Marriott Bonvoy made the brutal transition towards dynamic award pricing on 29 March 2022. To soften the blow a tiny bit, the hotel loyalty program announced that members will be able to combine Free Night Awards with up to 15,000 points.
What are Free Night Awards?
Free Night Awards (FNAs) are free night certificates that members can use to redeem for free nights in Marriott Bonvoy properties.
FNAs always have points value, for a cap to the award price that you can redeem for.
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How to earn Marriott’s Free Night Award?
Members can earn FNAs through the following methods:
- Staying at least 75 nights* in a calendar year (40k points cap)
- Sign up for a Marriott-branded credit card (up to 85k points cap, some countries only)
* Members do not necessarily need to stay 75 nights, if they stay during a Double Elite Night promotion. Marriott credit cardholders are also able to get up to 30 Elite nights just by applying for selected Marriott Bonvoy credit cards.
Key points to note
- Top up your Free Night Award with up to 15,000 points (worth US$90)
- Points top off can only be done on marriott.com (not in the mobile app)
- Top off can only be applied to Standard Rooms
- Suite Night Awards can still be used for FNAs with top ups
Bottom line
Up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points can now be used to top off Free Night Awards.
This means that members with a 40k FNA can still redeem for great (previously Category 6) properties, albeit while draining their points wallet to pay for the effects of dynamic award pricing.
Related: 24 best hotels to redeem your Marriott Bonvoy 40k free night award for MAXIMUM value
I hope to see the loyalty program remove the 15k cap in future.
Also, it will be interesting to observe future sales of Marriott Bonvoy points as they are worth less now, compared to what they were a few months ago.