Marriott Bonvoy Points are the easiest to earn in India for a hotel loyalty program, and there are many ways to earn them. Some of them don’t even require you to stay at Marriott Properties. However, few options to earn Marriott Bonvoy Points are unavailable in India.
Sign-up
If you are not already a Marriott Bonvoy Hotels Loyalty Program member, sign up. You need to be a Marriott Bonvoy member to earn points. Marriott also runs a sign-up promotion wherein new members can earn bonus points. However, there is currently no such promotion, which is infrequent.
Stay at Marriott Hotels & Resorts
Whenever you stay at any Marriott Hotels & Resorts, whether in India or Outside India, you will earn 10 Marriott Bonvoy Points on a spend of $1. But make sure you book directly with Marriott and through your Marriott Bonvoy Account, as third-party bookings are not eligible to earn points.
However, you can only earn 5 points for every $1 at a few Marriott Brands. Meanwhile, at Marriott Executive Apartments, like in Hyderabad, you can earn 2.5 points for every $1 spent.
You also earn points on stays and food, beverages, dining, and spa expenses at the same rates. For example, if you have spent INR 8400, excluding taxes, at Marriott Hotels, you can earn 1000 Marriott Bonvoy Base Points.
Achieve Elite Status and Earn More
If you achieve an Elite Status with Marriott Bonvoy, you earn bonus points based on the status. If you are a Silver Elite, then you get 10% Bonus Points. That means 100 Bonus points if we take our example. And as you reach gold, you get 25% bonus points.
| Elite Status | Eligibility (Calendar Year) | Bonus Points | Points Earned Per $1 |
| Silver | 10 Nights | 10% | 10+1=11 |
| Gold | 20 Nights | 25% | 10+2.5=12.5 |
| Platinum | 50 Nights | 50% | 10+5=15 |
| Titanium | 75 Nights | 75% | 10+7.5=17.5 |
| Ambassador | 100 Nights and $23000 (INR 19 Lacs) Annual Spend | 75% | 10+7.5=17.5 |
Gold Elite is the minimum tier you need to achieve to make something out of your Marriott Bonvoy membership.
Welcome Amenity
Along with the elite tier bonus, elites get a welcome amenity bonus. This bonus ranges from 250 to 1000 points per stay.
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points on Spa & Dining
You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy Points even if you’re not staying and only dining or taking a spa at the Marriott Hotel. For Dining & Spa, you will earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy Points for every $1 spent. These spends include taxes, service charges, and gratuities. You can check the eligible hotels here.
Earn Bonus Points During Promotions
Apart from base and bonus points for elites, there are other ways to earn bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points. From time to time, Marriott Run Promotions with which you can earn points. For example, Marriott is running a 2K Bonus Points promotion on stay of two nights of paid stays.
Earn Bonus Points with Vacation Packages
You earn points for paid vacation packages booked with Marriott. Marriott also runs promotions where you can earn bonus points. Usually, the bonus points are 10K. It also offers city-specific or resort-specific bonuses, like the one running 15K Bonus Points.
Points for Stays at Homes & Villas
Marriott forayed into booking Homes and villas and offers points-earning stays at these homes and villas. All members earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per $. Elites also earn bonus points as per their elite status, including the welcome bonus of 500 to 1000 Points.
Get a Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card
Marriott and HDFC Launched co-branded credit cards on 24 August 2023. Although the card is not great for earning Marriott Bonvoy Points, it has other decent benefits. Sometimes, you get promotions which make this card worth holding, too, like this one.
As a welcome benefit, you get a 15K free night award, which you can redeem for one free night up to 15K points or add 15K more to redeem for 30K points stay for one night.
Also, this card earns 2 Marriott Bonvoy Points for every 150 INR. Points are doubled if spent on travel, dining, and entertainment. And 4x on spending at Marriott Properties. So you can get a Maximum of 8 Marriott Bonvoy for every INR 150. Using this at Marriott Hotels would give a base member 14 Marriott Bonvoy Points for $1. Here is the review of this card. If you want to delve deeper or are interested, apply here.
Get an Amex Platinum Travel Credit Card
American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card is among the best for earning Marriott Bonvoy Points. Thanks to Amex to Marriott’s 1:1 transfer ratio. If you spend INR 4 Lakhs in a year on an Amex Plat travel credit card, you earn 40K Bonus Amex Points apart from regular points. So, you earn 10 Marriott Bonvoy for every INR 100. Not just that, there are many ways to earn lots of amex points in India and then transfer them to Marriott.
Apply for a Platinum Travel Credit Card.
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points by Transferring Points from Credit Cards
If you have credit card points, transferring them to your Marriott Bonvoy can be beneficial. You can transfer points from your American Express and Axis Bank Credit Cards in India and indirectly transfer HDFC points.
Amex to Marriott Bonvoy Transfer
The conversion ratio for All American Express Credit Cards in India is unbeatable at 1:1. The MRCC and Gold Charge cards are also great for earning Amex Points as they are milestone cards. So, you have multiple points-earning opportunities and then transfer them to Marriott in 1:1.
Transfer Amex Points During Promotions
Almost every year, Marriott offers bonus points on transferring Amex Points, which recently reached 30%. So, you can earn more Marriott Bonvoy points if you transfer during transfer promotions. This promotion usually occurs between September and November.
Axis to Marriott Bonvoy Transfer
For Axis HNI Credit Cards, you can transfer your Edge rewards at a ratio of 5:2 unless you have a Magnus Burduny credit card. So, if you have 25000 Axis Edge Rewards, you will receive 10000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.
Also, with the Axis Atlas Credit Card, you can get Marriott Bonvoy Points at a 2:1 ratio. However, transferring via Japan Airlines will get you 3x Marriott Points compared to transferring directly to Marriott. Even if Singapore Airlines is used, you will get 2x Marriott Points. And Transferring via ITC will give 4x points.
HDFC Points to Marriott Bonvoy (Via ITC or Singapore Airlines Kirsflyer)
There is an Indirect way to transfer your HDFC Bank Credit Card Points to Marriott Bonvoy. As ITC & Singapore Airlines is a points transfer partner of HDFC Bank and Marriott Bonvoy, you can transfer your HDFC Bank Points to ITC or Singapore Airlines and then to your Marriott Bonvoy Account.
But the downside here is the ultimate conversion ratio. Since the conversion of Krisflyer Miles to Marriott Bonvoy can be a maximum of 2:1, whereas, for ITC, it is 2:3, it can work for you if you need points or have lots of HDFC Bank Reward Points.
Transfer Club ITC Green Points to Marriot Bonvoy
If you have Club ITC Green Points, you can transfer these points to Marriott Bonvoy in a 2:3 ratio. You can get 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points if you transfer 20,000 Green Points. But you can only transfer 60000 green points in a year. Also, one Green Point has a value of INR 1, whereas in Marriott, you need to figure out how to get a value of INR 1.
There is a quarterly limit of 15K on converting green ITC points to Marriott Bonvoy.
Earn Points for Hosting Events
If you host any event at Marriott Hotels and Resorts, you earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy Points for every $1. You earn base points and bonus points based on your elite status. However, one member can earn a maximum of 60000 Marriott Points per event. If we include bonus points, let’s say 75% bonus points for Titanium and Ambassador Elites, you will earn 105000 points. That means one can earn a maximum of 1,05,000 points for one event. For maximum points, spending of INR 25 Lakhs is required.
| Elite Status | Max. Points Per Event |
| Base | 60000 |
| Silver | 66000 |
| Gold | 75000 |
| Platinum | 90000 |
| Titanium | 105000 |
| Ambassador | 105000 |
Note: Out of 30 Marriott Brands, the below brands do not participate in “Marriott Bonvoy Events Program”:
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- Residence Inn
- TownePlace Suites
- Design Hotels
- Bulgari Hotels and Resorts
- Ritz-Carlton Hidden Boutique Resort
- Vistana Hotel
- Homes & Villas by Marriott International.
Convert Miles to Marriott Points
Marriott has eight airline partners, and you can transfer the miles to your Marriott Bonvoy account. All these airlines’ miles are converted to a 2:1 ratio except for Air Canada, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. In the case of United Airlines & Aeroplan Points, you can convert miles to points in 1:1. But it requires you to be a MileagePlus Premier or Aeroplan Elite member. Here is the complete list of Airlines, the points of which you can transfer or convert in Marriott Bonvoy Points:
| Airlines | Alliance | FFP | Ratio | Minimum Miles Transfer |
| Air Canada | Star Alliance | Aeroplan | 1:1 | 500 |
| ANA | Star Alliance | ANA Mileage Club | 1:1[First 20K] 2:1 [After] | 10000 |
| Cathay Pacific | OneWorld | Asia Miles | 2:1 | 2000 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | NA | Hawaiian Miles | 2:1 | 5000 |
| Japan Airlines | OneWorld | JAL Mileage Bank | 4:3 | 4000 |
| Korean Air | SkyTeam | SKYPASS | 2:1 | 5000 |
| Singapore Airlines | Star Alliance | KrisFlyer | 2:1 | 3000 |
| United Airlines | Star Alliance | MileagePlus | 1:1 | 500 |
Although the above conversion isn’t bad, caution should be exercised, as you could get more value out of miles than transferring it to Marriott; otherwise, you might want to keep your miles. Also, transferring from miles can be a useful if you’re short of your Marriott Bonvoy Points. However, it may take a few weeks before points appear in your account.
Related: Marriott Airlines Preferred Partnership Guide
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points when you Fly with the Emirates.
Marriott has a preferred partnership with Emirates. If you have achieved Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite or above, you can earn 3 points per $1 spent and Skywards miles on Emirates flights. This can be good for Indians who travel internationally on Emirates flights. However, you need to register for this program.
Register Here for the Marriott Emirates Points Earning Program.
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points when you fly Singapore Airlines
This is the latest and limited-period promotion from Marriott & Singapore Airlines, valid till 12th December 2024. However, registration is required and closes on 4th October 2024. With this promotion, you will earn 1200 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points on each paid flight on Singapore Airlines between 10th October 2024 and 12th December 2024.
You must link Singapore Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy accounts here to be eligible for this promotion. However, if you are a Marriott Elite, this will also trigger the status challenger promotion, so caution is needed.
Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points
Buying Marriott Bonvoy Points is not generally recommended unless you have a particular use for them. The cost of buying points can often be more than the value you get. However, it is still useful. Usually, it costs 1.25 cents or INR 1.05 per point.
This cost is further reduced when there is a promotion. I have been given bonus Marriott Bonvoy points on purchases between 30% and 50%.
Buy Marriott Bonvoy Points with Points Multiplier
Last month, Marriott launched a points multiplier that allows members to multiply their points up to 4x at a cost. Only points earned through stays are eligible for a points multiplier. Unlike Bonus Points promotions, a points multiplier lets you buy Marriott points at a discount.
- 2x the points at 15% less with 1.06 cents or INR 0.89 cost per point.
- 3x the points at 20% less with 1 cent or INR 0.84 cost per point.
- 4x the points at 25% less with 0.94 cents or INR 0.79 cost per point.
The cost per point with points multiplier by points is not bad, and you are beaten only if you receive a 33.33% bonus promotion, which you can.
Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points with the “Reward a Friend” Program
Firstly, Marriott Bonvoy’s reward friend program is unlike what we see in India. We send a link, and the friend joins or downloads the app and signs up. Here, you need to send invites to your friends, and when they join, you will earn Marriott Bonvoy Points. But it still is a good way to earn points.
As per this program, you earn 2000 bonus points per stay for the first five stays of your friend, with a maximum of 50,000 in a year. That means you earn points only on the referral of five friends in a year.
Pooling Points in a Marriott Bonvoy Account
Marriott allows you to transfer or receive points from another member. A member can send 1,00,000 points in a year and receive 5,00,000 points. Pooling or transferring points can be an excellent way to get more points when another member’s points are about to expire or when you plan a trip together.
Earn Marriot Points in the USA
If you visit the USA from India, you can earn Marriott Bonvoy Points with more options.
Uber
- 2 Points per $ on eligible Uber Eats restaurant and grocery orders of $40+
- 3 Points per $ spent on rides with UberXL, Uber Comfort, Uber SUV, and Uber Black.
- 6 Points per $ spent on eligible Uber Eats restaurant and grocery orders of $40+ delivered to any hotel within the Marriott portfolio.
- Link here.
- Uber also has partnerships with other loyalty programs.
Eat Around Town
With Marriott Eat Around Town, base members earn 4 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar, and elite members earn 6 points per dollar.
Marriott is running a promotion for new Eat Around Town members wherein they can earn up to 6K points within the first six days:
- 1K bonus points on first $30 or more spending
- 2K bonus points for the second $30 or more spending
- 3K bonus points for the third $30 or more spending
- Review After Restaurant visit is mandatory
- Must Opt-in for Eat Around Town emails
Other Ways to Earn
There are a few other ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy Points. But they are irrelevant in India, or there are better alternatives. Here is a list of other ways to earn points:
- Car Rental with Hertz
- Earn 500 points per rental with Hertz.
- Earn 250 points with Dollar and Thrifty.
- Book with Marriott Tour & Activities
- Earn 5 Marriott Points for every $1 spent.
- Booking a Cruise
- Earn 3 Marriott Points for every $1 spent.
Bottomline
In India, there are many ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy Points. You can earn enough points with these ways to redeem them for free night stays. You can find the best way for you and stick to it. I prefer Amex Credit Cards to earn Marriott points.
