Data shows it's time for Marriott to update point thresholds on free night certificates

Yesterday, we examined Marriott Bonvoy's recent award changes, and the data indicates that your Marriott points may not be as valuable as they were just a few years ago. Unfortunately, the increased award prices also mean that more properties are now out of reach for the free night certificates offered on select Marriott credit cards.

But to what extent is this the case?

To determine exactly how this devaluation has affected the usability of free night certificates, we returned to our sample set of 51 Marriott properties that range in brand and location and the extensive data we collected on the pricing for those properties, and it showed a clear trend. Most properties that were previously available at the common certificate thresholds — 35,000 points, 50,000 points and 85,000 points — now have fewer dates where you can redeem free night awards.

As a result, we believe it's time for Marriott to update the point thresholds on these certificates — otherwise, these once-valuable rewards will be significantly less useful than they were in the recent past.

What are Marriott free night certificates?

Marriott Bonvoy offers three common types of free night awards with varying point caps: 35,000, 50,000 and 85,000 points. If you have a 50,000-point certificate, for example, you can redeem it for a free night that costs up to 50,000 points.

Since Marriott uses dynamic pricing, your ability to redeem a certificate at a specific property may depend on your travel dates. For instance, a ski resort may be available for less than your certificate's 50,000-point cap in the summer, but prices on peak ski weekends will put it out of reach.

You can also top up a free night certificate with up to 15,000 Bonvoy points, allowing you to redeem certificates for slightly pricier stays. So, you could use your 50,000-point award to book a night worth up to 65,000 points by adding a few extra points.

You can earn free night awards with Marriott Bonvoy cobranded credit cards. The following cards provide a free night as an annual perk or after meeting a minimum spend (though note that some properties charge resort fees that aren't covered by certificates):

• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (see rates and fees): Receive one free night award every year after your account anniversary, valid for a one-night hotel stay at a property with a redemption level of up to 35,000 points.
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card: Earn one free night award (redemption level at or under 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year.
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Receive one free night award (redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) every year after your card renewal month.
• Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn one free night award (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) every year after your card renewal month, and receive a second after you spend $60,000 on purchases with your card in a calendar year.

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Sometimes, Marriott cards will also offer free nights as part of a welcome bonus. For instance, the Bonvoy Boundless is offering three free night awards (valued at up to 50,000 points each), which can be earned after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Certain hotels have resort fees.

Marriott free night certificates have historically been a valuable perk for cardholders, but our data shows that it may now be harder to redeem them.

Where can you use Marriott free night certificates?

For this analysis, we looked at a subset of 28 properties from our original list. Each of these properties allowed members to use free night awards on at least 20% of possible dates in 2022 — meaning prices were at (or below) the threshold for a given type of certificate. This included the following:

• 35,000-point certificates: Six properties
• 50,000-point certificates: 11 properties
• 85,000-point certificates: 11 properties

In 2022, these 28 properties were bookable with a free night certificate on 62.42% of available dates. However, in 2025, this percentage has dropped to just 21.7%.

Here's how this broke down across the three certificate types:

In other words, if you have an 85,000-point certificate, you'll only be able to redeem it roughly 25% of the time at the 11 properties we analyzed.

The numbers were even more disappointing for 35,000-point certificates (under 19%) and 50,000-point certificates (under 11%). While a pair of properties actually saw more available dates in 2025 compared to 2022, the other 26 were less available than before.

Here's the breakdown.

35,000-point certificates

As noted above, we looked at six properties that were previously within reach on at least some nights using a 35,000-point certificate. Here's how that availability has changed from our 2022 data to 2025:

In the 35,000-point category, five of the six properties we assessed have become much harder to book. Three of them were practically never available for 35,000 points or less on the dates we analyzed.

Take the Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile, for example: In 2022, 82% of dates were priced at 35,000 points or lower, compared to 0% now.

On the other hand, one property saw a massive improvement. You can now redeem 35,000-point free night certificates at Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim on 60% of dates — roughly three times more often than you could three years ago.

While this is a small sample of properties, it nevertheless points to a discouraging trend.

Related: Great uses of Marriott 35,000-point free night certificates

50,000-point certificates

Meanwhile, 11 properties from our 2022 list were largely available with 50,000-point certificates at the time. Now, there have been some significant changes in that sample set.

When it comes to 50,000-point certificates, the results are even more disappointing. All 11 properties we tested saw a decrease in availability, with an average drop of nearly 84% of available nights. Yikes.

For five of these properties — almost half of our sample set — availability dipped all the way to zero. That means there's not a single date in the five months we looked at where you could redeem a 50,000-point free night certificate.

Not only is it becoming harder to find dates where you can apply your certificates, but some properties have become completely out of reach.

Related: Marriott 50K free night certificate: Best hotels in the world to use your award redemption

85,000-point certificates

Finally, there's the most valuable certificate for Marriott Bonvoy members: the 85,000 points certificate. At one point, not that many years ago, the maximum number of points a Marriott property could chart during all but peak times was 85,000 points. In 2022, 11 properties we looked at saw decent availability for these certificates, but once again, our 2025 data showed a major change in what you could book with these certificates.

In the 85,000-point category, availability dropped an average of nearly 70%. Only one property we looked at saw improvement: The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, which became available around 25% more often at that level. The other 10 properties on this list became harder to book.

A particularly stark example is The London Edition, where 100% of dates we looked at in 2022 were bookable with free night awards. That number has now dropped to zero.

Related: Places to maximize an 85,000-point Marriott award night certificate

Comparing Marriott certificates to other brands

Unfortunately, these numbers paint a stark picture when it comes to the usability of Marriott free night certificates. They also place Marriott below its competitors in some ways when it comes to the certificates that it issues with its cobranded credit cards.

Here's how similar credit card benefits work with other major loyalty programs:

• Hilton Honors: Hilton offers free night certificates on select cards when you renew, when you hit certain spending thresholds and/or as part of a welcome bonus (terms apply). These certificates are uncapped and can be used for standard room rewards at virtually any participating property (there are just a few exceptions with "specialty" accommodations). This means that, even as Hilton has raised award prices over the years, the certificates have retained their value.
• IHG One Rewards: IHG offers free night certificates valid for stays costing up to 40,000 points per night, and if you have the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (see rates and fees) or the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (see rates and fees), you can use an unlimited number of points to top up your certificates, putting any IHG property within reach.
• World of Hyatt: Hyatt is the true leader in this regard, as it still has published award charts. As a result, Hyatt is very transparent when it comes to where members can use their Hyatt free night certificates — even announcing annual category changes in advance.

Given the existing caps on Marriott certificates and dynamic pricing affecting properties across the portfolio, we think it's time for Marriott to update these benefits to continue to deliver consistent value to its members.

How Marriott should enhance its free night certificates in 2025

Simply put, our data indicates that it's getting harder to redeem Marriott's free night certificates. There are fewer properties and dates where you can find award rates at or below the thresholds of 35,000, 50,000 and 85,000 points.

Here are two ways that Marriott could enhance its free night awards to deliver value to its members.

Increase the point thresholds on these awards

As our data shows, the current thresholds on these certificates likely do not reflect current award prices. By increasing these thresholds, Marriott would give travelers more options and allow them to maximize the value of their free night certificates.

Take, for example, the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino. In 2022, 100% of the dates we analyzed were available with an 85,000-point certificate, but just 42.1% were available in our 2025 searches. By upping the redemption threshold on these certificates from 85,000 points to 100,000 points, that availability would jump to 91.7%. That's a significant improvement from where things presently stand.

Increase (or even eliminate) the cap on combining points with a free night award

As noted previously, you can currently add up to 15,000 points per night to top up Marriott free night awards. Unfortunately, that still puts many dates out of reach at some of the properties we analyzed.

For example, earlier we flagged that The London Edition had 100% of 2022 dates available at 85,000 points (or less). In 2025, that percentage dropped to zero. But perhaps even more shocking is that in 2025, just 5.3% of the dates we analyzed were even priced at 100,000 points (or less). So, even if a member wanted to add points to an 85,000-point certificate, the vast majority of dates at that property would be unavailable.

If you could add more than 15,000 Bonvoy points to your free night award, this could put pricier stays within reach.

Still, a free night certificate is supposed to be a valuable benefit that doesn't also require the expenditure of your hard-earned points to use it. Even if Marriott raises the cap on points you can combine with a certificate, this won't have a big impact by itself unless Marriott also raises the point thresholds of the certificates themselves.

If the current point thresholds remain and award prices continue to rise, Marriott risks alienating its members with cobranded credit cards who may, over time, realize that the certificates don't go as far as they used to.

Related: When you should redeem free night certificates instead of hotel points

Bottom line

The recent spike in Marriott award pricing has had some notable impacts on members. Not only does our analysis show that your Marriott Bonvoy points may be less valuable today than a few years ago, but you may also find it harder to use your Marriott free night certificates. Our data shows that significantly fewer properties and dates still fall within the 35,000-, 50,000- and 85,000-point thresholds.

It's time for Bonvoy to raise the point thresholds for these certificates to better reflect current award rates, allowing Marriott cardholders to continue getting value from these benefits. Otherwise, some Bonvoy members may consider other hotel programs with free night certificates that continue to offer more consistent value.