Back in November 2023, Marriott Bonvoy cut the points awarded for hotel dining and spa treatments for non-staying guests, with the previous earn rate of 10 points per US$1 nerfed to 5 points per US$1.
That was a very unwelcome change, but for what it’s worth, Marriott has just launched a new promotion that restores the 10 points per US$1 earn rate on Singapore hotel dining from now till 13 October 2024.
This covers 26 restaurants and bars including the JW Marriott South Beach, EDITION Singapore, St. Regis Singapore and W Sentosa Cove.
Marriott Bonvoy offering 2x points on dining
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| Offer Details |
From 16 September to 13 October 2024, Marriott Bonvoy members will earn 10 points per US$1 spent on dining at qualifying restaurants in Singapore, instead of the usual 5 points per US$1.
Registration is not required, and there is no cap on the maximum number of points that can be earned. 1 Bonvoy point is worth about 0.7 US cents, so 10 points per US$1 works out to a rebate of 7%.
A total of 26 hotel restaurants are participating across Singapore.
| Hotel | Restaurants |
| Courtyard Singapore Novena |
|
| EDITION Singapore |
|
| JW Marriott Singapore South Beach |
|
| Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel |
|
| St. Regis Singapore |
|
| W Sentosa Cove |
|
| Westin Singapore |
|
Points will be credited within six weeks after the end of the promotion period, and the T&Cs can be found here.
As a reminder, Marriott Bonvoy points cannot be earned when using other card benefits such as AMEX Love Dining.
Regular Marriott Bonvoy points earning
The mechanics of this 2X offer are quite different from the regular Marriott Bonvoy points earning, so here’s the two side-by-side for comparison.
| Promo | Regular | |
| Earn Rate | 10 points per US$1 | 5 points per US$1 |
| Eligible Amount | Excludes taxes and service charge | Includes taxes and service charge |
| Points Awarded | Six weeks after end of promo | Instantly or within 7 business days |
The key thing to note is that points for the 2X promotion are before taxes and service charge, and points will not be credited immediately (I suspect you’ll earn the regular 1X first, with the remaining posted after the promotion ends).
As a reminder, if you’re an in-house guest who charges the bill to your room, you’ll continue to earn points according to the usual Marriott Bonvoy elite tiers:
| 🏨 Marriott Bonvoy Earn Rates | |||
| Tier | Base | Elite Bonus | Total |
| Base | 10 | – | 10 |
| Silver Elite | 10 | 1 | 11 |
| Gold Elite | 10 | 2.5 | 12.5 |
| Platinum Elite | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Titanium Elite | 10 | 7.5 | 17.5 |
| Ambassador Elite | 10 | 7.5 | 17.5 |
Paying the bill with Bonvoy points
Marriott Bonvoy members can use points to offset the cost of their F&B bill, at a fixed rate of 200 points per US$1.
However, they must offset the entire bill with points; points + cash is not permitted. If a member does not have a sufficient points balance, then they must pay with cash (or card, obviously).
In any case, I don’t think this is an option you should really be considering unless you have orphan points in your account (in which case you probably won’t have enough to pay the entire bill!). The value of 0.5 US cents per point is below the 0.7-0.8 US cents per point you should be aiming for when redeeming hotel rooms.
Conclusion
From now till 13 October 2024, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn 2X points when dining at participating Singapore hotels as non-staying guests.
This is basically a reversion to the pre-November 2023 rate of 10 points per US$1, an effective rebate of around 7%. You can’t stack this with Love Dining discounts, but if you have a relevant AMEX Offer or statement credit, stacking is possible.
Sadly, Marriott Bonvoy no longer offers a dining discount for members, unlike Hilton or IHG.
Are spendings at Marriott restaurants e.g. Lobby Lounge booked as Travel or Dining under credit card MCC?
It really depends. Use instarem block card method if you want to be sure
The issue with earning dining points with Marriott is that spending does not count towards spend total for Ambassador tier which is a pity as Hyatt does this better for Lifetime value tracking. If anyone from Marriott is reading this, please get this changed and I will patronise your hotel restaurants more just like do with Hyatt.