - BJ says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 18:54
        
        Presumably you are planning to stay there for at least five nights though, and may have other Hilton stays around that time? If so, it would then be a good opportunity to request a status match challenge provided you have high status with another chain. While you would not be instant diamond anymore, you would be well on the way to the twenty nights you need.
      - Navara says:
        
        20 Aug20 August 22:28
        
        Get yourself an ihg credit card for £99 which comes with platinum status which Hilton should match to diamond if you book a night stay at ihg.
Sundar says:

20 Aug20 August 17:04

OT, Curve have tweeted that there was a breach in a MasterCard program called Priceless Specials.
If a curve card is impacted, they will contact the customer and replace the card.

@Rob – Have tagged your twitter handle.
Munch says:

20 Aug20 August 18:53

OT Using the Hilton link to take advantage of the Lyft offer but it won’t accept any of my credit cards? Anyone had any luck registering?
- Munch says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 21:10
  
  Ok via the app. Wouldn’t accept my card on the website?
Ron says:

20 Aug20 August 19:43

Looking to book flights to Madeira for next school summer holiday. The Avios seats are being released now, should I book those seats now or would it be cheaper to buy cash tickets in the sales? It will be our first year to plan our holidays around school terms!! Thanks.
- Graham Walsh says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 20:34
  
  I recently booked next summers outbound and used cash as only just over £140 each. Thinking save the points for a bigger reward with a 241 as points are harder to collect now.
- Rob says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 20:45
  
  If the seats are there, I would be tempted to book given the modest cancellation fees. In my experience cash tickets for the school holiday period only go one way. We booked a trip to Portugal at relatively short notice this Summer and you would be shocked by what we had to pay. New York would have been cheaper.
- Anna says:
  
  20 Aug20 August 22:22
  
  I’ve just grabbed the return legs of 2 RFS flights to Malaga for 2020 summer hols, they were £308 cash each for economy plus (with checked luggage) and I can’t see them dropping in price as there’s only competition from a handful of LCC’s from MAN. Plan is to get another 2 seats as a BA holiday package so we can pay for the rest of the trip 5 weeks before travel.
Lady London says:

20 Aug20 August 20:47

Anna is the expert on this and Harry The Great Shoestring is no slouch but i would say for school holidays grab the avios seats every time at release and don’t hang around.

Airlines do not generally have sales offering much in the way of hotly sought after dates. Such as Scholl holidays ! They can shift those seats anytime why would they pût them in a sale?

Cancelling an Avios seat once booked can currently cost from 50pence to 50 pounds depending on what balance of cash and Avios you got when you booked. Cancellation will not cost more than the tax you paid when you booked.

If a miracle occurs and you do find a cash deal for school holidays that you prefer then provided you cancel in time you get all of your Avios back and lose only cancellation fee or tax paid if less. Nor are cash tickets as flexible.
BJ says:

20 Aug20 August 21:18

O/T Hilton: I’m unsure if this is a general problem or simply a problem relating to my account so you may want to check yours. My points balance has gone negative by almost 78k, and my Barclays transfer this month is appearing as a whole string of small transactions such as 2, 4, 6 point. I’ve found customer service at zHilton horrendous so I’m dreading trying to sort this one out.