ToP-Off Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Certificates
As of today, you can now ToP-off your Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Certificates (FNC) with up to 25,000 Bonvoy Points. This is in addition to the value of the Free Night Certificate. This is a welcome change since it expands the properties for which a Free Night Certificate should be available to book.
Let's discuss.
How to Get FNCs
As we discuss extensively here on the blog, Bonvoy Free Night Certificates come automatically with a variety of Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards. To quickly summarize, these Free Night Certificates come in the following intervals:
- 35,000 point certificates as cardmember anniversary benefits on certain credit cards
- 40,000 point certificate available as a Marriott Annual Choice Benefit for achieving Titanium Elite Status
- 50,000 point certificates as cardmember anniversary benefits, or as part of a welcome offer, on certain credit cards
- 85,000 point certificates as cardmember anniversary benefits on the top-tier credit cards
How to ToP-off Your FNCs
Previously, these certificates could only be topped off with 15,000 points, effectively capping the value at 50,000, 55,000, 65,000 or 100,000 points per night respectively. Now with this increase, they can be worth up to 60,000, 65,000, 75,000, and 110,000 respectively. Since Marriott has dynamic pricing, I've often noticed that a property will be priced just out of reach of the prior 35,000 or 50,000 + 15,000 limit. Often when making a redemption I will see nights for 51,000 or 66,000 points per night, for example.
As noted, Marriott's award chart is fully dynamic which means that prices can fluctuate widely with the cash prices. This makes it harder to notice when a devaluation occurs. It also makes it harder to be sure that you're getting the absolute best rate possible. And while this is good news, I am mildly concerned that change will just drive the award redemption cost up further.
ToP-Off Marriott Bonvoy Free Night Certificates: ToP Thoughts
Are these new upper limits of points for a Free Night Certificate a good thing or a bad thing? The glass half-full approach is opening access to more hotels with these certificates is always a good thing. The glass half-empty approach is that Marriott knows the old 15,000 point ToP-off cap is too small, due to devaluation after devaluation. Your points are certainly worth less than a few years ago, so a policy change was required. The honest answer is a mix of both of these, we're afraid. You have more access to use Free Night Certificates, but these perks (and the points) are constantly being devalued over time.
Will this change how you plan to redeem your Free Night Certificates? Come tell us in the ToP Facebook group.
