How To Earn 100,000+ Marriott Bonvoy Points [In 90 Days]

BY 

Andrew Kunesh

- UPDATED: May 10, 2021

1. Travel  / 
2. Hotels

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Despite the Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest merger not going quite as well as planned, Marriott Bonvoy points continue to be super valuable.

Not only can you use them to stay at thousands of properties worldwide, but you can transfer them to super valuable (and hard to earn) airline mileage programs like Alaska Airlines and Asiana.

With so much flexibility, it’s a good idea to keep a stash of Marriott Bonvoy points on hand. But if you don’t have any points, it may seem like a daunting task — especially if your end goal is a balance of 100,000+ Marriott Bonvoy points.

Don’t worry: it actually isn’t that hard to rack up 100,000 or more points in a short amount of time. In fact, you don’t even have to stay in a Marriott hotel to start earning tons of points.

To prove this, we’ll show exactly how you can earn 100,000+ Marriott Bonvoy points in 90 days in the article below. We’ll highlight unique earning methods like credit cards, points transfers, car rentals, and more.

If 100,000 points just isn’t enough, make sure to check out our guide to earning tons of Marriott Bonvoy points to keep the fun going (and earn even more free hotel nights).

Let’s dive in!

Why Would You Want To Earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points?

As mentioned earlier, Marriott Bonvoy points are super versatile. You can use them to redeem for free nights at over 7,000 worldwide properties that span all of the earth’s inhabited continents. Better yet, the Marriott portfolio is home to 30+ hotel brands, ranging from long-term stay Residence Inns to super-luxurious Ritz-Carlton resorts.

Plus, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to 44 different airline loyalty programs at a 3:1 ratio. When you transfer 60,000 hotel points (20,000 airline miles), you’ll get a 5,000 airline mile bonus, yielding a total transfer of 25,000 miles. On top of this, Marriott transfers to United Airlines receive an additional 10% transfer bonus.

Check out our full guide to Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners for a list of airlines supported.

How To Earn 100k+ Marriott Bonvoy Points in 90 Days

Sold on Marriott Bonvoy points? Great — here’s all of the different ways you can earn Marriott Bonvoy points quickly. We’ll start by taking a look at the different Marriott Bonvoy credit cards and then dive into other creative (and quick!) ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

1. Marriott Credit Cards

Both American Express and Chase issue Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit cards. Chase offers 1 personal card, while American Express offers 1 premium personal card and 1 business credit card. Each of these cards has unique benefits, points earning structures, and — of course — welcome bonuses.

These cards sometimes see introductory offers of 75,000 points or more. This, combined with everyday spend, can put you near your 100,000 point goal rather quickly, so definitely give them a look when you’re first starting to collect Bonvoy points.

Here’s a look at all of the Marriott Bonvoy credit cards:

Hot Tip: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card and Marriott Bonvoy Business cardmembers are eligible to earn 7,500 additional Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $7,500 on purchases (up to 10 times) through December 31, 2021.

2. Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Likewise, you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio and generally take 2 days to process and appear in your Marriott Bonvoy account.

However, we usually advise against transferring Chase points to Marriott as you’ll lose over 1 cent per point in value according to our most recent valuations.

Additionally, Chase and Marriott share many transfer partners, with Chase having the better transfer ratio. For example, Chase points transfer 1:1 to United, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, and others. This is much more favorable than Marriott’s standard 3:1 transfer ratio.

Chase offers an array of different Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards — here’s a look at the suite:

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

Recommended Chase Cards (Business)

3. American Express Membership Rewards Credit Cards

Like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards also transfer 1:1 to Marriott, but you’ll also lose value in the transfer. If you need to earn points in a pinch, American Express points transfer near-instantly to Marriott, making it a good option if you’re short a few thousand points for a specific redemption.

Here’s a selection of the Amex Membership Rewards earning cards:

Recommended American Express Cards (Personal)

And there are a number of Amex business credit cards, too.

4. Refer a Friend to a Marriott (Or Amex or Chase) Credit Card

American Express and Chase frequently offer referral bonuses for their in-house and co-branded credit card products. These offers vary, but we’ve seen referral bonuses for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card from American Express hover around 15,000 points per referral.

Note that the person you refer needs to be approved for the card in order for you to get the bonus points. Check out the refer a friend page on your credit card of choice for more details.

5. Stay at a Marriott Hotel

No matter your credit card situation, you can always earn Marriott Bonvoy points when staying at any Marriott hotel.

Marriott Bonvoy members earn 10 points per dollar on all qualifying charges at all of the Marriott brands pictured above. Note that Residence Inn, Townplace Suites, and Element hotel stays earn 5 points per dollar on qualifying charges and Marriott Executive Apartments earn just 2.5 points per dollar on the qualifying room rate.

Those with Marriott Bonvoy elite status will earn a points bonus — starting with a 10% bonus for Silver Elite members. Note that you can earn Gold Elite (25% bonus points) by opening an Amex Platinum Card, making it easy to earn a bonus without organically earning elite status.

Here’s a look at all of the Marriott Bonvoy elite status tiers and their respective points bonus:

Note that you need to book your Marriott stay through Marriott.com in order to earn points. Unfortunately, hotels booked through Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, and other third parties are not eligible for points earning.

6. Hertz

Another strategy for earning Marriott Bonvoy points is by booking rental cars through Hertz. Simply book through the Hertz portal and you’ll earn 500 points for one-day rentals and 2,000 points for longer rentals. Even if you only rent a car once a month, you can earn 24,000 points per year.

7. Reward a Friend with Marriott

Sharing the benefits of Marriott with friends can earn you 10,000 points a pop (maximum 50,000 points per year). It’s a win-win for your friends too: each new member referred can earn up to 10,000 points — 2,000 points for each of the first 5 Marriott stays they book. You’ll also earn 2,000 points for each of their first 5 bookings.

8. Host an Event at a Marriott Property

Need to host a wedding, work event, or another large gathering? Consider hosting your event at a Marriott property and you’ll have the ability to earn a ton of points in the process.

When you host an event at a Marriott property, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar on an eligible room, food, beverages, and audio/visual charges, up to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. However, Titanium Elite members can earn up to 105,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per meeting.

You’ll also earn Elite Night Credits in the process — 10 for your first meeting, and 1 for every 20 room nights you book, up to 20 Elite Night Credits per event.

If you’re an event planner or are planning a wedding, you can earn some serious points if you plan your event at a Marriott property. Check out Marriott’s meetings and events page for more info.

9. Book a Marriott Experience and Earn Big

Marriott Experiences are travel activities — think tours, food crawls, and cooking lessons — that can be booked directly through the Marriott website. Many of these activities aren’t exclusive to Marriott (and may be booked elsewhere), but you can earn Marriott Bonvoy points when booking through the Marriott Experiences website.

Hot Tip:
Make sure to price-compare activities on Marriott Experiences with Airbnb and other activity brokers. Oftentimes the money saved will outweigh the value of the Marriott Bonvoy points you’d earn.

You’ll earn 10 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar spent on Marriott Experiences. To book an experience, just navigate to the Marriott Experiences website, sign in, and book an experience. Plus, you’ll earn bonus points if you pay for your Marriott Experience with a Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card.

10. Take Advantage of A Marriott Promotion

Marriott Bonvoy frequently runs promotions that let members earn extra points on paid stays. Some examples of these include the summer 2019 Endless Earning promotion. In this promo, Marriott Bonvoy members can earn 1,500 bonus points per 2+ night Marriott stays starting with your second booking.

Note that some of these promotions are targeted and you must enroll in them. Doing this is easy, though: just sign into your account, head over to the Marriott Bonvoy promotions page and enroll in your available promotions.

11. Ride or Dine With Uber

As a bonus to whatever earnings you’d get through your credit card and any Uber Rewards you’d earn, you can also triple-dip and earn Marriott Bonvoy points when you link your Marriott Bonvoy account to your Uber account.

Members will earn:

• 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent on Uber Eats deliveries to U.S. Marriott properties with a minimum subtotal of $25 (or 2 points per $1 for non-hotel deliveries)
• 3 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent on Uber XL, Comfort, Black, and Black SUV rides in the U.S.

Using Those 100,000+ Marriott Bonvoy Points

Between Marriott properties and the many airline transfer partners in the Marriott program, you’re bound to find a redemption that fits your needs! Check out our full articles on Marriott Bonvoy redemptions to inspire your next big trip including flights, hotels, and Hotel + Air packages.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it: how to earn 100,000+ Marriott Bonvoy points in just 90 days. We recommend starting out with a Marriott Bonvoy co-branded credit card and then moving onto the other methods outlined on this list. Before you know it, you’ll have a stash of Marriott Bonvoy points to fuel your next vacation!

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.