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
#136
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: COS
Programs: UA Gold/1.5MM (several years running now!), Marriott LTTE, Hertz Prez
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#137
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
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i would never use a 35k cert for a $165 rate....i have 2 certs & am expecting 2 more from my amex cards that should post shortly....i'm scheduled to be in new york for 4 nights in august where the property i am looking at is going for an average rate of $473 a night....i'm looking to use the certs for 4 nights then....
And yes, cert stays do count as nights towards both annual and LT status, so if you do have one with an imminent expiration, better to do a mattress run to a nearby hotel to get the night credit, than to let it just expire.
#138
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
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Posts: 29,678
that's exactly why i said i would not use the cert in that situation....i never said others shouldn't....
Last edited by Keyser; Mar 17, 2019 at 11:50 am
#139
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
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Posts: 29,678
I would never redeem 35K points for a $165 stay, but as others have pointed out, the certs expire. Put simply, the best use of the cert is the most expensive night you plan to stay in the time before the cert expires. If I think there's a good chance I may not have a more expensive stay before then, I would rather redeem for $165 and get less than ideal value, than to see the cert end up expiring.
for me personally, that won't make a difference....i'm already lifetime titanium & easily cross 100 nights a year....but i agree that for most it would make sense to do a free mattress run rather than let the cert expire....
#140
Join Date: Feb 2001
Programs: IHG Diamond, HH Diamond, BW Diamond Select, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,228
Calculating value has many variables. If a Marriott is $250/night and another hotel a block away that's just as good is $150/night, can you really say you're saving $250 by using a cert at the Marriott? You could convince yourself it is, but I'd say it's not. Added to that, promotions may reward multiple night stays. Redeeming points for multiples of 5 nights is better value than other numbers.
As a result of those two factors, I tend to use free night certs for one-night stays which don't have a variety of other options and which I can't extend to multiple nights, such as a single night at an airport when in transit.
#141
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards (SE), Virgin America Elevate, Hyatt Gold Passport (Platinum), VIA Preference
Posts: 3,134
fair enough....i have actually had a couple of certs expire in the past because i never got the chance to use them....
for me personally, that won't make a difference....i'm already lifetime titanium & easily cross 100 nights a year....but i agree that for most it would make sense to do a free mattress run rather than let the cert expire....
for me personally, that won't make a difference....i'm already lifetime titanium & easily cross 100 nights a year....but i agree that for most it would make sense to do a free mattress run rather than let the cert expire....
In my case, I use them for "flight disaster insurance" (getting shunted to a late arriving flight) in some destinations (WAS, SEA, and occasionally MCO). My Marriott status cert covered a $500 hotel room in DC last month while my Hyatt CC cert covered a $250+ room at the MCO Hyatt Regency vs a $75 card.
#142
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,678
In my case, I use them for "flight disaster insurance" (getting shunted to a late arriving flight) in some destinations (WAS, SEA, and occasionally MCO). My Marriott status cert covered a $500 hotel room in DC last month while my Hyatt CC cert covered a $250+ room at the MCO Hyatt Regency vs a $75 card.
#143
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
In my case, I use them for "flight disaster insurance" (getting shunted to a late arriving flight) in some destinations (WAS, SEA, and occasionally MCO). My Marriott status cert covered a $500 hotel room in DC last month while my Hyatt CC cert covered a $250+ room at the MCO Hyatt Regency vs a $75 card.
#144
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards (SE), Virgin America Elevate, Hyatt Gold Passport (Platinum), VIA Preference
Posts: 3,134
I don’t understand the point of saving them. Why not use them at the earliest opportunity when you make a 35K pt redemption? Certs expire, points don’t (with activity in your account). Your pts can just as easily bail you out in case of a flight disaster and you might only need 25K pts for an airport hotel. Am I missing something?
#145
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,518
One positive (for me) of the merger is that the SPG card now offers a free night, which means I'll get two each year, and I generally have more 2 night stays than single nighters. So it'll be nice to be able to combine. But once you get into the 4-5 night range, I think you're better off using points instead of certs, since a points stay offers 5th night free, while a cert stay doesn't.
#146
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 31
When should I expect my 1st annual free night cert.?
Hi, I opened my Amex personal SPG (U.S.) cared back on 1/25/2017 and just paid my Amex annual fee for this card on 3/13/2019. When should I expect the free annual night cert. to appear in my Marriott account? Thanks!
#147
Moderator, Marriott Bonvoy & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: McKinney, TX, USA
Programs: United Silver; AA Plat/2MM; Marriott LT Titanium; Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,727
I'm in a similar boat as you with my card renewal in January. And I haven't yet seen my free night cert either. But in reading through this thread, it looks like Amex will send the certs out a month or 2 after you pay the annual fee. I assume doing it that way ensures people don't wait for the cert and then cancel the card before paying the annual fee.
#148
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
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Posts: 15,521
Free night posts on the 2nd of the month 60-90 dates after your renewal date.
#149
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,518
So I think it's 30-64 days after the fee. (Fee date Jan 31 on the low end of that range, July 1 on the high end).
#150
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
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Posts: 15,521
The data points I've seen are all the 2nd of the 2nd month after the fee posts (when you pay the bill doesn't matter). If March 18 was the date the fee posts, then expect the cert May 2.
So I think it's 30-64 days after the fee. (Fee date Jan 31 on the low end of that range, July 1 on the high end).
So I think it's 30-64 days after the fee. (Fee date Jan 31 on the low end of that range, July 1 on the high end).