REGISTER NOW: Marriott Bonvoy launches its Autumn hotel points promotion, ‘Unlock More’

UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

Marriott Bonvoy has launched its third ‘bonus points’ promotion since the scheme launched in February.

You can register here.

Here are the key points:

The promotion is called “Unlock More”

It runs from 29th October to 14th January (registration via this link is open now and closes 31st December)

You will receive 2,000 bonus points for your second paid stay after registration

After you have received your 2,000 bonus points, you will unlock ‘a personalised additional offer’ which will run until 14th January.  Marriott has not given us any idea what these ‘additional offers’ will be!

All 7,000 hotels across all 29 hotel brands are taking part

The 29 brands you can stay at to earn bonus points include: AC Hotels, Aloft, Autograph, Courtyard, Delta Hotels, Design Hotels, Edition, Element, Fairfield Inn, Four Points, Gaylord, Le Meridien, Marriott, Moxy, Protea, Renaissance, Residence Inn, St Regis, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, The Ritz-Carlton, Springhill Suites, Towneplace Suites, W and Westin.

What is the Marriott bonus worth?

This is, clearly, an odd promotion to calculate ‘value’ on.

I value a Marriott Bonvoy point at 0.5p.

You earn 10 base points per $1 spent on eligible hotel charges, except at Element, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites hotels, where you earn five points per eligible $1.  Status bonuses are on top of this.

Assuming a 0.5p valuation, the 2,000 bonus points mean that you are getting an additional return of £10-worth of points after your 2nd stay.

This is not hugely generous, and is clearly more attractive on a two night stay than a 10 night stay.

What we don’t know, of course, is how generous the ‘personalised additional offer’ will be.  If we had a clue, you would have a feel for whether it was worth moving two stays to Marriott in the hope of something very generous.  As it is, you either need to take a gamble or wait a few weeks and see what starts to pop up for other members who have stays in early November.

What are your other hotel promo options?

Looking at the other major chains ….

IHG Rewards Club has launched its latest Accelerate promotion.  Everyone gets different personalised targets which you need to hit before 31st December.  This can be very lucrative if the targets fit around your travel patterns.  You can register here.

Hilton Honors new Autumn offer is double base points (triple points if you have the old Barclaycard Hilton Honors credit card).  This is valid for stays from 9th September until 5th January 2020.  You can register here.

World of Hyatt is offering double base points (triple points on stays at Hyatt Place) on stays between 15th September and 15th December.  This only kicks in from your second stay after registration.  Registration closes on 31st October. 

Accor and Radisson are not running global promotions at the moment.

Without knowing what sort of ‘additional offer’ Marriott will give you, it isn’t clear if it will be better or worse than the alternatives above.  Hilton’s double points offer is clearly better on longer expensive stays (and is handy for me as I have a £1k Hilton stay coming up) but it is marginal vs Marriott on a short cheap stay.

Register now

It makes sense to register for this new Marriott Bonvoy offer now.  It runs until the 14th January and registration cuts off early on 31st December.  Remember that only stays from 29th October count.

Click here to visit the registration page on the Marriott website.

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.

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.)