Get a 50% bonus when you buy Marriott Bonvoy hotel points

Marriott Bonvoy is running another deal when you buy their hotel points.

Via this page of the website, you will get a 50% bonus on all points purchases until 25th March.

This is, I think, the most generous deal that Marriott has run in the last couple of years.  You usually receive a 30% discount when you buy points.  This offer is for a 50% bonus.  A 50% bonus is a little better than a 30% discount …. not massively better, but it is better.

The annual purchase cap of 50,000 points has been doubled to 100,000 points, although the maximum you can buy in one go remains 50,000 points.  With the bonus, this means that you could pick up 150,000 Bonvoy points across two transactions.

At the top end you are paying $625 (£485) for 75,000 points under this offer.

My rule of thumb is that a Marriott Bonvoy point is worth 0.5p so this offer is not great at 0.65p per point.

However, you might find it worthwhile if:

you are topping off your account before making a points booking, or

you are close to 60,000 Bonvoy points and want to make a transfer into airline miles (you get a bonus of 5,000 airline miles when you transfer 60,000 Bonvoy points into 20,000 airline miles), or

you are planning a stay at a property where you know you will get outsized value

The snag with Marriott Bonvoy is that the annual points buying cap is too low to allow you to exploit the deal.  The St Regis New York, for example, can easily run to $1,300 per night including taxes, which makes 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (on a ‘Standard Reward’ day) a great deal.  The problem is getting enough points.

However …. you CAN transfer up to 100,000 Bonvoy points per year from one member to another.  You need to ring up to do this, which is a bit annoying, but that is the only restriction.  This is one way around the limit on points purchases.

Because you can buy 60,000 points in one go, it is also a way of picking up 25,000 airline miles in programmes where you can rarely buy them cheaply.

Do NOT do this with Avios, because there are regular offers to buy Avios for 1p – 1.1p.  However, it might make sense for other airlines.

Buying 60,000 Bonvoy points under this offer will cost exactly $500 (£388).  If you turned this into 25,000 airline miles, you are paying 1.55p per mile.  With SOME airline schemes, you might find this valuable.  After all, there are not many easy ways to pick to Qatar Airways, Air Canada etc miles in the UK.

The link to buy Bonvoy points with a 50% bonus is here if you are interested.  The offer runs to 25th March.

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.)