Despite the drop in point value and you won’t be able to earn any Elite Night Points in your stay, many travelers (including myself) continue to use the Marriott Bonvoy program. After all, the Bonvoy Marriott Hotel has a huge footprint, so you may find participating properties in most destinations you visit.
In addition, it is relatively easy to earn Marriott points. Card offers, including the following two limited-time welcome offers, are a great way to earn points or a free night certificate:
Whether you are using the Marriott Bonvoy program regularly or regularly, you may be interested in getting the most value from the Marriott Point. You can transfer points to your Marriott Hotel to your airline partner, but I usually prefer to redeem Marriott points for hotel accommodation. Here are some of my favorite ways to maximize the Marriott Awards.
Stay 5, pay 4
One of the easiest ways to maximize Marriott Reward Redemption is to use the program’s accommodations of 5 and pay for 4 offers. This offer will automatically allow Marriott Bonvoy members to enjoy a free night for four nights each time they redeem four nights.
You can enjoy 5 stays and pay more than once at a Marriott Award. For example, if you redeem points from Marriott Hotel to enjoy a 10-night stay, you will get two cheapest nights for free.
However, if you book an upgraded room with Marriott Point, you can only pay the standard fee for free nights.
This privilege means you don’t usually want to redeem Marriott Points for a four-night stay, as this may not cost more money to redeem points for five nights. By booking additional nights, you can extend your holiday – or effectively guarantee early check-out or party checkout – and get one night to qualify for the next level of Marriott Elite status.
Related: Maximize your rewards by earning the fourth or fifth night reward
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Combining points and cash
TPG’s June 2025 valuation shows that the Marriott Point is worth 0.7 cents. But even with dynamic reward prices, you may still find some higher or lower redemption rates in your specific stay.
In this case, you can call Marriott Customer Service to book a custom Marriott cash and keep points. With a customized payment booking, you can pay for one or more nights in cash fully, one or more nights in full with points in one booking. A Marriott spokesperson confirmed to TPG that members will receive points on paid nights even if combined with points nights.
Related: The 30 Best Marriott Hotels in the World
Use the Reward Calendar
If you have flexible travel dates, use Marriott Bonvoy’s calendar search to find the cheaper reward dates for the properties you need.
To use calendar search, select “Flexible Date” when launching a reward search on the Marriott website. Click Find Hotel and select View Rate for the attribute you selected. Doing so will load a reward calendar that can be viewed monthly.
As you can see in the example above, if I want to stay in downtown Austin in April next year, I can redeemed points for up to 88,000 Marriott points or up to 124,000+ Marriott hotels. So if you have flexible dates that can escape or stay, you may be able to enjoy a lower reward rate.
Related: How to use Areaz to improve your hotel rewards search
Reading Marriott Award Night
Marriott Hotel Property can offer discounted reward rates for specific room types and dates through Marriott Points Plan. You cannot find a centralized list of Pointsavers properties. Instead, you need to discover them while searching for upcoming accommodation.
Points usually provide a decent redemption rate. However, in some properties, only certain room types are available for booking. For example, on the date I checked, you can only book tickets at four points in Sheraton Orlando International Drive, which can be a room with two queen beds.
Related: Data shows that the Marriott hotel has updated the point threshold for free night certificates
Use your free night prize strategically
Finally, you can maximize Marriott Awards by strategically using free night rewards. You can sometimes get free night awards with welcome offers, but most Marriott credit cards also offer free night awards on your account anniversary every year. Plus, if you earn 75 or more Elite Night Points, you can choose the annual free night prize as Marriott’s annual choice benefit.
I usually look for one night stay with a point rate of about the maximum value of the certificate. For example, I might use a 35,000 point certificate tonight or I would spend 35,000 points.
Of course, you can also get up to 15,000 reward certificates from your account. So I can use a 35,000-point certificate plus 14,000 points for one night.
It also makes sense to check the night reward costs for longer stays. You may need to apply for free night awards on certain nights rather than redemption points.
However, don’t award the free nighttime award to your five-night stay booked with Marriott Point, as you won’t benefit from the accommodation 5, paying for 4 quotes.
Related: Which credit card should you use for a Marriott hotel?
Bottom line
As you can see, there are many ways to maximize the redemption of the Marriott Award. Following the advice in this guide, including using 5 payments and paying 4 quotes, you should find that you can easily get decent value when redeeming Marriott Points.
