Last edit by: rrgg
If you need to cancel a reservation booked using a free night certificate, follow the process in this post before cancelling to avoid potentially losing your certificate. If the certificate is lost it should be re-enstatable by Marriott customer service, but it may take a while and require some extra work on your part.
Certificate “top-off” is available as of April 30th: and discussed in a separate thread. Marriott has announced that starting “in early 2022,” members will be able to combine free-night certs with up to 15,000 points when making redemptions. See the FT thread discussing the 10/26/21 announcements and Marriott’s FAQ for current info.
EXTENDING AN EXPIRING CERTIFICATE:
Before 18 Aug 2018, Chase issued certificates good for specific categories of hotels. Post 18 Aug 2018, all certificates have been converted or will be issued at a specific level of points. SPG AMEX and Ritz Carlton credit cards have also begun to issue certs.
25K points - lower level certificates
35K points - higher level certificates
50K points - luxury level certificates
Marriott will introduce peak and non peak levels for hotels after 1 Jan 2019. Certificates will be capped at the points level where they can be redeemed rather than for a specific category of hotel. Thus, if a hotel is 25K at the non peak level and the peak level is higher, it cannot be booked in the peak level window.
Nine co-branded credit cards offer an annual free night worth up to 85,000 points:
NEW EXTENSION OF CERTIFICATES announced in October 2021:
The expiration date on certificates this year is pushed to 1/31/21.
Certificate “top-off” is available as of April 30th: and discussed in a separate thread. Marriott has announced that starting “in early 2022,” members will be able to combine free-night certs with up to 15,000 points when making redemptions. See the FT thread discussing the 10/26/21 announcements and Marriott’s FAQ for current info.
EXTENDING AN EXPIRING CERTIFICATE:
- A blogger reported that as of 12/7/2023 Marriott removed the internal tool to extend an FNA, so it may or may not still be possible.
- Your best chance for an extension is to call Marriott within 1 month of the expiration and consider having a specific property and date in mind to book. It's not necessary but even without one in mind, pick something you might use and change it later. 1-800-MARRIOT
- Most importantly, have a good reason for needing the extension, like illness or injury.
- If granted, the new expiration date is 1 year from the date of the request. You cannot get a 2nd extension on the same certificate, meaning the maximum life of a certificate is 2 years.
- If not granted, some have luck by calling later a few times.
- In 2022, Marriott seemed to deny all extension requests except a few exceptions such as here, here, and here. They may be allowing some again in 2023.
Before 18 Aug 2018, Chase issued certificates good for specific categories of hotels. Post 18 Aug 2018, all certificates have been converted or will be issued at a specific level of points. SPG AMEX and Ritz Carlton credit cards have also begun to issue certs.
25K points - lower level certificates
35K points - higher level certificates
50K points - luxury level certificates
Marriott will introduce peak and non peak levels for hotels after 1 Jan 2019. Certificates will be capped at the points level where they can be redeemed rather than for a specific category of hotel. Thus, if a hotel is 25K at the non peak level and the peak level is higher, it cannot be booked in the peak level window.
Nine co-branded credit cards offer an annual free night worth up to 85,000 points:
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card (formerly Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Credit Card from American Express) - up to 85K (Second with $60k spend)
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (formerly Rewards Premier Plus) Credit Card - up to 35K
- Marriott Bonvoy Premier (formerly Rewards Premier) - up to 25K
- Marriott Bonvoy from American Express (formerly Preferred Guest) - up to 35K
- Marriott Bonvoy Business from American Express (formerly Preferred Guest Business) - up to 35K
- Marriott Rewards Business Premier Plus Credit Card - up to 35K
- Ritz Carlton Rewards - up to 85K
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy - up to 50k (with $15k spend)
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful - up to 50k (with $15k spend)
- Amex credit card free night certificates are issued 2 months after the anniversary date of the credit card. For example if the Brilliant fee posts 7/1, the certificate is available in your Marriott account on 9/1. Chase FNA certificates can appear much sooner, within 1 week.
- The certificate expires one year after it is issued. You must complete your stay by the expiration date.
- Can NOT be combined with a 3-night award to get a "Stay for 5, Pay for 4" award.
- Can be used for a standard room only
- Cannot be used for "redemption with cash upgrade" or any points and cash combination
- According to Marriott's terms, points reservations can be gifted to another person but certificates earned from a credit card cannot. This means the certificate owner (cardholder) must check-in even if someone else is listed as a guest on the reservation. In some cases a property has given leeway and allowed just the guest to check-in anyway without the certificate owner present, but it is risky to depend on this.
- If you use "top-off" with a certificate and the room price later decreases, you can modify the reservation to rebook the same date and recover the difference in top-off points.
- If you made a reservation with a FNA and want to know its expiration date, you can find it by editing the reservation as described at this link.
- If you downgrade the Amex Brilliant to the $95 Amex Bonvoy card, you can still get your anniversary FNA.
- Search for a points booking at an eligible hotel and the option to use the certificate a replacement for some of the required points should appear during the booking process
- Some have had trouble booking certificates from the 2020 credit card offer to get 5 free nights. In that case, try this website for booking: https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/red...free-nights.mi
- Officially Marriott allows gifting of points awards but not gifting of free night certificates from credit cards. For the latter, your name will still need to be the reservation. Whether the property requires you to be present for check-in may depend on the hotel.
- If you have 2 certificates of different value and try to redeem one, the Marriott website offers the one expiring first. If that's not what you want, work around this issue by making a dummy booking with that certificate. Then book the real reservation with the desired certificate. Then cancel the dummy. Be sure to pay attention to any cancellation terms since a few properties are more strict than others.
NEW EXTENSION OF CERTIFICATES announced in October 2021:
- Free night awards, Suite night awards, and travel certificates will be given a new expiration date of June 30, 2022
- The Marriott Bonvoy app shows the original issue date of your free night certificates. Go to Account -> Free Night Certificates to find the issue date in small print above each certificate. It's unlikely you have a certificate that won't be extended. If you don't see the issue date in the app, you'll have to wait for the actual extension to happen to check the new expiration.
- Expiration of points is paused through December 31, 2022. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months
- In March 2022, Marriott will eliminate hotel categories and use variable point pricing for awards. Only a small number will be affected at first, so you won't see an immediate sweep of all properties at once.
- "Starting May 6, members who had a FNA with an original expiration date in 2020, or which will expire before January 2, 2022, as part of their Cobrand Credit Card Benefit, Annual Choice Benefit, promotions or travel package will be able to redeem it through January 3, 2022.
- Please note that FNAs with an original expiration date before 2020 will not be eligible for the additional extension. Members do not need to take any action because the system will automatically update their account with these extensions on May 6, 2021."
The expiration date on certificates this year is pushed to 1/31/21.
- “...Members who currently have an active Free Night Award (FNA) expiring in 2020 as part of their credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions or travel package will be able to use it through January 31, 2021.”
- Expiration dates will be updated by the end of April, giving priority to those expiring soonest.
- If yours will expire within just a couple days, contact a Marriott representative here by private message.
Marriott Branded Credit Cards Free Night Certificate FNA Discussion Thread
#706
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: ORF
Programs: UA Silver, MR titanium
Posts: 2,020
Just wanted to let some of you know, I have 6 free night a one 7 night cert and 4 of them expired Jan 31, called MR and asked for them to be extended, they extended them one year from when i called ,on sept 24 and 27, so all my 4 Jan 31 certs now expire in Sept.
not sure if that has been discussed
not sure if that has been discussed
#707
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
Just wanted to let some of you know, I have 6 free night a one 7 night cert and 4 of them expired Jan 31, called MR and asked for them to be extended, they extended them one year from when i called ,on sept 24 and 27, so all my 4 Jan 31 certs now expire in Sept.
not sure if that has been discussed
not sure if that has been discussed
#708
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA
Programs: OZ Diamond
Posts: 6,134
Just wanted to let some of you know, I have 6 free night a one 7 night cert and 4 of them expired Jan 31, called MR and asked for them to be extended, they extended them one year from when i called ,on sept 24 and 27, so all my 4 Jan 31 certs now expire in Sept.
not sure if that has been discussed
not sure if that has been discussed
LAX
#709
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,220
I recently tried and was told "no", so I just used one for a one-night staycation near home. It was ok, kind of a waste, really. I used to be able to find good uses for them but with not traveling much now I'm got a bunch piled up, too...starting to rethink having 2 of these credit cards, still have 4 more to use.
Let us know how you make out, LAX.
Let us know how you make out, LAX.
#710
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: Hyatt Glb, MR Plat
Posts: 2,577
No, but AFAIK the fee and the cert don't post on the same date. There is a thread for the Amex card here.
Annual Fee Retention Bonus - Marriott Bonvoy Amex
Just read the last few pages to see that some people have been able to get the fee reimbursed. But you have to call in.
Annual Fee Retention Bonus - Marriott Bonvoy Amex
Just read the last few pages to see that some people have been able to get the fee reimbursed. But you have to call in.
Chase always posts AF on the first of the month FOLLOWING the anniversary date. Program always posts FN cert around / right after the anniversary date.
Unless your anniversary date happens to also be the first business day of the month, your AF posting date would never be the same as the FN cert posting date.
AMEX does not issue FN cert until the 2nd or even 3rd month after the AF is billed AND paid. Those whose AF dates are in August seem to always have trouble getting their FN certs posted correctly. August was the month AMEX / BonVoy made changes on earning structure etc etc.
Unless your anniversary date happens to also be the first business day of the month, your AF posting date would never be the same as the FN cert posting date.
AMEX does not issue FN cert until the 2nd or even 3rd month after the AF is billed AND paid. Those whose AF dates are in August seem to always have trouble getting their FN certs posted correctly. August was the month AMEX / BonVoy made changes on earning structure etc etc.
#711
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DUB-BOS
Programs: various
Posts: 3,690
Now that Hyatt have extended everything through 2021, I wonder will Marriott do the same...........or have we first to wait for Hilton, IHG, Radisson, Choice, Accor, Wyndham and Aunt Hilda's B&B to extend their benefits, before Marriott begin to move
#712
Join Date: Oct 2015
Programs: HH Dia, Marriott Titanium, AA Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 192
#713
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
I had an Amex free night award that was issued in Nov 2019, expiring in Jan 2021 which was attached to a reservation. I decided to cancel the reservation without detaching the cert first to see if I could get a free extension. As I expected, the cert was not returned to my account. After waiting a few hours, I called CS. The agent kindly put the cert back in my account with the original expiry date of Jan 2021. I asked if they were going to be extending these certs. Agent said "Yes, no problem, I can extend it right now" and I see my cert is now valid until Oct 8/21. (Might be a good idea to wait another month or 2 if you are going to be asking for an extension.)
No idea if the TP certs will be this easy.
No idea if the TP certs will be this easy.
#714
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA
Programs: OZ Diamond
Posts: 6,134
Has anyone heard any rumors that Marriott may further extend these certs now that Hyatt (I believe Hilton, too) has extended most (if not all) free night certs thru the end of 2021?
LAX
LAX
#716
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: whatever comes with CCs
Posts: 1,082
Free night certificate not returned after reservation cancelled
I cancelled a reservation made using a free night certificate that expires January 2021. I'm well outside the cancellation windows. The free night cert didn't come back to my account after cancellation. Did anybody have a similar issue? I hate to call Marriott because the reps are so clueless.
#717
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 188
I cancelled a reservation made using a free night certificate that expires January 2021. I'm well outside the cancellation windows. The free night cert didn't come back to my account after cancellation. Did anybody have a similar issue? I hate to call Marriott because the reps are so clueless.
#718
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: whatever comes with CCs
Posts: 1,082
#719
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Seat 2A
Programs: AA EXP LT GLD 1MM, BA GLD, NH/UA*G, Hyatt Dia, Marr Tit LT PLT, IHG Spire,HH Dia, MGM NOIR,Hertz PC
Posts: 10,571
I cancelled a reservation made using a free night certificate that expires January 2021. I'm well outside the cancellation windows. The free night cert didn't come back to my account after cancellation. Did anybody have a similar issue? I hate to call Marriott because the reps are so clueless.
Certs sometime take ~ 24h to be returned. Only in once case where a hotel already checked me in but I didn't like the room and left the hotel they couldn't return my cert and customer service deposited 35k for me instead. Obviously I had to call for that and in my opinion the agents know exactly what there is to do. If you think Marriott agents are clueless try Hilton!
#720
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,521
I cancelled a reservation made using a free night certificate that expires January 2021. I'm well outside the cancellation windows. The free night cert didn't come back to my account after cancellation. Did anybody have a similar issue? I hate to call Marriott because the reps are so clueless.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...thread-48.html