Earlier this week, I wrote about two fantastic co-branded credit card welcome bonuses from Chase. You can not only earn valuable Marriott Bonvoy points, but also earn a free night certificate or a statement credit. Marriott Bonvoy is now out with a new promotion which is quite interesting. If you’re chasing Marriott Bonvoy elite status, then how can you leverage this promotion to get to the next level of elite status with Marriott Bonvoy? Let’s have a look.
60,000 points + 1 free night certificate: Here’s how to check if you qualify for this offer
100,000 bonus points + $150 in credits: Here’s how to check if you qualify for this offer
Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status
If you look at Marriott’s elite status requirements, you can reach elite status once you have qualifying elite nights. Now, these elite nights can be paid nights or redemptions. However, for top tier Ambassador status, you not only need to have enough elite nights, but also need to spend a certain amount on Marriott stays.
| Elite Status Level | Elite Night Requirement per year |
| Silver | 10 |
| Gold | 25 |
| Platinum | 50 |
| Titanium | 75 |
| Ambassador | 100 (AND $23,000 in spend) |
If you refer to this page, then you’ll find that Platinum status and above is where things start to get interesting in terms of meaningful benefits. In my case, I find Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status to be very useful as it gives me complimentary breakfast in most cases. Frequent Miler has written a handy guide about exceptions. You can refer to that here.
Current Promotion
So how can the latest promotion by Marriott help you get closer to the next level of elite status? With this promotion you’ll earn 1,000 bonus points and 1 bonus elite night each night.
Before we proceed, for the purpose of this promotion, the bonus points and bonus elite nights are only valid for paid stays with hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio.
- You need to first register for the promotion here. You can also register for the promo on the Marriott Bonvoy app.
- You need to register before April 14
- The promotion is valid for stays from February 11 to April 28
Terms and Conditions
As per the terms and conditions, there is no upper limit to the number of elite nights and bonus points you can earn during the promotional period.
Registration of your Marriott Bonvoy® Account is required. Marriott Bonvoy members who register for this promotion by April 14, 2025, will earn 1,000 bonus Points per eligible paid night, plus one bonus Elite Night Credit per eligible paid night, during the 77-night promotion earning period. The promotion earning period is for eligible paid nights completed between February 11, 2025, and April 28, 2025, and is only for stays booked through Marriott Channels and other Qualifying Channels which include, but are not limited to: Marriott Websites, the Mobile Apps, Participating Properties, and the Customer Engagement Centers. Please note that a hotel must participate in Marriott Bonvoy at the time of the stay to qualify as a night under the promotion terms. Further participation information can be found here
. There is no limit to the number of completed eligible paid nights a Member can earn bonus Points and bonus Elite Night Credit on during the promotion earning period. Only eligible paid nights completed after promotion registration and during the promotion earning period will qualify for any bonus Points and bonus Elite Night Credits earned with this promotion. Eligible paid nights at Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy are eligible for promotional credit. For eligible paid nights at Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, these bonus Points and bonus Elite Night Credits will be posted up to 6 weeks after the promotion earning period ends. Award redemption stay nights, including Cash + Points Awards, Free Night Awards, or a Points redemption, are not eligible for the promotion. Rates available through most third-party online retailers and select travel agency rates do not qualify for this promotion (“Non-Qualifying Rate“). Nights at BVLGARI, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Marriott Executive Apartments®, and owner-occupied weeks at Marriott Vacation Club®, Grand Residences by Marriott®, Marriott Grand Residence Club, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club, The St. Regis Residence Club, and The Luxury Collection Residence Club, are not eligible for bonus Points or bonus Elite Night Credits for this promotion. Only one room at one property per night is counted toward a member’s eligible paid nights for the promotion. The 1,000 bonus Points and one bonus Elite Night Credit per eligible paid night will be awarded to the member’s Account within 10 business days after checkout and will post with the stay. Elite Night Credits will count only toward the status year in which they are posted. A Member who elects to earn Miles is not eligible for this promotion. Employees of Marriott International, Inc. and its subsidiaries and all other associates working at Marriott franchised, owned, leased, and managed locations are eligible to participate in the promotion and earn bonus Points and bonus Elite Night Credit on eligible paid nights. Marriott reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to prevent, cancel, reconcile, or otherwise refuse to honor any transaction related to the promotion if Marriott suspects there has been fraudulent activity related to the transaction. For a list of current Marriott Bonvoy Participating Properties, visit Marriott Bonvoy. All Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions apply. See Terms & Conditions for more information. Visit the Fast Track Status or call 888-MARRIOTT (888-627-7468) for complete details.
Sweet Spots
Right away, this is a fantastic promotion if you’re in or close to a market that has low cash rates. Since I spend a decent amount of time in Asia each year, I’m planning to use this promotion to snag some nice cash rates when available, like I did recently with my stay at the JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu.
My Plan
I’m currently at 26 elite nights, thanks to 25 elite nights that I get each year from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card by American Express. Later this year, I plan to also sign up for the Marriott Bonvoy Business Credit card by American Express. This will add another 15 elite nights, taking my tally to 41 elite nights without much effort.
I plan to leverage this promotion to attempt getting to Titanium elite status. Here’s how I intend to do it:
- Bank cash/paid stays during the promotional period at properties where cash rates are low, redeem Amex Membership Rewards points at a 1.1 cpp rate to ‘pay’ for the stay
- Once the promo ends, redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for stays, which will add to my elite nights for the rest of the year
Workaround
Now, the question is, do you pay out of pocket if you don’t have corporate travel reimbursing you? If I’m paying out of pocket, I’m thinking of going for hotels in the $100-200/night range and then using my Schwab Platinum card to ‘pay’ for the cash rates. At the moment, I can transfer my points to Marriott Bonvoy at ratio of 1:1.
In this case, the cash rate is $220 including taxes. This property charges 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night. Instead, I can use my Membership Rewards points and get a better cpp of 1.1 by paying 20,000 Membership Rewards points.
This is another property that I’ve stayed at in the past. The cash rate is $377/night but Marriott Bonvoy is charging a whopping 116,500 Marriott Bonvoy points per night. If I use my Schwab Platinum card again to redeem Amex points, I’ll only pay 34,300 Amex points.
Here’s another example, this one an Autograph Collection hotel in Singapore. Instead of paying 33,600 points per night, I’ll only pay 15,000 Membership Rewards points.
What’s the point of showing these examples? The key point is that if you have a card that helps you earn statement credit and use ‘points’ currencies to write off purchases, then you can leverage this promo to pay for ‘cash’ rates and use your points to wipe off those charges or earn statements at cpp rates way better than Marriott Bonvoy is giving you on redemptions anyway.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card – New Benefit
Chase recently added a new benefit to the no annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold card, which makes this promo interesting. In short, you can ‘Pay yourself back’ at a rate of 0.8 cpp, which is often better than some of the redemption rates that we’re seeing with Marriott Bonvoy points.
In essence, you can book any flight directly with an airline or book a stay with Marriott and then redeem up to a maximum of $750 per year (equivalent of 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points).
If you want to add this as another arrow to your quiver as your chase elite status, then the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card is a great option for a few reasons:
- The card charges no annual fee
- It’s offering a limited time welcome bonus offer of 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and 1 free night (capped at 50,000 points per night)
- You’ll earn complimentary Silver elite status with Marriott Bonvoy and also earn 14x points per dollar for each paid stay with Marriott
- You’ll earn 5 elite night credits simply for having the card
Let’s do some quick math here: Let’s say you get the card and complete a stay at a hotel that charges $180/night for a 4 night stay. You then use 90,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to ‘pay’ for the hotel stay. Here’s what you’ll earn:
- 14 x 720 = 10,080 points
- 4,000 bonus points from the promotion
- A total of 8 elite night credits for your 4 night stay
In total, you’ll earn 14,080 Marriott Bonvoy points and 8 elite night credits from the promotion. Also, you’ll get an additional 5 elite nights for simply getting the credit card, taking your tally to 13 elite nights.
The lower the hotel rate/night, the more you can earn in terms of elite nights with longer stays. It all depends on how the pricing is in a hotel market close to you.
Click here for the 60,000 points + 1 free night certificate offer
The Pundit’s Mantra
In essence, this promotion is fantastic if you are near to or frequent a hotel market that generally has low cash rates for paid stays. by stretching your stays longer and earning more elite night credits.
To add more arrows to your quiver, you have options like the Marriott Bonvoy Bold card to potentially pay cash to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points. You can also use products like the Schwab Platinum card or the Capital Venture to book stays and then use points to ‘pay’ for them.
I’m planning to leverage this promotion to help me reach 75 elite nights for 2025, helping me attain Titanium elite status. How do you plan to leverage this promotion? Tell us in the comments section.
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