Look before you book: Travelers seeing surprise award redemption fees in the Marriott Bonvoy app
You shouldn't have to pay money to redeem your Marriott points for award nights. However, some Marriott Bonvoy app users are being asked to fork over extra cash when using their points to book a hotel room.
This shouldn't be happening, but the good news is that it's not on every stay and there's a workaround. Let's look at what's happening with the points redemption fees in the Marriott Bonvoy app and how you can avoid them.
Marriott Bonvoy app points redemption fees
Luckily, these fees aren't showing up on every award redemption you want to make. That's the silver lining.
However, you may be erroneously asked to pay an additional fee when using your points for a redemption stay at some Marriott properties when you book through the Marriott app. These fees range from $25 to nearly $100, depending on the property, dates and room type.
When searching for a room this coming weekend at the Aloft Tulsa Downtown in Oklahoma, users are asked to pay $55 to redeem their points for a two-night stay. This comes on top of the 17,000 Marriott Bonvoy points needed for the redemption. Notice that this is listed as a "Redemption," meaning it's not a 'points + cash' stay. There should not be a cash requirement for this booking.
The same problem occurs at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Bangkok for a two-night stay from Oct. 5—7. Users are asked to pay $94 when redeeming 35,000 points for this stay.
However, there is no redemption fee during these same dates at the Le Méridien Bangkok.
These are just a handful of examples. TPG staffers also found surcharges on award redemptions at the Marriott Mena House Cairo and JW Marriott San Francisco, among others.
To be clear, these are not resort fees or points + cash bookings, leading us to believe this is a bug on Marriott's app. TPG reached out to Marriott for a statement, and the hotel group said that it is "looking into this" and that we should expect an update in the coming days. We'll update this post when the bug is resolved.
Related: Luxury on the cheap: 16 incredible Bangkok hotels you can book with points
How to avoid these fees
Luckily, there is a workaround for avoiding these fees. Booking your stay through the Marriott website will solve the problem.
When checking the same dates at the Aloft Tulsa Downtown online, you can redeem 17,000 points without paying any cash.
The Royal Orchid Sheraton in Bangkok also isn't asking for cash when redeeming 35,000 Bonvoy points for the same two-night stay next month.
While it is an extra step, it's not a difficult one. If the Marriott app asks you to pay a fee when redeeming your points, booking online is the solution.
Related: Ouch: It's not just you, Marriott stays now cost more points
It's also worth noting that the fees sometimes drop off on the final confirmation screen in the app.
For example, at the Royal Orchid Sheraton in Bangkok, the fees disappear on the final confirmation page. You can reserve your room using only points.
But at the Aloft in Tulsa, there are still fees on the final screen.
Bottom line
While these fees should not appear at all, the positive aspect of this news is that you can easily avoid them by booking online through Marriott's website.
If you like using the app to search for hotels and find availability, you can still do so. When it's time to select your room and confirm your reservation, watch for any unexpected fees in the app. If you see them, conduct the same search on Marriott's website and you should be able to use your points without paying this extra fee.
We hope Marriott resolves this issue soon. As always, we will keep you updated on a future resolution.
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