Marriott offers what it calls Annual Choice Benefits to members. There’s up to two Annual Choice Benefits members can earn each year, once at 50 Nights and then again when they complete 75 Nights with Marriott.
Annual Choice Benefits were originally a feature of the erstwhile Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program, when Marriott acquired SPG it decided to retain the benefit, albeit in a diluted form. Think of it as Marriott’s way of acknowledging and rewarding members for their loyalty.
The way this works is that once eligible, members can login to their Marriott Bonvoy account and choose any one of the number of benefits on offer. Lets take a look at the rewards available at 50 and 75 Nights in 2023, along the way I will also talk about pros and cons of each of these benefit.
Earn Annual Choice Benefits after staying 50 and 75 Nights with Marriott
50 Night Annual Choice Benefits
Marriott Bonvoy members who stay 50 Nights with Marriott in 2023 are able to choose from the following benefits.
- Five Suite Night Awards (SNA)
- USD 1,000 off on purchase of a bed from Marriott Bonvoy Retail Brand
- Five Elite Night Credits
- Gift of Marriott Bonvoy Silver Status to a family member or friend
- USD 100 donation to UNICEF
- USD 100 donation to Arne M. Sorenson Hospitality Fund
- USD 100 donation to World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
So which of these 7 benefits make most sense? Well, I don’t want to tell anybody what’s best for them, that’s a decision for everyone to make on their own. But I do have some general thoughts about these benefits.
- I think charitable donations are a personal matter and there’s better ways to make a difference than have Marriott donate money to a Trust or Institution of its choice.
- Scoring a thousands dollars off a bed sounds like a good idea, but its not something many people would find appealing unless they were in market for a hotel bed.
- Silver status with Marriott is pretty useless as it offers little by the way of practical benefits.
- That leaves Five Suite Night Awards and Five Elite Night Credits as remaining choices, both potentially quite valuable depending on individual circumstances.
If 5 Elite Night Credits could help you retain or upgrade to the next status, I would absolutely take this option. Note that if you choose this benefit, the 5 extra nights are added to your current year tally, ie, it is only valuable in the current membership year. It does not give you a head start towards earning status in the next year, so just keep that in mind.
Lastly, if you think you are going to stay enough nights organically and don’t need any extra support with status, take the 5 Suite Night Awards. Each award is good for a one-night confirmed upgrade to a select premium room or standard suite and can be applied to an eligible paid stay, Free Night Award stay, or Cash + Points stay, based on availability.
Apply Suite Night Award to upgrade to the Fantastic Suite at W Brisbane
75 Night Annual Choice Benefits
If you continue staying with Marriott and pass 75 nights in a membership year, you get a second set of Annual Choice Benefit. In 2023, members are able to select any one of the following as their 75 Night benefit.
- One Free Night Award with a value of up to 40,000 points
- Gift of Marriott Bonvoy Gold Status to a family member or friend
- Five Suite Night Awards
- Five Elite Night Credits
- USD 1,000 off on purchase of a bed from Marriott Bonvoy Retail Brand
- USD 100 donation to UNICEF
- USD 100 donation to Arne M. Sorenson Hospitality Fund
- USD 100 donation to World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
As you can see, I have bolded the two unique choices as the bottom 6 choices are the same as those offered at 50 Nights. My thoughts about these benefits at 75 Nights are similar to what I had said earlier.
Out of the remaining two choices, Gold status with Marriott Bonvoy isn’t very valuable. If you have the Amex Platinum card, Marriott Bonvoy Gold status comes complimentary with the card.
The 40,000 points Free Night Award (40K FNA) is by far the most valuable benefit here. Over the years, I have redeemed the 40K FNA at hotels selling for as much as AUD 400-500 per night, so purely in terms of monetary value its hard to look past this benefit. These days you could top-off the 40K FNA with up to 15,000 points meaning it is potentially even more valuable.
Redeem 40,000 points Free Night Award at The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur
In Conclusion
Marriott offers a sweetener in the form of Annual Choice Benefits for members who spend a lot of nights with the hotel behemoth. The choice at 50 nights is somewhat underwhelming, although the 40K FNA at 75 nights is quite valuable.
Under SPG, members could choose the 40K FNA at 50 and 75 Nights both, Marriott removed this option at 50 Nights when it acquired SPG, and now its only available to members who stay at least 75 Nights. The FNA is valid for use in the year it is selected plus an additional 12 months.
What do you make of Marriott’s Annual Choice Benefits? Leave a comment below.
