Travel Inspiration: How the MMS Team Has Used Marriott Points for Free Stays (and How You Can Too!)

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It’s great to earn lots of Marriott points by meeting minimum spending requirements on cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (its 100,000-point offer ends today, April 24, 2019).  But actually using them is the next and most exciting piece of the puzzle.

To help inspire you, I’ve put together a short list of the Million Mile Secrets team’s most recent Marriott redemptions.

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Have Marriott points, will travel!

3 Ideas for Using Your Marriott Points

1.  Weekend Getaway

Team member Joseph treated himself and his fiancee to a mini getaway at the Hotel LeVeque, Autograph Collection in Colombus, Ohio, just the other weekend.  While nights at the hotel can easily cost $300, his stay cost nothing thanks to Marriott points and an anniversary free night certificate he earned with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.

The card’s free night certificate is valid at participating hotels costing 35,000 Marriott points or less and is available every year after your account anniversary.

Here’s our full review of the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card.

2.  Exotic Escape

Just a few months ago my family and I traveled to Thailand for two weeks.  We stayed at Marriott hotels in Bangkok and Koh Samui.

We spent six luxurious nights at the Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa in Thailand.  Rooms here can easily cost $500 or more, but you can get a free night for just 35,000 Marriott points. (Plus, don’t forget you get the 5th night free on award stays!)

We also spent two nights at the 5-star Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit, with its convenient location and fantastic rooftop/poolside bar.  This category 4 hotel costs just 25,000 Marriott points per night and is well worth it.  The view from the rooftop bar is one of the most amazing cityscapes I’ve ever experienced.

3.  Hawaiian Honeymoon

My teammate Jesse and his wife spent their honeymoon at the Courtyard by Marriott Kaua’i at Coconut Beach thanks to a Marriott Hotel + Air package he’d purchased before the Starwood-Marriott merger (when these packages were a much better deal).

Post-merger, you’d be better off spending the 25,000 Marriott points per night to stay at the category 4 property. (Earning the 100,000-point welcome bonus after spending $5,000 in the first three months on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card would give you enough for 4 free nights, and you’d get the 5th night free!)

Saying “Aloha!” to paradise is easier than you might think with the help of Marriott rewards points!

Marriott has 35 hotels in Hawaii, so regardless of your points budget you’ve got plenty of options when seeking out an award stay.

For in-depth information, tips, and tricks for the Marriott Bonvoy program check out these guides:

For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter.

Meghan Hunter is an editor for Million Mile Secrets. She covers points, miles, credit cards, airlines, hotels and general travel. Her work has also appeared in The Points Guy.

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

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