Marriott Bonvoy is Offering a 50% Bonus on Points Purchases – Good Deal?

Marriott Huahin Resort and Spa, Thailand (Source: Unsplash / Pariwat Srisuwan)

Most hotel loyalty programmes offer to sell points – and a few times per year they will offer their “standard” promotion. Hilton‘s offer, for example, is nearly always a 100% bonus. Marriott Bonvoy, on the other hand, hasn’t quite found a promotion that works for both their members and the hotel chain. But that hasn’t stopped Marriott from trying different offers.

The latest promotion from Marriott Bonvoy involves a 50% bonus when you buy or gift 2,000+ points. This promotion will run until 22nd October 2020.

a woman in a pool with a man in the background

Since the regular price is 1.25 US cents per point, this bonus will bring your per point cost down to 0.83 cents.

Does it Make Sense?

As always, you can sometimes save money on hotel stays by buying points and immediately redeeming them for award nights (most often in low category and high category hotels).

As a reminder, this is Marriott’s award chart…

a screenshot of a white table

You can also convert 60,000 points into 25,000 miles. Buying 60,000 points would cost you $468 (£385). On a per mile basis, that works out to 1.54p. This would be a horrible price for Avios or Virgin miles, but is worth considering for small top ups of Alaska, Turkish, Cathay Pacific, etc.

Of course, with travel still largely on pause, you might not be in the mood to book hotel stays or add to your mileage balance…

Don’t Forget to Try for Cashback

You might also be able to earn some cashback when buying Marriott points. Click here to reread this post on how it can be done

Terms

  • Transactions must be completed between 9:00 a.m. ET September 14, 2020, and 11:59 p.m. ET October 22, 2020, to be eligible for the 50% bonus Points offer with a minimum purchase of 2,000 Points.
  • Purchased points do not count towards Marriott BonvoyTM Elite status.
  • A member may purchase or receive as a gift from another member a combined maximum of 150,000 Points during the promotional period only. Points that have been already purchased or received as a gift in 2020 are included in the 150,000 Points limit. The 50% bonus Points earned with this promotion are not included in the 150,000 Points limit.
  • Points may be purchased in increments of 1,000, up to 50,000 Points (with a minimum purchase of 2,000 Points required for promotion eligibility); in increments of 5,000, up to a maximum of 100,000 Points; or in increments of 10,000, up to 150,000 Points.
  • Points can be purchased at a rate of US$12.50 per 1,000 Points, US$62.50 per 5,000 Points or US$125 per 10,000 Points.
  • Points purchases will be processed up to seven (7) business days after purchase.
  • Base Points purchased will be deposited into members’ Accounts first. Bonus Points will be deposited up to 48 hours after that initial deposit.
  • You must be a member in good standing to both purchase and receive Points.
  • New members may purchase Points thirty (30) days after enrollment if their Marriott Bonvoy Account reflects qualifying activity as described in the Marriott Bonvoy Program Rules. After one (1) year from enrollment, new members are eligible to purchase Points regardless of their Account activity.
  • Once Points have been purchased or gifted, no refunds will be permitted.
  • Purchasing Points using a Marriott Bonvoy cobrand credit card will earn Points as an everyday purchase.
  • This offer is valid only for Points purchased through the promotion’s Buy Points or Gift Points pages.
  • All Marriott Bonvoy Program Rules apply and can be found at https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/terms/default.mi.