Originally Posted by
craigthemif
You make the reservation in your name and list her as a secondary guest who will be checking in before you. Have the charge put on your credit card, the one used to hold the reservation.
If the hotel finds out that you aren't there and/or your wife pays, you could end up missing out on the points / night credit / etc. In nightmare scenarios, the hotel notices that you never showed up and makes a fuss with Bonvoy and your account could be audited / shut down.
While
craigthemif is correct on the rules of the program and the possible consequences, I think the likelihood of a bad outcome for a domestic (USA) stay is very small. I am not encouraging the OP to break the rules. Rather, just giving an educated opinion on the level of risk.
If you want to follow the letter of the law, for cash reservations, book it from your account and change the name over to your wife (edit guest information). For reward stays, also book it from your account, add your wife as an additional guest, and call MR or the hotel to change the primary guest on the reservation over to your wife. With either of the above techniques, you have a decent chance the hotel will still grant your elite privileges to your wife as a courtesy even though you're not staying.
--Jon