Most of us collect hotel points in order to save money on hotel stays, with other redemption options that hotel loyalty programs offer (e.g. gift cards, merchandise, etc.) usually providing very poor value for your points.
One exception can be Marriott which has a program called Marriott Bonvoy Moments that lets you redeem points for experiences, many of which you either wouldn’t normally have access to or which would otherwise cost a vast amount of money.
You can access all the different Marriott Bonvoy Moments experiences here. I was reminded of the program today as we received a press release about an amazing package available for the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monaco which is one of the highlights of the Formula 1 season.
I grew up in Woking, England which is home to the McLaren racing team. Lewis Hamilton started his career with them in 2007 and it’s been amazing seeing him go from strength to strength (apart from when the Formula 1 title was stolen from him at the end of last year). He now races for Mercedes and one of the Marriott Bonvoy Moments packages provides an incredible experience in conjunction with Mercedes for the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of next month:
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- VIP admission to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Apartment for Qualifying Day on Saturday, 28 May 2022
- Exclusive over-night stay on the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Yacht on Saturday, 28 May 2022
- Canapés, cocktails and dinner on the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Yacht on Saturday evening and breakfast on Sunday morning
- Please note, there is only one bed in the bedroom on the Yacht
- VIP admission to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Yacht for Race Day on Sunday, 29 May 2022
- Opportunity to see Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team personnel
- Indulgent food and beverages
- VIP gifts from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
- Four-Night Stay at the JW Marriott Cannes
- Checking in on Thursday, 26 May 2022 and checking out on Monday, 30 May 2022
- Round-trip transportation between the hotel and circuit
- Access for two people
- Must be 12 years or older to attend
Monaco is where the richest of the rich hang out, so I can’t even imagine what the retail value of this package would be, but it would presumably be six figures. At the time of writing this the top bid is 1,067,500 Marriott Bonvoy points, but that’ll presumably end up way higher by the end of the auction on May 2.
That package will therefore be out of reach for most people, but there are several other Monaco Grand Prix packages that could be more attainable like tickets in the Grandstand on race day. We deliberately routed our road trip through Texas in the fall of 2018 so that we could attend the Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. I wasn’t sure what it would be like watching it live versus seeing all the action on TV, but it was even better than expecting and so I’m excited that there’ll be additional Grand Prix races in Miami and Las Vegas.
Even if you’re not a Formula 1 fan, there are many other experiences that could be worth checking out. For example, you can get tickets to Manchester United home games such as this one against Brentford on May 2 which includes watching the game from Marriott’s M Lounge at the stadium for two people. The auctions are currently at 52,500 points for most of the packages for that game; while that cost will likely increase by the end of the auction tomorrow morning, it’ll be within reach of far more people than that premium Monaco Grand Prix package. To give you an idea of where it might end up, similar packages for Man Utd versus Norwich City ended at ~100,000 points. Getting two tickets for one of their games in a private box with complimentary food and drinks feels like pretty good value seeing as that’s like using the bonus from a credit card welcome offer for a unique experience that you might not ordinarily pay cash for.
If you do win tickets to a Man Utd game, it could be worth booking a stay at Hotel Football at Old Trafford. This is a Marriott property on site which is owned by former Man Utd players Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt. I’ve booked a stay there for my nephew to celebrate his upcoming birthday as he’s a big Man Utd fan; it was a category 5 property which meant I was able to use a couple of free night certificates for the stay. While it pained me to do that as a Liverpool fan, I will say that it looks like a fantastic hotel if you’re a Man Utd supporter, with soccer-themed rooms, a five-a-side pitch on the roof and more.
It’s not only sports events you can pay for using Marriott Bonvoy points in these Moments auctions. There are concerts and stand-up comedians you can see in Dubai, vacations in locations such as Costa Rica, Barbados and Machu Picchu, virtual cooking classes with a Masterchef Australia winner and more. There are new Marriott Bonvoy Moments experiences released all the time, so it’s worth checking in on this site periodically if you have Marriott points you’d be willing to use for experiences rather than hotel stays.
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Glad you’re a fellow race fan. I just returned from COTA for the MotoGP race there. Mind blowing and way more action than the cars.