Great Ways to Use 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points - NerdWallet (2024)

Hotel reward programs can be confusing, so it’s hard to know what a large stack of Marriott Bonvoy® points is really worth.

The “best use” of any points will depend on your travel goals and preferences, so consider these ideas as inspiration for your own redemptions, rather than hard-and-fast rules. If you've got a free night certificate, check out our favorite ways to redeem a 50,000-point free night certificate.

What does 50,000 Marriott points worth get you?

NerdWallet values Bonvoy points at 0.9 centapiece, so 50,000 points are worth about $450. In other words, any award booking using 50,000 points that would cost more than $450 cash is a good deal, while any booking that costs less than $450 is a relatively poor deal.

Marriott now offers “dynamic” pricing for rooms booked with points, rather than fixed prices based on an award chart. On the plus side, that means you’re more likely to get roughly 0.9 cent in value for any booking, since the award prices change dynamically to match cash prices. On the negative side, you’re less likely to find award bookings that offer tons of value.

That said, there are some tricks — like taking advantage of the Bonvoy programs’ fifth night free on award bookings — that can help you score better redemptions.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points with cards

Marriott Bonvoy offers loads of credit card options for frequent guests looking to earn extra points in a hurry.

Four great ways to use 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points

Here are some example bookings that only use 50,000 points, ranging from spare to luxurious.

Please keep in mind that the actual rates you see for the same booking will likely differ because of Marriott's dynamic pricing. Just as cash prices change with supply and demand, there’s no way to know how many points will actually be needed for any of these bookings at any given time. So use them as inspiring examples of how to stretch your Bonvoy points, not travel plans.

1. Six nights at the Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton South

The best redemption value often comes not from the fanciest bookings, but the simplest ones. Sure, a random Four Points outside Edmonton, Canada, isn’t landing on anyone’s bucket list. Yet this redemption takes advantage of the free fifth night on award bookings plus a relatively high cash price compared with the price when using points.

When we compared prices, six nights on off-peak dates totaled 47,500 points or $751 USD. That’s a value of more than 1.5 cents per point — well above our current estimate.

2. Five nights at the Aloft Bangkok Sukhumvit 11

Desirable international destinations with relatively affordable room rates are a great way to stretch the value of points. You can eke out four award nights (plus a fifth night free) at the Aloft in downtown Bangkok for a bit more than 50,000 points, though only extremely off-peak nights were available at that rate when we looked.

A five-night stay in January cost 59,500 points or $702, working out to 1.19 cents per point. It’s not exactly splashy, but staying nearly a week in a major city for so few points is still a win.

3. Two nights at the Delta Hotels London Armouries, Ontario, Canada

This may not be the best-value redemption on our list, but it’s undoubtedly the most unique. Located in London, Ontario, in the old armory (or “armoury,” locally), this boutique hotel is as close to staying in a castle as you’re likely to find this side of the Atlantic.

Two nights in September cost 47,000 points or $461 when we checked. That’s about a cent per point in value. But remember: It’s a castle.

4. One night at the JW Marriott Houston Downtown

Luxury bookings don’t always require six-digits worth of points. A single-night stay at the JW Marriott in downtown Houston, replete with a stone tub and marble countertops, ran a full $820 on a weekday in January. Yet award bookings were “only” 53,000 points per night, coming out to 1.55 cents per point.

Decide the best use of Bonvoy points for you

The best use of 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points depends on dozens of variables, most of them personal. But this list can offer a sense of what’s possible, from five days in Canada to a single luxurious night in Texas.

Of course – who has exactly 50,000 points sitting in their account? To check the value of your personal stash of points, use our Bonvoy points value calculator.