If you have earned 50 elite qualifying nights with Marriott Bonvoy within a calendar year, then you are eligible to pick a “Choice Benefit”. A second Choice Benefit is available for those who complete 75 nights. The question then, of course, is which benefit to pick. You’ll find my recommendations below.
Note that if you acquired Platinum status through a status challenge, having the Bonvoy Brilliant card, Ritz credit card spend, etc., you won’t get to pick a Choice Benefit unless you also complete 50 nights within a calendar year. Nights given automatically or through spend from Bonvoy credit cards do count towards Choice Benefits. For example, most Bonvoy cards automatically give you 15 elite nights each year (and the Brilliant card gives you 25). If you pair a consumer Bonvoy card with a business Bonvoy card, you’ll automatically get 30 nights (or 40 if your consumer card is the Bonvoy Brilliant card) towards Choice Benefits each year.
Selection Deadline: February 1, 2025
If you don’t make a choice by the selection deadline (11:59 p.m. ET on February 1, 2025), you’ll get the “5 Nightly Upgrade Awards” choice automatically.
Here’s the website for selecting your benefit: choice-benefit.marriott.com/en-us/marriott-rewards/benefits.
50 Night Choices
- 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards (Previously known as Suite Night Awards): Each Nightly Upgrade Award is a one-night confirmable upgrade to a standard suite or select premium room, depending on the hotel’s availability of those rooms. The number of Nightly Upgrade Awards used must match the entire length of stay; it cannot be used for part of a stay (e.g., the first two nights of a five-night stay). Once Nightly Upgrade Awards are requested to be applied to a stay, Marriott will begin checking upgrade availability 3 days in advance of your stay, up until 2pm on the day of your arrival. If your Nightly Upgrade Award request doesn’t clear, you’ll get the awards back to be used later. Caution: some Marriott brands and many individual Marriott hotels do not allow you to use Nightly Upgrade Awards and so these can be frustratingly difficult to use.
- 5 Elite Night Credits: If you earn a Choice Benefit selection in 2024, then this choice adds 5 elite nights to your 2024 total even if you wait until January 2025 to make the selection. The only good reason to select this choice is to get to the next level of status (75 night or 100 night, but 100 night status also requires $23K Marriott spend). For example, if you earned 70 elite nights in 2024, this selection would bring you to 75 nights and you’d get Titanium status plus the opportunity to get another Choice Benefit. Unless you are trying to earn lifetime status, there’s no other reason that I can think of to make this choice.
- $1,000 off a Marriott mattress: Get $1,000 off retail prices for any Marriott retail brand (Westin Heavenly Beds, St. Regis beds, etc.)
- Gift Silver Elite Status
- $100 Charity Donation: Make a $100 (USD) donation to UNICEF, the Arne M Sorenson Hospitality Fund, or the World Wildlife Fund.
75 Night Choices
- 1 Free Night Award (Up to 40K Points): If you don’t have immediate plans to use this award, then I recommend waiting until the last moment to select it. This certificate is valid 1 year from the date it is issued. That’s a recent change from previous years when it used to be valid for the rest of the current year and all of the next.
- Gift Gold Elite Status
The rest are the same as the 50 night choices:
- 5 Elite Night Credits
- 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards
- $100 Charity Donation
- $1,000 off a Marriott bed
Which Marriott Choice Benefits are Best?
50 Night Choice: Elite Nights or Nightly Upgrade Awards
In my opinion, the two most valuable 50 night choices are 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards and 5 Elite Night Credits. If you are close to 75 Night Titanium Elite status and if picking the 5 Elite Night Credits would get you there, then that is the better choice. Once you get to 75 nights, you’ll get another Choice Benefit selection plus you’ll have a higher level of elite status which includes (among other things) free United Premier Silver elite status.
If the elite night credits won’t make the difference in getting you to 75 night status, then choose 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards. Yes, these can be frustratingly difficult to use, but when they work out, they can be extremely valuable.
75 Night Choice: 40K Night or Nightly Upgrade Awards
The best 75 night choice, in my opinion, is the 40K Free Night Award. That has tangible value and can often be used at a hotel that would have cost more than $300 for the night. The Nightly Upgrade Awards, meanwhile, are a gamble. If you value suites or preferred rooms, the potential upside of getting upgraded for a 5 night stay (or multiple shorter stays) can be much more than getting a free 40K night. However, there’s a very real possibility that you won’t be able to use the upgrades at all before they expire.
More About Nightly Upgrade Awards
- A number of Marriott brands do not allow the use of Nightly Upgrade Awards: The Ritz-Carlton Reserve, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, Design Hotels™, all-Suite Hotels, Marriott Executive Apartments, Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott Grand Residence Club properties and Vistana properties.
- A frustratingly large number of individual hotels within participating brands do not allow the use of Nightly Upgrade Awards. The only way to find out for sure is to call and ask Marriott Member Services or to book a stay and try to apply your upgrades (but even that approach isn't foolproof).
- You must use a Nightly Upgrade Award for every night of your reservation. If you have 5 awards, for example, you cannot apply them to a 6 night reservation.
- Once you've applied your Nightly Upgrade Awards to a reservation, Marriott begins checking for suite upgrade availability 3 days before your stay. If you are not upgraded 3 days beforehand, Marriott will check again each day up until the day before your stay. If the upgrade isn't successful, the Nightly Upgrade Awards will be credited back to your account.
FAQ
I have the Bonvoy Brilliant card which gives me Platinum Elite status, do I get to pick a Choice Benefit?
Not automatically. Platinum status alone doesn’t qualify you for a Choice Benefit. In order to earn a Choice Benefit, you have to acquire 50 elite qualifying nights within a calendar year. The Brilliant card automatically gives you 25 elite qualifying nights but you’ll still have to get 25 more nights to get a Choice Benefit. You can get 15 more nights automatically every year by signing up for the Bonvoy Business card and then you’ll only need to stay 10 nights each year at Marriott hotels in order to get a Choice Benefit each year.
I have Lifetime Platinum Elite status, do I get to pick a Choice Benefit?
Not automatically. Platinum status alone doesn’t qualify you for a Choice Benefit. In order to earn a Choice Benefit, you have to acquire 50 elite qualifying nights within a calendar year.
I earned Platinum Elite status from a status match, do I get to pick a Choice Benefit?
Not automatically. Platinum status alone doesn’t qualify you for a Choice Benefit. In order to earn a Choice Benefit, you have to acquire 50 elite qualifying nights within a calendar year.
Why don’t you recommend gifting Silver or Gold elite status?
With Marriott, only Platinum status and above offers meaningful benefits, in my opinion. Plus, it’s easy to get Silver or Gold status simply by having a Marriott card or an Amex Platinum card.
Here’s a summary of elite benefits by elite level:
| Elite Status Level | Requirements Per Year | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Elite | 10 Nights | Late checkout, 10% point bonus |
| Gold Elite | 25 Nights | 2PM late checkout; 25% point bonus; welcome gift (points only); room upgrade; enhanced internet |
| Platinum Elite | 50 Nights | 4PM late checkout; 50% point bonus; welcome gift w/ breakfast option; room upgrade includes suites; lounge access; Choice benefit (such as 5 nightly upgrade awards) when you achieve 50 nights. |
| Titanium Elite | 75 Nights | All of the above, plus: 75% point bonus; United Silver Premier status; Air Canada Aeroplan 25K Status; Ritz-Carlton suite upgrades; Additional Choice Benefit (such as 40K free night certificate) when you achieve 75 nights. |
| Ambassador Elite | 100 Nights + $23K Spend | All of the above, plus: Ambassador Service (dedicated Marriott agent); Your24 (Choose the 24 hours of your stay. For example, choose to check in at 9am after an overnight flight). |
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Does the 40k free night expire one year after issue AND no later than Dec 31? Because the 40k award I got for 2023 was issued Feb 6, 2024 and expires Dec 31, 2024.
No, between last year and now they changed how the expiry works
I just got to 75 on a stay that posted 12/29 and kept checking to redeem for the 40k FNA, and it’s finally allowing me to make a selection. I was getting nervous since I definitely didn’t want 5 useless (IMO) SUAs. Still kicking myself for having so many expire on me when I could have gotten more elite night credits for lifetime platinum.
And this is a great example of why I stopped chasing any Marriott status. The SNAs are just so dodgy.
i selected 5 more elite night credits to try to get a wee bit closer to lifetime.
Question: I’m going after Lifetime Platinum. I’m at 690 nights and 8 years, and though I haven’t paid as much attention as I should, it seems like I’ve been stuck on 8 years for almost 2 years now. Does anyone know when the “new year” starts? Is it the calendar year or an anniversary date? I did get Titanium again this year and should get it in 2024 so I should be good to go for Lifetime Platinum, but it needs to hurry up lol.
Calendar year
Also, by waiting to pick the 40 FNA after Jan 1 gives you two years to use it! (exp. 12.31.25)
[…] from the Wing and Doctor of Credit, Marriott is planning to revamp Suite Night Awards which are Choice Benefits available to those who earn 50 elite nights in a year (and again at 75 nights). This is […]
Picked the 5 elite nights for 50 night choice. With planned stays it will push me to 75/Titanium and 572/11 years by the end of the year. Will hit lifetime Plat when 30 CC nights post and I can stop chasing Bonvoy status – Thank God.
Marriott totally screwed me on choice benefits this year. I was Titanium in 2022 and when I hit 50 nights (October, I believe), I took 5 elite nights as my choice, which helped me re-qualify for Titanium, on Dec. 31! Like everyone, I expected choice benefits for 2023 to go live in March or so, and I planned to select the 40k free night.
Then, in early Jan., I got an email saying “since you didn’t make a choice, we’re choosing 5 SNAs for you.” BTW, to me, SNAs are a scam and worthless. So I emailed Marriott to complain that they had made a mistake. I received a terse, rather rude reply to the effect of “once you’ve selected a choice benefit, you’re stuck with it.” My response to that email was ignored. Bastards.
Happened to me too. I usually stay on top of these deadlines so I chalked it up to a self-inflicted error on my part (missing an email during the holidays), btu i have now heard it happen to quite a few others.
LT Titanium here. 8 SNAs expired unused last year. Last year I tried to use my SNAs, but was rarely successful. This year I am not trying to even get to 50 nights. Will still stay in a Marriott (or Hilton) when Hyatt is not a viable choice, but Marriott used to be my “go-to” program. Planning to get 10 extra nights at Hyatt to get a 5th suite upgrade award in 2023, since I know that will be usable when I book a room.
I went with SNA last time and they are basically unusable. Sorry I did not go with the charity donation – at least that would benefit someone.
I have lifetime so elite nights are useless
How about a new 50 night award – 5x certs good for breakfast during your stay for up to 2 adults + 2 kids across all brands.
I would like a Choice Benefit that would force a hotel to honor the benefits they’re supposed to provide anyway
I went with the SNAs twice in a row and really regretting it. I don’t think they ever help as when they’re denied, often times a hotel is able to upgrade me, especially for short stays. I had 7 expire at the end of last year. I wish I would have just gone for the elite night credits as then I would be that much closer to getting lifetime status. I still have a long way to go but should be done in no more than 9 years unless they change qualifications. I never thought lifetime platinum status was really in the cards for me but looking at the math, it really snuck up on me as a viable option. If only Marriott converted expired SNAs to elite nights as a courtesy. Or give me 500 points for them, anything.
I’m sure this is already known, but to my surprise, I picked my 75th annual choice of free night on Jan 1st and noticed it does not expire till Dec 31, 2024.
Same here. I wonder how long that’ll last…
Wow, news to me. Mine expires 12/31/23. Looks like I chose on 8/16/22. Didn’t want to forget but looks like I should have waited.
Hello – I’m currently at 548 lifetime nights, 9 years as a Platinum member, and I just qualified for Titanium for 2023. I have both the personal Bonvoy Brilliant and the business card. So, next year I’ll get the 40 elite nights to get me to 588, so I’ll be needing only 12 more to qualify for Lifetime Platinum.
I’m tempted to select 5 Elite nights as my Titanium benefit to get to 593 nights, so I’ll only be needing 7 more nights to reach Lifetime level (4 of those nights will come from free night certificates throughout 2023). I’ve also considered picking instead the 40K certificate that comes with Titanium level, but my wife already has 5 free night certificates that we can use next year (she also has the Bonvoy Brilliant).
Do you have any thoughts on this “problem”? I think picking the 5 Elite nights as my Titanium level benefit is the way to go for me.
Also, I have 2 Suite night awards still available for 2023, and I’m guessing once I reach Lifetime AND get 50 total nights by end of next year, I can then select either the 5 Suite Night Awards or go for the 40K certificate.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Alex
I just noticed that Marriott’s website states that the Elite NIght Credits will not count towards my 2023 Elite status… Does this mean they don’t count for my Lifetime status?
Sorry for jumping the gun here… but upon further review on Marriott’s website, it seems that the 5 elite nights DO indeed count towards Lifetime benefit (see below)… So my original question is still valid… any thoughts?
Five Elite Night Credits
Yes, picking 5 elite nights can be a reasonable option to get you to lifetime status more quickly. That said, you won’t get the option of a 40K certificate next year unless you earn 75 nights. It doesn’t matter that you’ll earn lifetime status. If I were you I’d simply pick the 40K cert now and wait a bit longer to achieve lifetime status unless you don’t think you’ll earn Platinum status next year.
Hey Greg! I actually selected the 40K certificate since it’s unlikely I’d reach Titanium again next year. Since my goal is to reach Platinum in 2023 (and have a shot at another Choice Benefit), those 50 nights would get me to 598 nights, just 2 shy away from the 600 Lifetime Platinum required. So, it would really make no difference if I attained those 600 in 2023 or 2024, I’d be Platinum all along anyways. Picking the 5 elite nights would be unnecessary and a waste of a valuable 40K certificate… Thank you so much for providing your rationale!
so, @Greg what are you picking? Any SNA’s or passing?
For the 50 night choice, I’m picking 5 elite nights. That will help me get to 75 nights and Titanium status this year. For my 75 night choice, I’ll take the 40K free night.
I want to take the free night as well since I’ll reach 50 nights by the end of Feb & will receive 5 more SNAs then. No way I can use up 15 by year end!
My 75th night was completed a week ago but still not posted. I submitted my invoice today – Marriott says they will credit me within 10 days, which might very unfortunately blow past the Jan 7 Choice deadline. We stayed at an Autograph property that doesn’t interface to Marriott’s system, grrrrrrrrrr
I’ve used both strategies at Platinum. Last year at 50 nights I took the Elite night credits to help get to 75 where I chose the 40k. This year I knew I wasn’t going to be close to 75 so I took the suite nights.
we just used the 40k cert plus 15,000 points to stay at the Austin Proper. Beautiful hotel and rooms were going for close to $700 a night.