Time to post points
 

I checked out of a Marriott hotel Friday and today is Sunday and points haven’t posted yet. Oddly, if I take an uber and get points, they arrive within hours. Starwood used to post most stays by the next day, which makes sense since they often do it in a nightly process, but why is it usually taking about 3-4 days for Marriott to post a stay? This delays access to the points as well as a new elite level one may be reaching.

Officially you have to wait 10 business days as some stays especially those booked under corporate or convention blocks can take the whole time. Usually most of my stays post 2 days after checkout. Unfortunately, this hasn't been starwood in about a decade.

mine seem to take 3-5 days

My "usual" experience is also as noted above, i.e. 2 days for stays to post (for the record, IHG also takes as much, Hilton normally posts in 1 day). When you go to submit a missing stay request online, it tells you it "may" take "up to" 10 business days after checking out for stays to post, but this is not hardcoded in the form (i.e. you can submit a claim also earlier, just remember you must have and attach a copy of your invoice). If you are in a rush, you would be better off contacting the hotel directly first, to make sure they have forwarded the stay data to Bonvoy (I have had cases where missing stays were credited a couple of hours after contacting the hotels).

Most of the time it posts two days later for me, but if it hasn't posted by three days after I usually don't get the points or night credit unless I contact Marriott (which you have to wait 10 days to do).

3 days minimum. Often longer over a weekend.
Not sure what the relevance is.

Could Marriott post faster? Obviously. Do they? No.

In the US - 3 days

Anywhere else - Next day after checkout

YMMV…

In my experienc 85% next day, 10% after 2 days, 5% after 3 days. If it hasn’t posted after 3 days, it’s not happening without a manual request.

99% of the time it's 2 days for us.

Usually 2 - 3 days, sometimes 4 - 5.

I don't worry about it though as I'm rarely waiting for the points to turn around and use them immediately.

Out of probably 400 stays over the past 5 years I've probably had 1 where I had to make a request for the points/nights so I don't pay too much attention as the system seems to work and even if there's a couple day delay they eventually post.

My experience is generally 2 business days.

Marriott takes the longest out of all the chains in my experience. Hilton is the quickest - once I got my points the same day as checkout! (but that's not the normal)... but their normal is early morning the next day. Hyatt is always early afternoon next day. IHG is early morning second day. Marriott seems to be mid-day on the 3rd day for most of my stays, which seems quite slow!

For me it is usually the next day. However, the app doesn't seem to refresh properly. Resulting in showing the points for a stay but not the nights or vice versa. Sometimes I really need to log out and log in again for it to force a refresh. My rule is: If it the points are not posted 3 days later then I file a claim. Based on my experience if there not they are not there then then they won't ever be posted.

I’m wondering why it takes so long for the points to be posted, or why they are sometimes incorrect. I would have expected it to be a completely automated process without any manual interaction.

Your expectation does not reflect the reality of the process flow or the fact that the Marriott Points System and the Hotel Systems are not integrated to allow what you suggest. Sadly, there are people involved, lots of different property management systems, and different processes at different properties that make this a far from seamless exercise.

Now that said, I have no idea why this points posting timeline is such an issue for so many people, or is it just an issue for FT-ers looking for something to complain about on the internet?

I for one am not sitting on my Bonvoy Points account 24/7 like I'm hatching an egg. I will do a periodic check-in to make sure all my stays have posted and write in if required, but I don't need immediate gratification nor do I wind up with severe anxiety of my points aren't posted within 3 days of my stay, cursing out the criminals at Marriott and railing on about how I've been "Bonvoyed" again.

I can understand particular situations where one might be needing points from one stay to book another, but I would think those cases are fewer and further between than the amount of complaining about slow posting would suggest.

My advice to all: It is what it is, accept it as you can't change it, no matter how many posts you make about it on FT.

it is completely irrelevant why you think this is not important. your post doesn’t help at all and is just toxic.

Interesting comment...I'd love to understand the 'toxic' part.

I guess people are free to express their opinions so long as they are same as yours?

I'd suggest the post helps in so far as it allows people to understand that there isn't one master system that links all of your activity and spend at a particular property with the Marriott system that applies points to your account. Rather there are many systems involved and in a lot of cases manual input required at the property level to provide guidance to Marriott as to how many points to apply to your account for any given stay. That was the primary point of the post if it wasn't obvious.

I just cannot imagine that hotels with hundreds of room are posting the points manually … Nevertheless, I find it annoying when the points do not post within a couple of days after the stay or the points are wrong.

This is generally my experience as well. And the account activity in the app is delayed in updating, vs the web site. You’ll see the nights increase in the app once the stay posts to your account. but the stay details won’t show up until later.

I find my points balance goes up before the night count in the app. Agree, the stay details are last to show.

Why?

Bingo! I usually check my Bonvoy account a couple of weeks after a stay. (I tend to have fewer but longer stays than average.) If I don't see the points by then, I email the hotel. That has always done the trick. Mistakes happen. I don't consider the late posting of points part of the international Marriott conspiracy to rip me off.

I know that some design hotels post the points manually. However, this is not the norm.

I totally get that others may not mind waiting a couple of weeks, but in my case it’s quite frustrating. I have a lot of shorter stays, so it becomes a real hassle to keep tracking whether each one has posted correctly. On top of that, I’ve noticed that stays not charged in USD often post incorrectly. After contacting the Marriott service, the points are always corrected. So in the end, I have to verify both the posting and the accuracy of my points.

I think always 3-4 calendar days afterwards. I suppose a little faster would be nice, but it has never mattered to me. Perhaps amazingly, I have never had a problem with posting (i.e., zero occurrences of having to contact Marriott about lack of posting).

I find a similar timeline and I can think of 1 time in the last maybe 500 stays that I've had to contact Marriott.

I also don't have time (or the inclination) to audit every posting so I eyeball it and if it looks mostly right compared to other similar stays I move on. I just don't have any interest in creating a spreadsheet and tracking every transaction to make sure I don't miss 8 Bonvoy points!

I'm perfectly happy for posting within 3 or 4 days.

I was pleasantly surprised that my cash stay, followed by my wife's Free Night Award (FNA) stay, both at the Sheraton Manila Hotel this week, posted within 24 hours.

My points and nights always post within a day or two. My spend however takes a few days longer to post, even though the stay and points have registered. This is the only reason I check - just to see if the spend has posted, and sometimes it doesn't. Which is important to a borderline Ambassador like me

It is relevant because (a) one might cross a status threshold on consecutive stays but not have it due to posting delays or (b) one may need to book a stay with points, waiting for them to post, and prices now change daily. It is also a sense of having a level of service on par with what is typical in 2025.

Much of this is likely still based on IT. Just prior to the merger with Starwood, I worked on Starwood IT. Marriott decided to integrate Starwood’s -1000 hotels into Marriott’s more antiquated systems as opposed to integrating Marriott’s -4000 hotels into Starwood. At that time, Starwood consistently posted by the next day and Marriott is no faster today than 10 years ago.

I'd just like to know the actual funciton/process for the points hitting. Why does it take 24 hours everywhere in the world except the US where it seems to be 72-96 hours???!!

Usually my stays post within 24 hours
I had two stays last week in Portugal and neither of them have posted yet . Very strange.
i have contacted the hotel and they have told me nothing they can do until the 10 days window has closed , as according to them it is pending with Marriott .
anyone else has faced such issues in Europe?

I agree and feel the same - I understand that there are different properties, owned by different organizations, etc - but if it is all under the M/BV branding and tied into a global reservation system, in some way, why cant when you check out a packet of data be sent to the Master BV system telling it you acct number, number of days, and a breakdown of how much you spent - and then let the "system" figure it out..... if UA can post credits before deplaning, I dont think such a system is unreasonable these days.... again, not sure why it is not automatic?

Because the USA is near the "end of the world's day" so most countries are ahead of us, some by 20-something hours ;)

But seriously, over the past year it seems like 2 to 4 days is my norm. But then, I'm in Pacific time, USA. Perhaps the east coasters here get postings a bit faster :D

Neither of my past two stays (both in US, check out Sunday, check out Monday) have posted yet - definitely a frustrating delay.

My stay in Europe where I checked out yesterday has already posted, yet neither of the above US stays have posted yet. My goodness gracious.

mine posted early morning EU time after submitting a claim and brought me over the 50 nights threshold . I would like the NUA s now (which is why I have chosen those hotels , I want to apply them for next Friday stay :/ ) , but I can’t yet chose the benefit by going to the website . It stays not eligible yet . Usually this was available quite quick … does it take more than a day sometimes ? Should I call the customer service ?

One of the US stays finally posted - woohoo!

I believe you should be able to select within 24 hrs. Perhaps you can report back to confirm.

took a bit more then 48 hours
applied the NUA for W Edinburgh suite, which is still selling . Crossing fingers for our anniversary stay , the suite looks amazing (as does the rest of the hotel )

Data point: a recent stay in the US took 5 full days to post after check out. This is longer than the normal 3 days posting period for stays in the US.

Unsure if the delay posting was Marriott or property specific.