10 Things Canadians Need to Know About Marriott Bonvoy (Spring 2024)

Getting free hotel stays for Canadians has never been easier. Marriott Bonvoy can help you save thousands of dollars on travel costs, so you can travel guilt-free.

There are a number of reasons why you want to be collecting hotel points:

By collecting hotel points, you can accumulate enough points to redeem them for free hotel stays. This can help you save money on your future travel expenses. Many hotel loyalty programs also offer elite status tiers that come with exclusive benefits, such as room upgrades, late check-out, complimentary breakfast, and free Wi-Fi. Hotels often offer special deals and promotions to members of their loyalty programs, such as discounted room rates or bonus points for booking directly with the hotel.

If you frequently stay at a particular hotel chain, collecting points can help you establish a sense of brand loyalty and enhance your overall travel experience.

When looking at collecting points for free redemptions, there are two brands that Canadians should focus on – Marriott & Hilton. 

While there are certainly more hotel chains in Canada (Wyndham, IHG, Choice Hotels), the ability to earn points through Marriott and Hilton have subsidiary benefits to most other Canadian hotel chains. 

For the purposes of this post, we’ll be focusing on the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program. 

In my opinion, Marriott Bonvoy is the top hotel program in the country, as you can earn points directly through numerous credit cards, and can redeem these points at one of Marriott’s 6,500 global properties.

Marriott Bonvoy offers members a range of benefits, including earning and redeeming points for free hotel stays, room upgrades, late check-out, exclusive member rates, and access to VIP experiences. Members can also earn points by using Marriott’s co-branded credit cards and taking advantage of promotions and partnerships.

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Here are 10 Things Canadians Need to Know About Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy Program Overview

How to Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points	Staying at Marriott hotels Transfer From American Express Membership Rewards Marriott Bonvoy credit cards
How to Redeem Marriott Bonvoy Points	Staying at Marriott hotels Transfer to partner airlines
Value of Marriott Bonvoy Points	1 Marriott Bonvoy point – 0.9 cents/pt

Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points

1. You Can Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points by Staying at Marriott Hotels 

Marriott has a large number of properties under their umbrella. These range from high-end establishments like the Ritz Carlton to more economical options like the Fairfield Inn. 

You earn Bonvoy points for spending money at all Marriott properties, with the majority of hotels offering 10 points per $1 USD spent. 

The 10 points per USD spent is only for the baseline membership. Earning rates increase as you move up in tier status (which we’ll get to later). 

You can view the brands here

2. You Can Transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy Points

One of the ways in which you earn a high amount of Marriott Bonvoy points is by transferring out your American Express Membership Rewards. 

Read: The Complete Gide to Membership Rewards

Membership Rewards is the travel currency earned directly through American Express credit cards. 

One of, if not the best reason for you to start collecting American Express Membership Rewards is that you can transfer your MR to a bevy of transfer partners including: 

• Air Canada/Aeroplan
• British Airways Executive Club 
• Alitalia MilleMiglia
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 
• Delta Airways Sky Miles
• Etihad Guest
• Marriott Bonvoy Points
• Hilton Honours Points

You can view the transfer ratios below 

The bottom line is, if you intend on staying at a Marriott property, American Express Membership Rewards can help you get there. The 1 : 1.2 transfer ratio is a good value. Occasionally, American Express will offer “bonus transfers” on certain airlines or hotel partners. 

How to Earn Membership Rewards

You can earn Membership Rewards through several credit cards offered by American Express 

The American Express Platinum Card is a great way to earn Membership Rewards.

The $799 annual fee (which comes with a $150 rebate through GreatCanadianRebates) is offset by the following perks & benefits:

• Sign-up Bonus:
  • 70,000 MR points upon spending $10,000 in the first three months
  • 30,000 MR points upon making a purchase between months 14-17 of cardmembership
• Earn Rate: 
  • 2 MR points per dollar spent on travel, groceries & dining
  • 1 MR point everywhere else
• Insurance:
  • Emergency Medical Travel Insurance – up to $5,000,000
  • Car rental damage insurance 
  • Trip Cancellation Insurance- up to $3,000
  • Hotel Burglary insurance – up to $1,000
  • Baggage delay insurance – up to $1,000
  • Lost or stolen baggage insurance – up to $1,000
• Perks
  • $200 annual travel credit
  • $200 annual dining credit
  • Special discounts for cardholders, which are sent via email
  • $100 Nexus credit
  • Instant Gold status at Marriott Bonvoy
  • Instant Gold status at Hilton Honours
  • Access to Pearson Priority Security Lane during peak operating times
  • Complimentary valet service at the Express Park and Daily Park at Pearson Airport
• Lounge Access
  • Priority Pass (+1 guest)
  • Plaza Premium Lounges (+1 guest)
  • Delta Sky Club
  • Airspace Lounges (+2 guests)
  • Centurion Lounges
  • SwissPort Lounges (+1 guest)

While the $799 annual fee seems daunting initially, the 100,000 Membership Rewards ($1,700 in value) will earn you potentially multiple free flights. 

Canadians will have to make a personal decision as to whether or not the $799 (minus the $200 travel credit & $299 food & beverage) annual fee is worth spending after year one.

Read our full review here

You can also earn Membership Rewards through a number of other personal credit cards including: 

• American Express Gold
• American Express Cobalt 
• American Express Green Card

3. You can Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points Directly by Signing up for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Card

If you’ve ever used Aeroplan in the past, you’re probably familiar with the process of earning Aeroplan miles through their branded credit cards. Naturally, Marriott Bonvoy has a similar offering.

If you regularly stay with Marriott or intend on staying at a Marriott property over the next 12 months, the American Express Marriott Bonvoy card is a great tool you can leverage to reduce the cost of your hotel.

Marriott Bonvoy currently offers a list of credit cards that allow you to rack up Bonvoy Points quickly. The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Card is Marriott’s sponsored card in Canada. 

Sign up here

The annual fee of $120 (offset by a $60 rebate through Great Canadian Rebates) comes with the following benefits:

• Sign-up Bonus:
  • 65,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $3,000 in the first 3 months
  • 3 Bonvoy points per dollar spent on eligible gas and travel purchases in the first 6 months (up to 15,000 points)
    • Total of 80,000 Bonvoy Points
• Eaimagern Rate: 
  • 5 Bonvoy Points per dollar spent on Marriott Bonvoy properties
  • 2 Bonvoy Points per dollar spent everywhere else
• Insurance:
  • Emergency Medical Travel Insurance – up to $500,000
  • Car rental damage insurance 
  • Baggage delay insurance – up to $1,000
• Perks
  • 15 Elite qualifying nights & instant Silver status within Marriott’s loyalty program
  • Annual free night, up to 35,000 points

The free annual night stay essentially offsets the $120 annual fee, so there is no need to cancel this card after the first year. 

Read our full review here

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points through other credit cards including: 

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business

4. You Can Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points Through US Credit Cards

If you’re someone who can secure US credit cards, you can earn a high number of Marriott Bonvoy points through US credit cards.

Marriott currently offers 3 co-branded credit cards in the United States

	Marriott Bonvoy Boundless	Marriot Bonvoy Bold	Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant	Marriot Bonvoy Bevy Card
Annual fee	$95	$0	$650	$125
Bonus	3 free nights (up to 50,000 points per night)	30,000 Marriot Bonvoy Points	95,000 Bonvoy Points	85,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points
Earning Rate	Marriot Resorts: 17X Food & Dining: 3x Everything Else: 2x	Marriot Resorts: 14X Food & Dining: 2x Everything Else: 1x	Marriot Resorts: 6X Food & Dining: 3x Everything Else: 2x	Marriot Resorts: 6X Food & Dining: 4x Everything Else: 2x
Travel credits	15 elite night credits annually	15 Elite night credits annually	25 elite night credits	15 Elite night credits annually
Elite status	Silver	Silver	Platinum	Gold
Free nights	Free night award up to 35,000 points		Free night award up to 85,000 points	Free Night Reward upon spending $15,000 on the card (50,000 point limit)
Other Perks	None	None	Unlimited Priority Pass visits (+1 guests) $300 in statement credits each account year for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide (up to $25 per month $100 property credit for qualifying charges at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis	None

Here is a video by Stan The Credit Frog outlining the benefits of the Marriott US cards

Transfer Partners

If you collect travel points in the US, you can transfer your travel currencies to Marriott Bonvoy. The travel programs eligible for transfers are:

• American Express Membership Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (at a 1:1 ratio)

5. You Can Purchase Marriott Bonvoy Points Directly Through Marriott.com

Canadians have the ability to purchase points directly through Marriott.com. 

This process doesn’t provide great value, but there will be opportunities throughout the year where you can buy points at a bonus (sometimes up to 50%).

This should be seen as a last resort but can be leveraged if there is a certain high-level redemption that you are targeting. 

Redeeming Marriot Bonvoy Points

6. Marriott Bonvoy Redemptions: Dynamic Pricing

Marriott Bonvoy redemptions are done with a dynamic pricing table, meaning that the amount of points required for a stay will vary over the course of the year.

However, there are some ranges that you can expect

Low-end hotels: 10,000 points – 20,000 points/night

Mid-tier hotels: 20,000 points – 75,000 points/night

High-end hotels: 75,000+ points/night

Points redemptions will vary depending on the day. You can see below the redemption range for the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto

Keep in mind that the “tier” your hotel falls into is also highly dependent on the market/location, so you can expect the Fairfield Inn and Suites near Disneyland, California to price at mid-tier levels even though it’s a limited-service brand.

There are no blackout dates when redeeming points. 

There is also the ability to purchase your hotel room with a combination of cash + points. This can be used in a situation where you don’t have enough points for the stay. 

On average, 1 Marriott Bonvoy point is worth roughly 0.9 cents. This benchmark can be used when determining whether you’re getting value out of your redemption. 

7. You Can Get Your 5th Night Free When Redeeming with Points

For those booking their vacation stay with points, Marriott offers a “fifth-night free” promotion, which can go a long way in enhancing the value of your vacation. 

4 nights paid for with points = 5th night free.

If your goal is to use Bonvoy points for the entire duration of your hotel stay, staying 5 nights enhances your redemption by 20%. It’s something you should seriously consider if you’re going the points route. 

8. You can Transfer Marriott Bonvoy Points to Airline Partners. 

For those who are flush with Bonvoy points, you can transfer them out to other airline loyalty programs including Alaska Air Miles and Aeroplan. These transfers typically fall somewhere in the 3:1 range, so the value is not optimal. 

Here is the full list of transfer partners.

Maximizing the Marriott Bonvoy Program

9. You Can Obtain Elite Status If you stay at Marriott Properties

Marriott rewards those who frequently stay at their properties. Marriott Bonvoy allows members to earn points for their stays at Marriott properties and provides various benefits based on their elite status level. There are several tiers within the Marriott Bonvoy program, including Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite. Each tier offers different perks, such as room upgrades, late checkout, bonus points, and more, to enhance the guest experience for frequent travelers

Marriott Elite status has 5 tiers. 

1. Silver
2. Gold
3. Platinum
4. Titanium 
5. Ambassador

Status is primarily earned by staying at Marriott properties. Staying one night at a Marriott hotel earns you 1 “qualifying night.”

Silver Status is achieved when you reach 15 qualifying nights 

Gold Status is achieved when you reach 25 qualifying notes

Platinum status is achieved when you reach 50 qualifying nights 

Titanium status is achieved when you reach 75 qualifying nights 

Ambassador status is achieved when you reach 100 qualifying nights, and meet a 20K minimum spend

For Canadians, Gold status is relatively easily achieved by either receiving the 15 qualifying nights through the Marriott Bonvoy card or by being an American Express Platinum cardholder (which gives you instant Gold status).

You’ll also notice that the perks & benefits increase at the platinum level, although that can be difficult to achieve unless you are regularly traveling.

However, you can receive instant Platinum status if you’re eligible for US credit cards, and you sign up for the American Express Bonvoy Brilliant card

10. You can “Status Match” Your Marriott Elite Status to Other Hotel Chains

Another positive feature about Marriott is that, because it is one of the larger hotel chains, you are easily able to “status match” your Marriott status with other hotel chains.

A hotel status match is a program offered by many hotel chains, including Marriott, where they allow members with elite status from another hotel loyalty program to match or upgrade their status within their own program. This means if you have elite status with one hotel chain, you can request a status match from another chain, and if approved, you’ll receive a comparable elite status level in the new program without having to meet the usual qualification requirements.

Hotel status matches are often offered as promotional incentives to attract new customers, especially those who are already loyal to competitors. It’s a way for hotels to encourage travelers to switch their loyalty by providing them with immediate benefits and privileges associated with elite status. Keep in mind that each hotel chain has its own policies and criteria for granting status matches, so it’s essential to check the specific requirements and procedures of the program you’re interested in.

For example, Marriott Gold status allows for a status match at the following hotel chains: 

• Hilton
• Raddison 
• Choice Hotels
• Best Western

Status match is a great way to receive potential upgrades for some of Canada’s mid-tier hotel chains. 

Status matches are done directly through the hotel’s rewards page, or Google search.

Conclusion

If you regularly stay at hotels or intend on taking a trip over the next 12 months, the Marriott Bonvoy program can help reduce your travel costs by thousands of dollars. 

Marriott Bonvoy is the top hotel loyalty program in Canada. Marriott Bonvoy offers a host of benefits that make it a compelling loyalty program for travelers. One of its primary advantages is its extensive network of hotels and properties, spanning a wide range of price points and destinations globally.

Another key benefit is the tiered membership structure, which offers increasing perks as members move up the elite levels, namely Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador. These perks can include priority check-in and late check-out, complimentary room upgrades, and even access to exclusive lounges

Overall, Marriott Bonvoy’s extensive property network, versatile points system, tiered elite status benefits, partnerships, ongoing promotions, and user-friendly app collectively contribute to making it a highly advantageous loyalty program for individuals seeking varied and rewarding travel experiences.

The ability to transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Bonvoy points and the ability to earn points directly through the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card will allow you to earn a large amount of points quickly, and help you save hundreds and thousands of dollars on hotel costs. 

Marriott Bonvoy FAQ

Can you pool your Marriott Bonvoy Points With Your Spouse/Partner?

Yes, you can (up to a maximum of 100,000 points). You can transfer your Marriott Bonvoy Points to another Member’s Account through the Points Transfer tool online.

From Marriott Bonvoy:

• The Marriott Bonvoy® Account Holder will need the Recipient’s Marriott Bonvoy® Name and Number as it is reflected in their Marriott Bonvoy® Account, to complete the transfer.
• The First and Last Names of the Points recipients must be entered exactly how they appear on their Marriott Bonvoy® Membership Account in order to successfully complete the transfer.
• Both Marriott Bonvoy® Accounts must be in good standing and have each been open for at least thirty (30) days with Qualifying Activity or ninety (90) days without Qualifying Activity. Click here to see our article on Qualifying Activity.
• The Minimum Transfer amount is 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Points.
• You can transfer up to a maximum of 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Points, per calendar year, to other Accounts.
• A Member can receive up to a maximum of 500,000 Marriott Bonvoy® Points, per calendar year, from other Member Accounts, as long as the Accounts are in good-standing and have each been open for at least thirty (30) days with Qualifying Activity or ninety (90) days without Qualifying Activity.

4 Tips to Help You on Your Travels

1. Register for the Marriott Bonvoy program since it’s free to do so.
2. If you’re someone who likes to earn travel rewards for hotel stays, the American Express Marriott Bonvoy or American Express platinum card provides great value. 
3. Read through the programs and the benefits that come with certain tiers so you can maximize the program. 
4. Sign up for Marriott Bonvoy promotional emails. You can create a “deals” section within your inbox if you’d prefer to compartmentalize your incoming emails.