Why it's worth it: While the personal Starwood Amex isn't currently offering an elevated bonus, it's still a great card, especially since Starpoints are my highest - rated loyalty currency and there are so many ways to redeem them, from transferring to airline partners to SPG Moments to Starwood and
Marriott award stays.
As long as you know what a Marriott Reward point is worth to you you'll always know if you're getting a good, bad or indifferent deal when dealing with
Marriott award stays — and that's what's important.
Earning SPG Starpoints might be the best way to help you book
Marriott award stays, since you can transfer SPG Starpoints to Marriott at a 1:3 ratio.
Marriott award stays top out at 45,000 Marriott Rewards points (15,000 Starpoints) and Ritz - Carlton stays cost up to 70,000 Marriott Rewards points (23,333 Starpoints).
However, even with a 1:1 transfer ratio, this is rarely a good use of Ultimate Rewards because
Marriott award stays cost so many points.
Not exact matches
Plus, when you have
Marriott Silver status, you will get the 5th
award night free after booking a
stay of 4 consecutive nights.
Points earned with the
Marriott Rewards cards are redeemable for
award stays, but they do not help you earn status.
Whether you're just looking for a bed for the night, a convenient location on a business trip, or a luxury hotel, you can use
Marriott Rewards to book
award stays.
Keep an eye out for
Marriott's promotional PointSavers opportunities, which allow you to book
award stays for 33 % fewer points!
Whether you're traveling in Asia or Europe, Starpoints can provide amazing value when redeemed for Starwood hotel
stays or transferred to book an
award stay at a
Marriott property.
If you need more Starpoints to book an
award stay at a Starwood property, transfer to an airline, or transfer to
Marriott to book an
award, your significant other can deposit points to your SPG account.
All
Marriott hotels participate in the
award winning
Marriott Rewards frequent travel program that allows members to earn hotel points or airline miles for every dollar spent during each
stay.
Courtyard hotels proudly participate in the
award - winning
Marriott Rewards ® frequent travel program that allows members to earn hotel points or airline miles for every dollar spent during each
stay.
However, these free night
awards are restricted to Starwood and
Marriott stays with redemption rates of 50,000 points or less.
If you need more Starpoints to book an
award stay at a Starwood property, transfer to an airline, or transfer to
Marriott to book an
award, your significant other can deposit points to your SPG account.
You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Ritz - Carlton (
Marriott) at a 1:1 ratio, but because of redemption rates for
award stays, you're better off using Chase points elsewhere (or just to top off your Ritz - Carlton account).
Whether you're traveling in Asia or Europe, Starpoints can provide amazing value when redeemed for Starwood hotel
stays or transferred to book an
award stay at a
Marriott property.
For example, the
Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card gives users one free night
stay every year, while the Club Carlson Rewards Visa Signature Card
awards one free night for every two or more consecutive nights booked using points at one of their hotels.
One benefit of your new
Marriott Rewards Premier Plus account is an Anniversary Free Night
Award e-certificate every year after your account anniversary, valid for a one night hotel
stay at a property with a redemption level at or under 35,000 points, instead of the category 1 - 4 hotel e-certificate valued up to 20,000 points you received on your
Marriott Rewards account.
Marriott Rewards ® Premier Credit Card
awards cardmembers 1 free night's
stay every year after account anniversary at any Category 1 - 5 hotel
Therefore, if you frequently
stay at either Hyatt,
Marriott, IHG or the Ritz - Carlton, and would like a credit card that can
award you points with all four, the Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card is an excellent choice.
Also, did you know that when you
stay at any
Marriott for four
award nights in a row, you get a bonus fifth night free?
While I mentioned this back in September in the context of
Marriott Flight and Hotel packages, it's also true that you can simply transfer Starpoints to
Marriott in order to book
award stays.
Award nights are based on five tiers instead of the nine categories that dictate
stays with
Marriott, ranging from 30,000 to 70,000 points per night.
Plus, when you have
Marriott Silver status, you will get the 5th
award night free after booking a
stay of 4 consecutive nights.
The required number of
Marriott points for an
award stay is determined by the category of a given hotel.
The Starwood and
Marriott relationship and their many airline transfer partners provide seemingly limitless options for
award stays and
award flights.
For a week's
stay on the island,
Marriott's property would require an eye watering 240,000 points, which is actually a discount from the normal daily rate because travelers receive a 5th night free when booking 4
award nights with
Marriott.
If there isn't a Starwood property at your destination that fits your needs, you can also use your SPG Starpoints to book an
award stay at a
Marriott.
Whether you're just looking for a bed for the night, a convenient location on a business trip, or a luxury hotel, you can use
Marriott Rewards to book
award stays.
There are some great uses for
Marriott Rewards points, so this also presents a valuable opportunity to top up your account if you're short for your next
award stay.
Points earned with the
Marriott Rewards cards are redeemable for
award stays, but they do not help you earn status.
Marriott points won't expire if you have any qualifying activity within 24 months, which includes earning points through a co-branded
Marriott credit card or redeeming points for an
award stay.
Marriott is one of the largest hotel chains in the world and there are plenty of ways to earn
Marriott Rewards points for
award stays at one of their thousands of properties.
Hilton
awards HHonors grants members Diamond status after 30 eligible
stays, 60 eligible nights, or 120,000 Base Points, and
Marriott Rewards Platinum status is
awarded at 75 eligible nights.
The first is by accumulating
Marriott points to book an
award stay and the second is accumulating points to book through an online travel agency (OTA)(for this article, I'll focus on the Chase Travel Portal as the example of the OTA).
Before we even arrived in Hong Kong I had requested an upgrade via the
Marriott mobile app and, as we were traveling on an
award booking, I had taken the precaution of asking the
Marriott Twitter team if upgrades were available on reward night
stays:
Prize will be
awarded as a
Marriott Rewards Free Night
Stay E-Certificate valid for hotels in categories 1 - 9 locations (log on to MarriottRewards.com or call 800-321-7396 to book your E-Certificate).
You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Ritz - Carlton (
Marriott) at a 1:1 ratio, but because of redemption rates for
award stays, you're better off using Chase points elsewhere (or just to top off your Ritz - Carlton account).
Similar to
Marriott's program, Ritz - Carlton allows you to pay for a portion of your
award stay with cash and the remainder in points.
Courtyard Sarajevo guests will be able to earn points for their
stay towards free holidays, flights, room nights and more through
Marriott Rewards, an
award - winning frequent traveller programme with over 45 million members worldwide offering exclusive membership privileges across 16 brands, 3,800 destinations and 72 countries.
Guests enrolled in the
award winning
Marriott Rewards loyalty program will be able to check in pre-arrival and earn points during their
stay that can be redeemed for flights, hotel accommodations and merchandise, including home furnishings, fashion and more.
Marriott International's
award - winning loyalty program — launches the «Within Your Reach» MegaBonus global promotion, making it even easier for members to earn points toward
stays in their dream destinations, merchandise and experiences.
Autograph Collection hotels blend the deeply personal experiences of an independent hotel
stay with all the benefits of
Marriott Rewards ®, the
award - winning loyalty program that enables guests to earn and redeem points for free nights and flights across the globe.
For example, the last
Marriott promotion (ending April 15th)
awarded 2000 bonus points per
stay starting with your second
stay plus 1000 additional points for
stays that included a weekend night.
•
Marriott Rewards members who register for this promotion by November 30, 2017 will earn one (1) free night
award at a category 1 - 5 hotel (value of standard free night
award ranges from 7,500 points for Category 1 hotels to 25,000 points for Category 5 hotels) after two paid
stays * made between September 12, 2017 and January 15, 2018, at participating
Marriott ® properties.
• Maximum one (1) free night
award earned with this promotion per member to be redeemed for a future
stay at participating
Marriott Rewards category 1 - 5 properties.
SPG points transfer to 30 + airline partners at a 1:1 ratio, allow you to book
award stays at close to 30 top hotel brands via the
Marriott / Ritz - Carlton relationship, can be redeemed for one - of - a-kind experiences via SPG Moments, and it's relatively easy to attain elite status with real benefits via cards like The Platinum Card ® from American Express.
At Niagara Falls, Ontario, CA, Hilton gives you a choice to book an
award stay at a FallsView room (not a CityView room) that requires double hhonors points, while
Marriott reserves all FallsView rooms for paid
stays.
The
Marriott Rewards
award chart is hard to defend, but I don't think it really is that out of the ordinary, especially when you consider that top tier Platinum members earn a 50 % bonus on points for
stays, and if you pay for your
stay with your
Marriott Rewards Premier card, you get another 5 points per dollar.