How Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Certificates Work

During my consultations with clients seeking to elevate their credit card game, I always place a heavy emphasis on keeper cards. A keeper card is a credit card with valuable benefits that outweigh the overall cost of owning the card. Even if you’re paying an annual fee, it provides enough quality perks, credits, and amenities to justify the expense. They usually don’t have great multipliers and come with a higher overhead, but offer tons of value for specific airlines or hotel chains that reward the brand loyalists.  Keeper cards generally deserve a permanent spot in your wallet: As long as the benefits outweigh the annual fee, cardholders should hold onto them to continue aging their credit history. Some of the best examples of keeper cards are the Marriott Bonvoy offerings by AMEX and Chase, perhaps most importantly due to their free night certificates and how they can be applied.

Using a free night certificate such as those offered by Marriott can bring your dream vacation a step closer to reality!

How Do You Earn Free Night Certificates?

Unless you were grandfathered into the American Express Bonvoy Card or Chase Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Card before the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) merger with AMEX, there are three cards on the market that you can use to earn free night certificates: The American Express Bonvoy Brilliant, American Express Bonvoy Business, and Chase Bonvoy Boundless.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant has the highest annual fee of the bunch at $450 and currently offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in three months. It earns 6 Marriott points per dollar at Marriott properties, 4 points per dollar for dining and airfare, and 2 points for everything else. Marriott points are generally valued at 0.8 cents per point, so 6 points per dollar yield a decent but unremarkable 4.8% return. The main reason why the Bonvoy Brilliant is such a great keeper card is that cardmembers receive $300 in annual credit for use at Marriott hotels and resorts. It works similarly to the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s travel credit in that any purchase you make at a Marriott property will trigger the credit, including room rates, room service, and upgrades. This credit reloads every cardmember anniversary, so if you travel at least once a year, you can easily utilize this benefit. The $300 credit effectively lowers the annual fee to a more palatable $150. Additionally, cardholders receive a free night certificate every anniversary, redeemable for a night worth up to 50,000 Bonvoy points.

The Bonvoy Brilliant is the most premium credit card offering by Marriott and earns a 50,000-point free night certificate annually. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARSwdXp?xl=cp01

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business

The Marriott Bonvoy Business has an annual fee of $125 and currently offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in three months. It earns 6 Marriott points per dollar at Marriott properties, 4 points per dollar on dining at U.S. restaurants, gas stations, wireless telephone services, and shipping purchases, and 2 points for everything else. Every anniversary, cardmembers receive a free night certificate, redeemable for a night worth up to 35,000 Marriott points.

The only business credit card among the three, the Bonvoy Business offers the most variety in spending categories. Photo credit: www.americanexpress.com

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARSi04o?xl=cp01

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless has the lowest annual fee of the trio at $95 and currently offers a signup bonus of 75,000 points after spending $3,000 in three months. The points-earning structure is similar to but slightly worse than the Bonvoy Business; Cardmembers will earn 6X points per dollar at Marriott properties and 2X points on all other purchases. The Boundless Card also provides a free night certificate every cardmember anniversary, redeemable for a night worth up to 35,000 Marriott points.

The Bonvoy Boundless has the lowest annual fee among the three and earns the same free night certificate value as the Bonvoy Business. Photo credit: www.chase.com

Double-Edged Sword: Seasonal Categories

Marriott’s free night certificate can be redeemed on any day of the week so long as the redemption rate is within range. This is definitely a positive benefit since some people prefer to travel on weekdays, which are generally less expensive than weekend stays. As of 2019, however, Marriott introduced peak and off-peak award redemption rates. During peak seasons, the award redemption rate can fluctuate and increase as little as 2,500 points per night for Category 1 properties to as high as 15,000 points for top-tier Category 8 properties. Inversely, redemption rates during off-peak seasons can be lowered by 2,500 per night for Category 1 hotels to 15,000 for Category 8 hotels.

Marriott implemented new peak and off-peak award redemption rules in late 2019, which will likely restrict and hurt travel enthusiasts more than help them. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

Though Marriott’s new approach to award redemption is not as drastic or fluctuating as those of their rival, Hilton, it’s still not as beneficial as they want their loyalists to believe. There is a reason why the peak travel season is between June and August: The weather is nice and summer breaks allow for easier coordination among families. Vacationing during the off-peak season can be near impossible due to school and/or work. Students and families with more rigid schedules will find themselves booking higher redemption rates, while others who are flexible with their calendars can take advantage of off-peak pricing to maximize their travel spend.

Free Night Certificate Use Cases:

Free night certificates are great vouchers to apply towards your dream vacation. Take a look at spending the night at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, located in the Maldives:

With the Bonvoy Brilliant Card, you can apply your 50,000-point free night certificate, or…

Photo credit: www.marriott.com

You can pay over $900 in cash for a night in the Maldives. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

Using the free night certificate on international properties tends to yield better values, but that doesn’t mean you should pass on domestic lodgings. Take a look at The Blackstone, Autograph Collection, located in Chicago:

With either the Marriott Bonvoy Business or Bonvoy Boundless Card, you can stay here for free, or…

Photo credit: www.marriott.com

You can pay over $500 for a night. Photo credit: www.marriott.com

Summary

You can earn a free night certificate by holding onto the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Business, or Chase Marriott Boundless. The Brilliant rewards cardmembers with the loftiest free night certificate worth up to 50,000 points, whereas the other two provide a lower but respectable 35,000-point certificate. You can use them on any day as long as the property you are booking falls within the redeemable point range. Ever since Marriott introduced their new award chart, it may have become more difficult for some travelers to use their certificate during peak seasons, but it also likely opened new opportunities for deal-seekers to take advantage of off-peak redemptions using the new system. As shown with the above use cases, free night certificates can potentially generate a tremendous return by applying it correctly and even pay for the card annual fee multiple times over, I highly recommend to anyone looking to save money on premium hotels or stay at Marriott properties to seriously consider these three co-branded cards and upgrade their hotel game!