Oct 22, 2018, 11:18 am
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 Marriotts 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 Marriotts 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
May 30, 2021, 11:49 pm
#946
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 83
I am glad that others are seeing them as difficult to use too. I have been lucky in a few searches lately to find a few, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think the problem is for me is that $95 bucks for a $120 room while it is more, how much effort did I have to put in? If it is more than a few minutes of searching that isn't worth the headache. I shouldn't have to plan vacations around hotels for them to be useful. The idea is for the free night to offset the annual fee, which makes it not a "free night". We are also part of an exclusive club and most of us like to get max value out of our hobby. I do prefer aspiration properties, but I have no problem using my $49 IHG night(harder than it used to be) to offset some of the Aspiration properties, like if I'm staying in a city to catch a flight, doing a weekend trip with the guys or dog/wife. It really shouldn't be so difficult to use these.
I think Marriott is intentionally making these harder and agree they should be cat based. I prefer CAT 5 and below, but hell at this point I'd take Cat 4 and below if it was 100% going to work. I was leaning towards canceling my Marriott cards, but Wasknown gave me somethings to think about if I decide to do Thailand or something with my big trip next year. However, I'm considering having kids with my wife soon and if so it will mean US roadtrips, which means Marriott is extremely tough.
I do think Marriott is saying We want CASH, which I kind of understand after a Pandemic. They have always IMO been the most rigid hotel chain. Hilton's Aspire card is showing Hotels the value of going above and beyond. I understand for those who truly stay 100s of nights a year that it is a bummer. However, loyalty is a dying thing IMO. I tend to avoid being loyal as most places don't offer perks for loyalty. Cable/phone companies offer new customer discounts, not old customers. I used to be a huge Playstation/PC guy, but not I don't really care I used to be huge Android, company gave me free iphone was huge fan, now back to android and would go back to apple which I've had multiple times.
Loyalty is earned, but most companies only care about new customers. So its hard to be loyal imo. Loyalty with hotel chains is difficult, because of requirements and lack of perks. A lot of the high end perks don't matter to me.
Check out Miami in September it had some nice redemption if you're flexible.
I think Marriott is intentionally making these harder and agree they should be cat based. I prefer CAT 5 and below, but hell at this point I'd take Cat 4 and below if it was 100% going to work. I was leaning towards canceling my Marriott cards, but Wasknown gave me somethings to think about if I decide to do Thailand or something with my big trip next year. However, I'm considering having kids with my wife soon and if so it will mean US roadtrips, which means Marriott is extremely tough.
I do think Marriott is saying We want CASH, which I kind of understand after a Pandemic. They have always IMO been the most rigid hotel chain. Hilton's Aspire card is showing Hotels the value of going above and beyond. I understand for those who truly stay 100s of nights a year that it is a bummer. However, loyalty is a dying thing IMO. I tend to avoid being loyal as most places don't offer perks for loyalty. Cable/phone companies offer new customer discounts, not old customers. I used to be a huge Playstation/PC guy, but not I don't really care I used to be huge Android, company gave me free iphone was huge fan, now back to android and would go back to apple which I've had multiple times.
Loyalty is earned, but most companies only care about new customers. So its hard to be loyal imo. Loyalty with hotel chains is difficult, because of requirements and lack of perks. A lot of the high end perks don't matter to me.
Check out Miami in September it had some nice redemption if you're flexible.
May 31, 2021, 7:31 am
#947
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Manhattan, Palm Beach Island, San Francisco, Boston, & Hong Kong
Programs: Lifetime United Global Services, Delta Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador, & Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,165
I am glad that others are seeing them as difficult to use too. I have been lucky in a few searches lately to find a few, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think the problem is for me is that $95 bucks for a $120 room while it is more, how much effort did I have to put in? If it is more than a few minutes of searching that isn't worth the headache. I shouldn't have to plan vacations around hotels for them to be useful. The idea is for the free night to offset the annual fee, which makes it not a "free night". We are also part of an exclusive club and most of us like to get max value out of our hobby. I do prefer aspiration properties, but I have no problem using my $49 IHG night(harder than it used to be) to offset some of the Aspiration properties, like if I'm staying in a city to catch a flight, doing a weekend trip with the guys or dog/wife. It really shouldn't be so difficult to use these.
I think Marriott is intentionally making these harder and agree they should be cat based. I prefer CAT 5 and below, but hell at this point I'd take Cat 4 and below if it was 100% going to work. I was leaning towards canceling my Marriott cards, but Wasknown gave me somethings to think about if I decide to do Thailand or something with my big trip next year. However, I'm considering having kids with my wife soon and if so it will mean US roadtrips, which means Marriott is extremely tough.
I think Marriott is intentionally making these harder and agree they should be cat based. I prefer CAT 5 and below, but hell at this point I'd take Cat 4 and below if it was 100% going to work. I was leaning towards canceling my Marriott cards, but Wasknown gave me somethings to think about if I decide to do Thailand or something with my big trip next year. However, I'm considering having kids with my wife soon and if so it will mean US roadtrips, which means Marriott is extremely tough.
Im also not sure how it is so difficult to get value out of these certificates, even in the US. I took 2 minutes (as you can see from the timestamps below) searching in Miami, DC, and New York for the Fourth of July holiday and found many fine options for far more than $95 (or the $120 you cited). Im sure spending 5 minutes would reveal even more options.
We shouldnt pay Courtyard prices and expect a Ritz Carlton in return. However, you could get pretty close with minimal effort so long as you realize that flexibility is required. At this point, if you still dont find value in the certs, just cancel your Marriott CCs (or downgrade to the $0 AF option to preserve your credit history). I dont think your vacations will get any cheaper by doing this but to each their own. I will continue with my strategy on getting 2 Bonvoy Brilliants, 2 Ritz Carlton cards, and 1 Bonvoy Business card for 5 Marriott free night certificates each year (4 50K and 1 35K).
If we throw in the 40K FNC I choose with Titanium status, thats 6 FNCs every year. For me, thats 4 nights every year at a category 6 like the Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove in Miami for $150 a night. My 35K FNC costs more than yours ($125 vs $95) but I expect to get great value out of it (and the 40K FNC) for last minute weekend trips. In my opinion, its a pretty clear slam dunk. Do I also want more Hilton and Hyatt certs? Sure but there is a limit. Until I can get 50+ of those certs a year, Ill continue focusing on doubling up on Marriott and Hilton free certs whenever I can.
I think any argument against these FNCs would be against Marriott as a chain and Bonvoy as a program. There are many valid reasons to avoid them from that perspective. From a value point of view, I simply do not understand where you are coming from.
Last edited by WasKnown; May 31, 2021 at 7:53 am
May 31, 2021, 11:48 am
#948
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Charleston, SC, USA
Programs: Avis Pref+, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Life Gold, Honors Silver, IHG Plat via MC.
Posts: 6,786
Changing 35K to Cat. 5 regardless of peak would be nice. Another nice change would be to make them officially usable for a friend's stay, just as points now are, vs. the sneaky tactic of listing the real guest as 'second guest,' who then shows up without the cert. holder 
.
.
Jun 1, 2021, 8:25 pm
#949
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 233
Maybe it's my bad luck when it comes to cancelling reservations using CC free night certs. When I used to just cancel these reservations, the certs were never returned automatically, so I needed to call. Then, I learned about a work around here by modifying the reservation to points redemption before cancelling, but I was never able modify the reservations that I wanted to cancel, so I needed to call. Now, I have two reservations that I had been able to modify into points redemption, but the certs still didn't show up in my account until I called. Thus, so far, I need to call every single time I have changed my travel plans involving one of these certs. With many properties now requiring more than 35K per night, I am beginning to feel it may no longer be worth the effort to keep the CC.
LAX
LAX
Jun 1, 2021, 8:37 pm
#950
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,928
I just had the same problem. Needed to cancel a certificate reservation so I followed the advice in the wiki and switched to point redemption. The 30,000 points were deducted from my account but no certificate was redeposited. In Account Activity, it shows both a 30,000 point withdrawal and a 30,000 point refund but there was definitely no point refund. Hoping Twitter reps can work it out so I don't have to call and wait on hold for who-knows-how-long.
Jun 1, 2021, 8:59 pm
#951
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Carlsbad,CA USA
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanuim/Lifetime Platinum, Hilton Gold, United Silver
Posts: 1,534
What I am also finding is that once the room price approaches the 1 cent per point value the hotel does not offer reward rooms anymore even though standard rooms are available.
I did find a worthwhile use for one of my FNAs. At the Residence inn in Bozeman MT, the room rate was $350 plus tax for a studio and I used an SNA and got upgraded to a 2 bedroom/2bath room which would cost $488 with tax. Of course, it is a peak day so couldn't use my 25k award for the CAT 4 hotel and had to use my 35k award.
I did find a worthwhile use for one of my FNAs. At the Residence inn in Bozeman MT, the room rate was $350 plus tax for a studio and I used an SNA and got upgraded to a 2 bedroom/2bath room which would cost $488 with tax. Of course, it is a peak day so couldn't use my 25k award for the CAT 4 hotel and had to use my 35k award.
Jun 2, 2021, 3:49 pm
#953
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: None - previously UA
Posts: 4,864
Jun 4, 2021, 6:27 am
#955
Join Date: Apr 2021
Location: Manhattan, Palm Beach Island, San Francisco, Boston, & Hong Kong
Programs: Lifetime United Global Services, Delta Plat, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Ambassador, & Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,165
No one has a crystal ball that can predict future devaluations. But even if the value of Bonvoy points gets cut in half, Bonvoy credit card FNCs will still product positive value. $150 / night for a Miami Ritz Carlton cant last forever. :P
Jun 4, 2021, 7:28 am
#956
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 233
The Twitter team redeposited my certificate the next day after I answered a few questions. They wanted to know the property and dates in addition to the reservation confirmation number and my Bonvoy number.
Jun 5, 2021, 10:22 pm
#958
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 27
free night certificate for a friend
I know this has been asked before, but I was hoping to get some new data points given that it's been a while since this has been discussed.
Can someone talk about their experience making a booking with the certificate for a friend? My understanding is that YMMV. But, say my friend has a certificate that she's letting me use. She would need to make the booking herself, and then add my name to the reservation. When it's time for checkin, only I will be checking in of course, but it's up to the hotel if they'd let me check in without my friend also present.
It seems a little risky. Can people on the forum comment on their experience?
Can someone talk about their experience making a booking with the certificate for a friend? My understanding is that YMMV. But, say my friend has a certificate that she's letting me use. She would need to make the booking herself, and then add my name to the reservation. When it's time for checkin, only I will be checking in of course, but it's up to the hotel if they'd let me check in without my friend also present.
It seems a little risky. Can people on the forum comment on their experience?
Jun 6, 2021, 2:54 am
#959
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Saipan, MP 96950 USA (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands = the CNMI)
Programs: UA Silver, Hilton Silver. Life: UA .57 MM, United & Admirals Clubs (spousal), Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,049
That is very risky, because it is against the express terms and conditions of the Free Night Certificate (FNC).
The safer way to do that is to have the person in whose name the certificate is issued be present at check-in, after which they can go on their merry way.
Only try the "solo giftee" approach if check-in denial will not cause too great a disruption of your plans. Also, I am not sure about the consequences to the account holder if this attempt is foiled.
The legitimate way to share Marriott Bonv°y largesse is through point redemptions (which are "transferable" by issuance in the recepient's name) rather than FNCs (which are not transferable).
The safer way to do that is to have the person in whose name the certificate is issued be present at check-in, after which they can go on their merry way.
Only try the "solo giftee" approach if check-in denial will not cause too great a disruption of your plans. Also, I am not sure about the consequences to the account holder if this attempt is foiled.
The legitimate way to share Marriott Bonv°y largesse is through point redemptions (which are "transferable" by issuance in the recepient's name) rather than FNCs (which are not transferable).
Jun 7, 2021, 12:26 am
#960
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Earth
Posts: 33
This was the best offer. 2nd best was at launch when they offered $0 first year annual fee, 100k points, $95 second year annual fee.
Then standard offer was 100k, no waiver on initial annual fee.
Also, the 15 elite nights on this card are stackable with those received from a personal card.
With the 50% elite nights given to all members, those who held the business card and one of the personal ones had 55 elite nights without staying a single night in both 2020 and 2021.
For those who had the Bonvoy Brilliant prior to the pandemic, it meant only 8 nights were required in 2020 to hit Platinum.
If one also held the business card, those measly 8 nights in 2020 automatically requalified you for Platinum through Feb 2023... Crazy!
Marriott Platinum will be the new Hilton Diamond for the next year or so...
Last edited by Cplusplus; Jun 7, 2021 at 12:34 am