Our Marriott free night certificates (FNCs) just became a teensy bit more useful.
Marriott issues FNCs in various forms as credit card perks, 75-night Choice Benefit selection, and as promotional awards. There are many different maximum point values for these certs, ranging from 25k to 85k. However, if a hotel costs more points than the max value of your certificate, Marriott allows you to top it off with additional points from your account.
Previously, the “top off” limit was 15,000 points, but as of today, it has been raised to 25,000 points.
The News
- As of today, Marriott free night certificates can now be topped off with up to 25,000 additional points from your account, 10,000 points higher than the previous limit.
Quick Thoughts
Each free night cert that Marriott issues has a maximum point value. For example, a 35K free night certificate can be used to pay for a hotel night costing 35,000 points or less. If you use the certificate for a cheaper stay, there is no residual value to the certificate.
We’re aware of free night certs with max values of 25K, 35K, 40K, 50K, and 85K:
- 25K: These are issued annually upon account renewal to Chase Bonvoy Premier cardholders. This card is no longer available to new cardholders.
- 35K: These are the most common types of promotional certificates. They are also issued annually upon account renewal for the Bonvoy Amex, Chase Bonvoy Boundless, Amex Bonvoy Business, and Chase Bonvoy Premier Plus Business (no longer available new).
- 40K: These are only available as a 75-night Choice Benefit
- 50K: These are issued after $15k in calendar year spend with the Bonvoy Bountiful and Bonvoy Bevy cards.
- 85K: These are issued annually upon account renewal for Amex Bonvoy Brilliant and Chase Ritz-Carlton cardholders
The ability to top off with additional points from your account can be very useful when trying to maximize the point value of any of these certificates. Suppose you want to book a hotel costing 57,000 points, but your certificate is worth at most 50,000 points. In that case, when you click a room to book, the Marriott website will automatically recognize that you have a certificate worth 50,000 points and give you the option to book the room with the certificate + 7,000 points or use points alone.
Theoretically, adding another 10,000 points to the limit should make the certs much easier to book. The most common 35k certs have gone from being useful for a hotel costing up to 50,000 points per night to those that cost up to 60,000 points per night. That’s a big difference.
However, the issue has been that hotels are very aware of that limit. Because Marriott Bonvoy allows dynamic pricing, hotels could adjust their nightly awards to be just beyond the 15k cap. If I had a nickel for every ~100k property that I’ve seen at 101k-103k, I’d have a lot of nickels. While I imagine there will be a period when all of those properties suddenly become accessible, I can’t imagine it will take them long to catch on (which may lead to some price inflation).
I wish that Marriott would follow IHG’s example and not cap the top-off amount for its free night certificates, but I’m not holding my breath. Given that, and despite any property-driven chicanery, I’m sure we’d all prefer a 25k limit to 15k.
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Oh boy, I guess lots of 66k nights will jump to 76k now. Book while you can people!!!
Small thing, but there are also 75k certificates from the Japanese version of the bonvoy card. I wonder if other countries have different certificate values.
The night I want to book for my husband’s birthday is now 110,500 points. Just 500 ponts above the top off limit for my 85K certificate. What a scam!
And just like that the award I want became 112k points.
“However, the issue has been that hotels are very aware of that limit. Because Marriott Bonvoy allows dynamic pricing, hotels could adjust their nightly awards to be just beyond the 15k cap.”
That’s not how Marriott Bonvoy pricing works. Points prices are determined by Marriott, not by hotels. At most, a hotel can appeal its pricing (they usually ask for it to be lowered to attract more redemption guests, and if they don’t want redemption guests they play games with inventory).
Compensation to hotels is a set formula based on average daily room rate and occupany level. Marriott itself decides how many points to charge members, which is usually about occupancy (since the highest occupany levels cause Marriott to pay higher reimbusement rates to the hotels).
This is why you’re the thot leader, sir. Had no idea, and was blaming properties, when I should be hating on Bonvoy more instead. Bah!
pretty sure everything depends on ownership and operating structure. wat u said is true for all marriott managed properties driven by marriott revenue mgr systems + algos. but the franchised and licensed properties may choose to use their own rev mgmt systems that align w/ marriott T&Cs but still make up random rules. and as u said, they play with inventory.
I recently tried to book a 90k point stay for an upgraded room with a 85k cert from my ritz card. They ended up wanting to charge me the cert but also 17k points and $45 fees. Kinda dumb.
Unfortunately, top-offs don’t work with upgraded room supplements. So, whatever the “upgrade” portion of the rate was is the amount that you were being charged.
Marriott should actually try to compete with Hilton and adopt its FNC ‘eligible for any standard award’ approach, which is actually beneficial to members/guests. This ‘we raised it a little so you can still get screwed by our excessive devaluation’ is at best at attempt at saving face, but in reality ‘too little too late’ and I’m still considering closing my Brilliant card.
But: why is it in hotels’ interests to price their rooms too high to use the cert? Do we know it’s their choice, rather than a decision made by Bonvoy HQ?
This is a nice improvement, but what they really need to do to offset the recent inflation we’ve seen is to raise each of the certificates initial value by at least 10k.
Agreed. I had that very same thought.
Agreed! Or make the card offers – 5 free nights + 50k points due to the points rates inflating.
Agreed, certainly the hotel prices will generally go up by about 10k conveniently.
In other totally unrelated news, Marriott plans to increase award pricing by 10k points across all properties. /s
Hahaha *cries in Bonvoyed*
@Tim Steinke
Great minds – i was thinking the same thing now it will be 61K and 111K with Hotel’s dynamic pricing- im so.e.was an uncapped is better – this in reality is a devaluation – as the hotels simply pivot – we booked the Ritz-Carlton Chicago off-peak for 47K so unless regional city Marriott’s are competing for award bookings that will likely mean it will be 57+K for similar off peak bookings.
The uncapped is a much better reflection of the market pricing vs a de facto devaluation .
As it stands Bonvoy cash vs points values are often unrealistic and detached from reality and it makes sense to book cash then other times you get outsized value from.points/FNC i.e. perfect example July YVC Delta Hotels Calgary Airport In-Terminal in July 31K Bonvoy vs $614 USD – we have a AC flight thst lands after midnight – perfect in that we don’t even have to leave the Terminal and can pickup our rental in the morning. Before heading to Lake Louise and Banff Springs.
This is big! Yay! I am getting ready to PC from Boundless to Ritz in a day or two – hoping for double certs! woohoo
there are no double certs
sure there is! when you PC from boundless to Ritz many (or some) have received two certs – a 35k from Boundless and a 85K from Ritz – it is timing and luck.
*premature celebration*
(wait until you actually see the rates for the particular dates you hope for…)
maybe! I am hopeful!
I just booked and got .017 so I am feeling optimistic and happy 😀
Woohoo
Useful for sure until the hotels raise the points.
Which they will, shortly, because guests are not the actual customers, the property owners are.
buzzkill you are! lol
buzz buzz
I looked at a hotel this morning after reading about this change and I’m pretty sure it was below 110k points for the night I was looking at, but then when I went to book it a few minutes ago now it’s over 110k. Screw Marriott.
Great, so now we’ll see a bunch of hotels go from 66k to 76k
And from 101K to 111K. By design.