Marriott Bonvoy offering 50% bonus on points purchases & 15% award discount

Marriott Bonvoy has launched its annual Week of Wonders promotion, featuring a series of deals including a 50% bonus on points purchases, and a 15% discount on award nights. 

These two offers combined can help you save on an upcoming hotel stay, although it will need to take place by the end of October 2022. 

Marriott Bonvoy points sale

Buy Marriott Bonvoy points

From now till 14 October 2022, 11.59 a.m (SGT), Marriott Bonvoy members can buy points with a 50% bonus. This is the biggest non-targeted offer we’ve seen so far this year.

Do take note of the following:

• A minimum of 2,000 points must be purchased
• The annual purchase limit (pre-bonus) is 100,000 points
• New Marriott Bonvoy members may purchase points 30 days after enrolment if they have qualifying activity like a stay. Otherwise, the wait is 90 days
• Purchased points will be posted to the member’s account within 72 hours after completing the transaction.

Marriott Bonvoy normally charges 1.25 US cents per point, so a 50% bonus reduces the price to 0.83 US cents per point.

Due to COVID-19, Marriott Bonvoy has temporarily suspended the expiry of all points until 31 December 2022. From 1 January 2023, points will expire if 24 months pass without qualifying activity. 

Marriott Bonvoy award redemption discount

During this period, Marriott Bonvoy members can also enjoy 15% off award nights at more than 4,500 participating hotels worldwide. 

The catch is that you must book by 13 October 2022 and stay by 31 October 2022, so there isn’t a lot of time to plan. That said, if you have any existing Marriott award bookings, it’s worth checking whether cancelling and rebooking can save you some points. 

Moreover, because Marriott Bonvoy now uses dynamic pricing, you can’t know for sure whether the hotel you’re looking at is participating in the 15% off promotion, since you don’t know what the “regular” price should be. 

A quick word about dynamic pricing:

• Nearly all hotel redemption rates still fall within the same high low range of the previous categories
• There are 218 hotels (<3% of the Marriott International portfolio) where the maximum number of points required has increased
• Of these, 42 hotels have increased beyond the current Category 8 bounds, to as much as 130,000 points per night

Under dynamic pricing, 218 hotels have had their pricing increase from 5,000 to 30,000 points per night.

1. 37 hotels where min. & max. points have increased by up to 5,000 points 
2. 60 hotels where min. & max. points have increased by up to 10,000 points
3. 79 hotels where min. & max. points have increased by up to 20,000 points
4. 42 hotels where min. & max. points have increased by up to 30,000 points

All other hotels will continue to fall within the same high low range of their previous categories for the rest of 2022.

For stays in 2023 and beyond, Marriott has stated the following:

For stays in 2023, Marriott International is focusing on ensuring even its most aspirational properties offer a mix of great rates during the year. Changes in rates for stays in 2023 above or below the high low range for stays in 2022 are planned to be incremental.

Other uses for Marriott Bonvoy points

Apart from hotel stays, Marriott Bonvoy points can also be converted to airline miles with the following frequent flyer schemes. Most transfers take place at a ratio of 3:1, with a minimum transfer of 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. 

Every transfer of 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points will receive a bonus of 5,000 partner miles. For example, if I transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to British Airways Executive Club, I’ll receive 25,000 Avios in total. 

If you happen to have miles in an “exotic” account that doesn’t partner with any bank in Singapore, buying Marriott Bonvoy points could be a way of topping it up. 

What card should I use to buy Marriott Bonvoy points?

Purchases of Marriott Bonvoy points are processed by Points.com in USD, so they won’t code as hotel transactions.

Here’s the best cards to maximize the miles earned on your purchase:

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Cap of S$1K per s. month
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min S$1K Max S$2K FCY spend per s. month
SCB Visa Infinite Apply	3 mpd	Min spend S$2K per s. month
UOB PRVI Miles Apply	2.4 mpd	No cap
S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month

Remember, you can pair the Citi Rewards Card with the Instarem Amaze Card to earn 4 mpd on Points.com purchases, without foreign currency transaction fees. 

I generally don’t advise you to use the DBS Woman’s World Card for Points.com purchases, as past data points have indicated issues with getting the bonus points credited. 

Conclusion

Buy Marriott Bonvoy points

Marriott Bonvoy members can now buy points with a 50% bonus and save 15% off award nights. 

As with all points sales, you should never buy points speculatively- particularly since we don’t know what Marriott Bonvoy will look like in 2023 when dynamic pricing at most hotels will expand outside the current bounds. 

You can browse the rest of the Week of Wonders offers here, but fair warning, they’re rather underwhelming. 35% off candles, anyone?