Marriott Bonvoy elites earn Choice Benefits when qualifying for Platinum and Titanium Elite. Choices are limited and include suite upgrades, free nights, charity donations, and other perks. Each of these has varying value depending on how you travel with Marriott, so it’s essential to make the right choice when you pick your Choice Benefit.
Here, we’ll examine your options at the Platinum and Titanium levels and discuss which might best suit your travel needs. The choice is yours, but pick the Choice Benefit that makes a meaningful difference in your travel experience.
You’ll earn your first Choice Benefit by earning 50 elite nights with Marriott Bonvoy. Your options are as follows.
The most popular Choice Benefit at this level is five Nightly Upgrade Awards (NUA). These let you request an upgrade to a suite or other preferred room type for an upcoming stay. However, they only clear five days before arrival at most properties, and two days before arrival at Edition, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis.
You need one Nightly Upgrade Award per night, so a five-night stay would require five of them. You’ll have the best luck clearing upgrades on off-peak dates, mid-week stays, at mid-tier brands and at large hotels.
Note that these awards expire on December 31 the year you earn them, so don’t wait to redeem them. That said, it’s what we recommend most Marriott Platinum Elites redeem their Choice Benefits for, as it can provide hundreds of dollars in value if a suite upgrade clears.
Marriott sells the mattresses found at a handful of its hotel brands online, and this coupon gives you $1,000 off a full-priced mattress.
This might seem like a good deal on paper if you’re in the market for a high-end mattress, but it doesn’t stack with other promotions which could save you more money. For example, Marriott is offering 30% off the Marriott Bed at the time of writing.
Because of this, we recommend skipping this Choice Benefit as the true value will likely be far less than the $1,000 discount due to these frequent sales.
This Choice Benefit gives a friend or family member Silver Elite status for a year. Benefits are minimal at the Silver Elite level, and they may be eligible to earn Silver Elite or higher by opening their own Marriott credit card. We recommend skipping this option.
Marriott has three partner charities that you can donate $100 to with your Choice Benefit selection. If you select this benefit, Marriott will make the donation on your behalf.
Eligible charities include:
While this can be a good way to use your reward to help those in need, you’ll likely get more value from Nightly Upgrade Awards. In this case, consider making a cash donation and using your Choice Benefit for another perk.
This benefit adds five elite qualifying nights to your account. It’s worth picking if you think you’ll be five nights short of Titanium Elite status this year. If not, skip this option.
You’ll earn another Choice Benefit when you earn 75 nights in a calendar year, which is also when you earn Titanium Elite status. Your choices are largely the same — including Nightly Upgrade Awards — with two additions.
These certificates work the same as the certificates you’d earn at the Platinum Elite level. This is one of the options worth considering at this level, but only if you can use use them before the end of the year. Remember, upgrades aren’t guaranteed and certificates expire at the end of the year.
This is an exciting benefit for many elite at this level. You can pick a free night certificate good at any Marriott Bonvoy property for up to 40,000 points. Plus, you can top up the certificate with up to 15,000 additional points, giving you a 40,000-point discount on a stay that costs up to 55,000 points.
This is one of the most valuable picks, and it’s a better deal than more Nightly Upgrade Awards for many who can’t get value from more Nightly Upgrade Awards. 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points can easily cover a $300+ stay.
While this gives more benefit than Silver, it’s not worthwhile if your friend can get Gold Elite with a credit card.
You can pick from the same charity donation, mattress discounts, and elite night boosts as at the Platinum Elite level. Again, we recommend skipping these as you can often purchase Marriott-branded mattresses at a discount. Nightly Upgrade Awards and a 40,000-point free night award are likely worth more than $100, so consider making your own donation instead.
The five elite nights are only worthwhile if you’ll spend $23,000 at Marriott properties but won’t meet the 100-night requirement for Ambassador status. Even then, the difference between Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite are minimal at best, so you might consider other options regardless.
Of course, all of us have different ways of deciding on what’s best, but here are a few pointers:
The 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards are generally considered the most valuable option here. These allow you to confirm upgrades to premium rooms or standard suites at check-in, subject to availability.
The Free Night Award (worth up to 40,000 points) is typically the most valuable selection. This can be topped up with up to 15,000 additional points, potentially allowing you to stay at a property that costs up to 55,000 points.
You become eligible to select your Choice Benefit as soon as you hit 50 or 75 qualifying nights in a calendar year. Marriott will typically notify you via email, but you can also check your eligibility and make your selection at any time by visiting this webpage.
If you’ve earned 50 or 75 elite nights, you must make your selection by February 1, 2026, or five Nightly Upgrade Awards will be selected as your default choice.
You can earn up to 40 elite nights annually through Marriott cobranded credit cards. That can give you a significant head start towards elite status thresholds. Specifically, you’re already 80% of the way to Platinum Elite status (50 elite nights) and more than halfway to Titanium Elite status (75 elite nights).
Most personal Marriott credit cards offer 15 elite nights per year. These include the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card and the Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card.
The premium Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card provides 25 elite nights annually.
You can only receive elite nights from one personal card per year.
The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card offers 15 elite nights per year.
You can stack these credits with those from a personal card.
If you want to earn the maximum 40 elite nights, you can combine:
Alternatively, you can earn 30 elite nights by pairing:
Here are the best Marriott Bonvoy credit cards:
Marriott elites earning Platinum and Titanium Elite earn one Choice Benefit when qualifying for status. You have a handful of options, but in most cases, there’s a clear winner for which gets you the most value.
At the Platinum Elite level, the best choice is almost always Nightly Upgrade Awards. Meanwhile, most travelers are best served with more Nightly Upgrade Awards or a 40,000-point free night certificate at the Titanium Elite level.
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