While it's common to fixate on the amazing flight redemptions you can obtain through travel programs like Aeroplan or one of the Amex transfer partners, you're going to need somewhere to stay once you get off of your champagne fueled business class trans-oceanic flight, so you might as well make the most of it.
There are quite a large number of hotel rewards programs with varying reach both in terms of geography and type of hotel. Examples include Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Choice, Wyndham, Best Western, I Prefer, Shangri-La, and more. In this article we will be talking about a favourite in Canada, Marriott Bonvoy, and making the case for why you should consider making it your primary hotel rewards program.
As always, disclaimers and referrals are at the bottom of the article, but a special note - if you are not yet a Bonvoy member, don't rush to sign up quite yet. You can double dip by getting a referral to the program before getting subsequent credit card bonuses. This referral system requires me to generate a referral email for you, and is limited to only a handful of referrals a year - so if you're interested reach out to me so we can discuss it makes sense for you and you can end up with an extra 10k points.
Marriott
Marriott is an absolutely massive network of hotels with over 8700 properties across the world. Their 36 brands ranging from the affordable like Residence Inn or Towneplace Suites, to the aspirational like The Ritz Carlton or St. Regis. More recently they've further expanded by adding the homes and villas program for those seeking vacation homes for more privacy or an experience closer to Airbnb.
Bonvoy
Marriott's reward program is free to join, but as mentioned above if not already a member reach out to me for a link to get an extra 10,000 points. Like most other rewards programs, progressive tiers with increasingly difficult to reach requirements and increasingly valuable benefits await those who are willing to concentrate their business under one brand. The premise is straight forwards, a symbiotic relationship where they secure the most valuable customers, and your patronage is rewarded.
Free Tier
Unsurprisingly the base benefits are pretty limited, free in room wifi (shouldn't this be the norm anyways?), slight discounted room rates, and mobile check in/services. At this tier you'll earn 10 bonvoy points (BP) per USD spent on base room rates.
Silver Elite
Unlocked with 10 nights stay, you'll now earn 11BP per USD on base rate and have the possibility of free late checkout.
Gold Elite
25 nights, 12.5BP per USD on base rate and have possibility of a room upgrade and 2pm late checkout based on availability.
Platinum Elite
50 nights, 15BP per USD on base rate, even better chance at room upgrades and even later checkout (4pm), and where available free breakfast and lounge access.
Titanium Elite
75 nights, 17.5BP per USD on base rate, the same benefits as Platinum and a 48hr guarantee of availability.
Ambassador Elite
100 nights AND at least $23,000 USD in spend, the ability to choose the 24hr window for your stay and the above benefits.
Lifetime Silver - 250 nights and 5 years as Silver Elite or higher
Lifetime Gold - 400 nights and 7 years as Gold Elite or higher
Lifetime Platinum - 600 nights and 10 years as Platinum or higher
If you're like me, you probably have a few questions after that:
what are these points worth?
can I combine this with other programs to get even more benefit?
Point Value
Like so many other rewards programs currently, Bonvoy employs a dynamic pricing system to their rewards redemptions. That means that each point has a variable value depending on how flexible you can be in when and where you travel to. Lets look at some examples based on a previous trip to Poland.
The first property costs a total of ~$482 CAD for 2 nights when booked at a flexible member rate with taxes included, giving a redemption value of 0.61 cents per point (cpp). The second instead has a redemption value of 0.97 cpp (side note I stayed at this property and it was great!). Two other properties at around 0.6 and 1cpp were also available. Note: Your desire and willingness to maximize the value of your redemptions will make a big impact on how you value any point multiplier, the base membership 10x points when redeemed at 0.6cpp is like getting 6% back while redeeming it at 1cpp is like getting 10% back. It is reasonable to target a value of over 0.8cpp overall.
Marriott also has a Stay for 5, Pay for 4 program which can further enhance your cpp value for longer stays as they will drop the fee of the cheapest night when staying 5+ nights (the cheapest 2 if staying over 10 nights). TIP: if you were only planning on staying for 4 nights, still book 5, and use it as a late checkout the final day plus an extra night towards your lifetime status, just use mobile checkout to checkout the next day.
A popular approach is to pay with cash for routine stays and work trips, and accumulate points for aspirational redemptions you'd otherwise struggle to justify paying cash for and they often have a higher than average value for the redemption. Marriott has such an extensive portfolio that the list of these is long, such as the St. Regis in the Maldives.
Or perhaps the Al Maha in Dubai
Status Fast Track
The ability to fast track your status through credit cards is one of the reasons why the Bonvoy program is so popular in Canada. Unlike the US we have very few hotel cobranded credit card and only two non-cobranded card that comes to mind that gives elevated status.
$120 Annual fee (AF)
50k BP sign up bonus (SUB) for spending $1500 in 3 months
Earn rate
5x on marriott purchases (unlike the membership multiplier this isn't per USD base rate, this is per CAD total rate)
2x on everything else
Complimentary Silver status
15 Elite night credits towards upgrading to higher status and towards unlocking lifetime status
An annual certificate for a free night up to 35,000 points (that can be topped up to 50,000 with your own points)
Given a reasonable point value of 0.8cpp and up, this gives a sign up bonus worth $400, 4% back on Marriott purchases, and an annual certificate worth $280. The certificate alone is reason enough to keep the card long term, which is why I consider this a definite Keeper Card. The business version of the card is very similar with a few small differences.
$150 Annual fee (AF)
60k BP sign up bonus (SUB) for spending $5000 in 3 months
Earn rate
5x on marriott purchases
3x on gas, dining, and travel
2x on everything else
Complimentary Silver status
15 Elite night credits towards upgrading to higher status and towards unlocking lifetime status
Annual 35k certificate
Note that for Canadian cards the elite night credits do not stack, which is to say you can't just open both versions of this card to get 30 credits and unlock Gold status, however you will get the second free night award!
While not co-branded cards, it is important to also call out that both the Amex Platinum and Business Platinum come with immediate Gold status, but no elite night credits towards higher status or lifetime status, and if you consider that Amex MR points convert 1:1.2 to Bonvoy (sometimes 1:1.56 during promos), the Cobalt card can earn 6-7.8 bonvoy points per dollar on food
US Bonvoy Cards
For those looking to take benefits to the next level, you can also turn to US cards. While it can be difficult for Canadians to establish the appropriate setup to apply broadly for American Credit cards, Amex makes it easy for Canadians who already have a credit history with them here in Canada. This is why Amex is the most commonly recommended way to break into the US credit card market - read my article on the topic. The US market has several benefits over the Canadian one for Bonvoy, for example the business card elite credits stack with the personal ones incentivizing you to hold both. It's not all better on the other side of the border however, the US Bonvoy Bevy card may come with instant Gold status, but the free night award is only unlocked after $15k of spending (this one is worth 50k points), and the annual fee is $250 USD. Those who are determined to have platinum elite status could instead look to the american Bonvoy Brilliant which comes with instant platinum status, 25 elite night credits, an annual free night award worth 85k points, and numerous statement credits to help offset its eyewatering $650 USD annual fee. That said, the free breakfast, lounge access, and fast track to lifetime platinum status make this card worth considering once you've decided Bonvoy is for you.
Combining both the US Bonvoy Business and a US personal card will stack elite night credits every year bringing Titanium status and lifetime silver/gold/platinum into reach.
My recommendation? If you're new, pick up either of the Canadian cards first, shortly before a trip where you will organically hit their sign up bonuses, then gradually ramp up from there as your travel experience evolves. Even if you already hold an Amex Platinum card giving you Gold Elite status, it is worth adding a Bonvoy card for the free night alone, and beyond that the effective 4% earn rate on Bonvoy properties is higher than you're likely to get on any of your other cards in this spend category. Then once you've decided that Bonvoy is for you, expand into the US market with their higher tier cards.
Combining Programs for More Rewards
For those looking to further amp up their earnings, Marriott Bonvoy is a merchant on the Aeroplan eStore (so is the Marriott Homes and Villas program) which means you can earn additional Aeroplan points on top of everything else. This means if you have an Amex Bonvoy card (with associated silver elite status) you'd be earning 11x BP per USD base room rate, 5x BP per CAD total price, and the eStore multiplier (typically 2x, but 4x if 25K status with Aeroplan) on the price before taxes!
Conclusion
The Amex Bonvoy cards can consistently provide value greater than their annual fees provided you stay at least one night a year at a Bonvoy property. Add to that status elevation and enhanced earning, and it's a no brainer to pick one up, the sign up bonus just sweetens the deal. If you're new to Bonvoy I can also get you a code for a bonus up to 10k bonvoy points on top of your credit card sign up bonuses, just reach out to let me know you're interested before you sign up for anything. Plus check out my article on hotel bookings to see how this can stack with the eStore for Aeroplan earning.
Referral links
Want free hotel stays? Get the Amex Bonvoy, or if you'd rather, the business version of the card (or both).
With its best in market 5x multiplier Amex Cobalt is a powerful point earner that can get you on flying for free 5 times faster than much of the competition - sign up here. Even if you're solely interested in hotel rewards, these points can be converted to Marriott points and out earn the Marriott cards on food purchases.
To see the access the best offers for different Amex card such as the Business Gold, or Platinum click here.
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If you're on the fence, or wondering about other cards reach out to me for a free consult, and if you sign up for a card through my link, let me know and I will walk you through advanced tricks and personalized advice to help you get the maximum benefit both from earning and redeeming points - getting your travel journey going faster than you ever thought possible.
Check out my Keeper Cards series to see other cards worth exploring
Disclaimer
These posts are all made in good intentions and are to the best of my ability accurate at the time of writing. That said, the official terms and conditions and current sign up bonuses should be verified and interpreted in the context of your personal financial situation.
