Is Marriott Bonvoy worth using?
Collect it if
- You stay in Marriott properties for work and the points accrue as a by-product.
- You book five-night stays, where the fifth night free is an unconditional discount.
Look elsewhere if
- You are choosing where to concentrate — nearly every alternative in our table values higher.
- You were planning to transfer bank points in. The conversion destroys most of the value on contact.
What is one Marriott Bonvoy point worth?
Short answer
0.7¢ in the Award Rate Q3 2026 model, the median of 22,400 sampled redemptions priced against the cash cost of the same room on the same night. Half of those redemptions returned less than that figure. It ranks 2 of 4 among the hotel currencies we value, where the category median is 0.65¢.
How the number is derived
The published Award Rate figure for Bonvoy points, the median of 22,400 award-night-versus-cash-rate pairs. The fifth-night-free benefit is applied where a five-night stay was priced, because that is how a normal member redeems. Fully dynamic pricing since 2022 is what caps the number: peak award rates at aspirational properties have outrun their own cash rates, and no amount of good redemption technique fixes an uncapped chart.
Marriott Bonvoy’s pricing mechanism
How does Marriott Bonvoy price an award?
What it means in practice
Fully dynamic pricing. The award price tracks the cash price with no published ceiling. A redemption can be perfectly reasonable, but it can never be a bargain, because the mechanism that would produce a bargain has been removed.
Read the pricing mechanism before the valuation, not after it. The valuation is a consequence of the mechanism rather than an independent fact about the program: a currency priced off the cash fare cannot beat the cash fare by much, however well you redeem, and a currency governed by a published table holds its value until the table changes.
How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points
Three routes into a Marriott Bonvoy balance: paid stays credited to your account, a co-brand credit card, and — where the program is reachable — transferring from a bank currency. For most readers the third is the one that matters, because it converts spending on everything into a balance in a program you might only use once a year.
Cards that build a Marriott Bonvoy balance
The first card earns Marriott Bonvoy directly — the co-brand, which is where the certificates and elite credits come from. The others earn the bank currencies that transfer in. Full terms for each are linked at the foot of this page.
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
Chase · Visa
- Welcome bonus
- 4 Free Night Awards / $3K in 3 mo
- Annual fee
- $95
No apply link until we have reconciled this card’s rates and fees against Chase’s own pricing-and-terms disclosure. The analysis stands; the figures below are modeled, and we will not send you to an application on numbers we have not read off the issuer ourselves.
Terms Apply$95 annual fee · 19.24% – 27.74% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $95
- Purchase APR
- 19.24% – 27.74% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.24% – 27.74% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Up to this rate, if you fail to make a minimum payment by the date and time it is due, or make a payment that is returned unpaid.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
These figures model Chase’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against Chase’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. Chase rates & terms · Chase card page
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase · Visa
- Welcome bonus
- 75,000 / $5K in 3 mo
- Annual fee
- $95
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Terms Apply$95 annual fee · 19.24% – 27.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $95
- Purchase APR
- 19.24% – 27.49% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.24% – 27.49% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 29.99% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Applies if you make a late payment.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Minimum interest charge
- $0.50
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms
Wells Fargo · Mastercard
- Welcome bonus
- None
- Annual fee
- $0
No apply link until we have reconciled this card’s rates and fees against Wells Fargo’s own pricing-and-terms disclosure. The analysis stands; the figures below are modeled, and we will not send you to an application on numbers we have not read off the issuer ourselves.
Terms ApplyNo annual fee · 21.24% – 29.49% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0
- Purchase APR
- 21.24% – 29.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Late payment fee
- Up to $41
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $41
- Minimum interest charge
- $1.00
The Bilt Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Mastercard International Incorporated. Rates, rewards and benefits are subject to change.
These figures model Wells Fargo’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against Wells Fargo’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. Wells Fargo rates & terms
- Welcome bonus
- 100,000 / $8K in 6 mo
- Annual fee
- $325
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Terms Apply$325 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $325
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you do not pay at least the minimum payment due by the payment due date, or a payment is returned. Once applied it lasts at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $35 per card
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners
All 12 partners Marriott Bonvoy publishes — including the ones we tell readers not to use, because a partner list with its bad entries removed cannot be used to make a decision. Ranked by what one point is worth after the transfer rather than by the ratio, which is the only ordering that answers the question you are asking.
| Transfer timeTypical, not guaranteed | Sweet spot — what to actually book | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.63¢Loses value−0.07¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Aeroplan’s distance-based partner chart gives converted points a fixed ceiling, and the 5,000-point stopover means one converted balance can cover two cities.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| Alaska Atmos Rewards | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.63¢Loses value−0.07¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | The best of a weak set: Mileage Plan partner awards price off published bands, so 60,000 Bonvoy points becoming 25,000 miles can still reach a one-way Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific business seat with a free stopover.Transfer bonuses: Marriott has not varied the airline conversion ratio in years and does not run transfer bonuses on it. Treat the ratio as permanent. |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.6¢Loses value−0.10¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Worth considering only to top up an AAdvantage balance for a Web Special or a Qatar Qsuite award you have already found — never as a way to build one from scratch.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. The ratio has been unchanged since the 2018 program merger. |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.58¢Loses value−0.12¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | LifeMiles charges no carrier surcharges, so converted points buy a Lufthansa or Swiss business seat with under $100 of cash attached.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| JAL Mileage Bank | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.58¢Loses value−0.12¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | JAL’s round-trip oneworld chart is one of the last genuinely cheap first-class charts anywhere, and Bonvoy is one of very few ways a US member can feed it.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.58¢Loses value−0.12¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Qsuite business class to Doha and onward to South Asia or Africa, priced in Avios off a fixed table.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.58¢Loses value−0.12¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | A Saver seat in Singapore Suites is unreachable with any other hotel currency, so a converted Bonvoy balance is a legitimate last resort if you have found the space.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. KrisFlyer’s three-year hard expiry applies to converted miles from the date they land. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.58¢Loses value−0.12¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Topping up for the ANA round-trip business award, which is fixed-priced and therefore the redemption least damaged by a 3:1 conversion.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| British Airways Executive Club | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.56¢Loses value−0.14¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Short-haul distance-band awards on American or Alaska, where a small number of Avios buys a domestic segment — the one place a 3:1 conversion still leaves you ahead.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| United MileagePlus | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.56¢Loses value−0.14¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Topping up for an Excursionist Perk itinerary where you are a few thousand miles short. The conversion loses value; finishing the award recovers it.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.54¢Loses value−0.16¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Only when a Promo Reward has already discounted the route you want by 25–50%; at standard Flying Blue pricing the conversion is not defensible.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3:1, plus 5,000 bonus miles per 60,000 points transferred (2.4:1 at that increment)fewer points out than in | 24–72 hours | 0.54¢Loses value−0.16¢ vs. keeping the points as Marriott Bonvoy | Asia Miles prices oneworld partners off a distance table, and Cathay releases its own long-haul business space to its members first.Transfer bonuses: No transfer bonuses. |
Transfers are one-way and permanent. No bank has ever reversed one. Confirm the ratio on Marriott Bonvoy’s own transfer page and find award space in the partner’s program before you move a single point — a transfer made against space that turns out not to exist cannot be undone. Points expire after 24 months with no qualifying earning or redeeming activity. Any stay, co-brand card purchase, points purchase or transfer in resets the clock. US Bonvoy cardholders who use the card at all are effectively exempt, because card spend counts as qualifying activity.
How to move points into Marriott Bonvoy
3 transferable bank currencies reach this program. The last column is what one bank point becomes once it lands here, at our Q3 2026 valuation of 0.7¢ per point.
| Source currency | Ratio | Transfer time | One point becomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1:1 | 24–48 hours | 0.7¢ |
| Bilt Rewards | 1:1 | 24–48 hours | 0.7¢ |
| American Express Membership Rewards | 1:1 | 24–48 hours | 0.7¢ |
The redemptions that make Marriott Bonvoy worth collecting
A currency is worth collecting because of specific redemptions, not because of an average. These are the ones that justify Marriott Bonvoy, ranked by what one transferred point is worth when it lands.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Marriott Bonvoy
There isn’t one worth naming. A 1.9¢ point becoming a 0.7¢ point destroys nearly two-thirds of the value; use it only to complete a Bonvoy balance you are a few thousand points short on.
Bilt Rewards Marriott Bonvoy
None worth naming — a 1.85¢ point becoming a 0.7¢ point. Use only to complete a Bonvoy balance for a booking you have already found.
American Express Membership Rewards Marriott Bonvoy
None worth naming at 1:1 — a 1.8¢ point becoming a 0.7¢ point. Use it only to top up a Bonvoy balance you are short on for a specific booking.
Marriott Bonvoy Alaska Atmos Rewards
The best of a weak set: Mileage Plan partner awards price off published bands, so 60,000 Bonvoy points becoming 25,000 miles can still reach a one-way Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific business seat with a free stopover.
Marriott Bonvoy Air Canada Aeroplan
Aeroplan’s distance-based partner chart gives converted points a fixed ceiling, and the 5,000-point stopover means one converted balance can cover two cities.
Marriott Bonvoy American Airlines AAdvantage
Worth considering only to top up an AAdvantage balance for a Web Special or a Qatar Qsuite award you have already found — never as a way to build one from scratch.
Marriott Bonvoy Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
A Saver seat in Singapore Suites is unreachable with any other hotel currency, so a converted Bonvoy balance is a legitimate last resort if you have found the space.
Marriott Bonvoy Avianca LifeMiles
LifeMiles charges no carrier surcharges, so converted points buy a Lufthansa or Swiss business seat with under $100 of cash attached.
What Marriott Bonvoy does well, and what it does badly
The weaknesses below are the reason the strengths are worth believing. Every one of them is something we have watched cost a reader money or a booking.
What Marriott Bonvoy does well
- Roughly 9,000 properties across 30-plus brands means there is almost always a Bonvoy hotel where you are going — for most travelers, coverage beats redemption rate.
- The fifth night free on award stays is a flat 20% discount on any five-night redemption, and it applies at every property regardless of category.
- Free-night certificates from the co-brand cards carry a points cap that can be topped up, which turns a modest certificate into a stay at a much more expensive hotel.
- The luxury end — Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Edition — is genuinely reachable with points in a way that Hilton’s and IHG’s top tiers mostly are not.
- Three transferable bank currencies feed it, and Amex and Chase both run periodic bonuses into Bonvoy.
What Marriott Bonvoy does badly
- Award pricing has been fully dynamic with no cap since 2022. At aspirational properties peak award rates now exceed the cash rate divided by our own valuation — the currency has stopped being a lever and become a rebate.
- Points convert to airline miles at 3:1, which at our valuations turns a 0.7¢ point into roughly 0.7¢ of miles. Transferring out is almost never the answer, and the 5,000-mile bonus does not change that conclusion.
- Award nights no longer reliably include resort fees, which is a meaningful and under-advertised gap against World of Hyatt.
- Property categories and peak pricing change without notice and without a published calendar, so a redemption you planned in January can cost 40% more in March.
- Elite recognition is inconsistent across the franchised portfolio: the same Titanium card gets a suite at one property and a bottle of water at another.
Do Marriott Bonvoy points expire?
Policy in full
Points expire after 24 months with no qualifying earning or redeeming activity. Any stay, co-brand card purchase, points purchase or transfer in resets the clock. US Bonvoy cardholders who use the card at all are effectively exempt, because card spend counts as qualifying activity.
Expiration policy is the fact most worth checking before you build a balance and the one most often stated loosely elsewhere. An inactivity clock that any qualifying activity resets is a mild inconvenience; a hard deadline that runs from the day the points land is a different kind of risk entirely, and it changes whether a speculative transfer into this program is defensible at all.
Policy above verified against the program’s own terms on . If it has changed since, tell us and we will log the correction.
Frequently asked questions
How much is one Marriott Bonvoy point worth?
0.7¢ in the Award Rate Q3 2026 model. That is the median, not the maximum — half of the redemptions behind it returned less. The published Award Rate figure for Bonvoy points, the median of 22,400 award-night-versus-cash-rate pairs. The fifth-night-free benefit is applied where a five-night stay was priced, because that is how a normal member redeems. Fully dynamic pricing since 2022 is what caps the number: peak award rates at aspirational properties have outrun their own cash rates, and no amount of good redemption technique fixes an uncapped chart.Is Marriott Bonvoy better than World of Hyatt, IHG One Rewards and Hilton Honors?
Not on value per point. Marriott Bonvoy is worth 0.7¢ against 0.6¢, the median of the other 3 hotel currencies we value, and World of Hyatt leads the category at 1.9¢. Per-point value is not the whole comparison — how fast a program earns, and whether it has properties or routes where you actually travel, can outweigh it — but it is the part that is comparable, and this is where it lands. Every currency we value, side by side.Should I move Chase Ultimate Rewards or Bilt Rewards points in first?
Chase Ultimate Rewards, on the arithmetic: it moves at 1:1, so one bank point lands as 0.7¢ of value here, against 0.7¢ from Bilt Rewards at 1:1. Where two ratios are equal the tie-breaker is what else each currency can do for you: spend the one with the thinner list of alternative uses and keep the flexible one. Either way the transfer is one-way, so price the award night first. Both routes, with transfer timesWhat is the biggest mistake people make with Marriott Bonvoy?
Converting Bonvoy points to airline miles at 3:1, or bank points into Bonvoy at 1:1. Both are among the worst transfers published anywhere. It is the failure mode we see most often, and in a program with dynamic pricing there is no chart to fall back on when it goes wrong.