Many of the best hotel credit cards offer an annual free night. This annual free night certificate is valuable, as it often offers enough value to justify the card's annual fee.
But while programs like IHG One Rewards let members top off free night certificates with as many points as needed, Marriott Bonvoy capped top-offs at just 15,000 points per certificate until recently. Luckily, Marriott Bonvoy changed its policies on March 12 to allow members to top off free night award certificates with up to 25,000 points.
Almost a year ago, TPG's Rachel Craft wrote a data-driven story about why it was time for Marriott to update the point thresholds for free night certificates. Although the certificate thresholds are staying the same, data from Gondola AI's proprietary hotel rate monitoring platform shows that the 10,000-point increase in allowable top-offs drastically expands the properties at which you can use Marriott free night award certificates. Let's dive in.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on The Points Guy Articles.
