Your guide to Marriott Bonvoy: Using PayRewards for hotel stays, experiences and more

Looking to use points with hotels like Westin, W Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton and Sheraton? Then look no further than Marriott Bonvoy. As the name suggests, you can also earn and spend points at Marriott itself. Ditto, with more economical hotel brands like Four Points, Aloft, Moxy, Courtyard… the list goes on.

Marriott Bonvoy’s reach is so extensive that it now encompasses more than 30 brands and over 10,000 hotels. It’s also your ticket to VIP experiences at major events like the Australian Open and the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Excited? This guide will put you in pole position to pounce on premium travel using your well-deserved pile of points.

Transferring points from PayRewards to Marriott Bonvoy

Keen to get your PayRewards Points into Marriott Bonvoy? You can transfer these at a 1.75:1 rate. At the time of writing, that’s the most generous conversion rate from PayRewards of any transfer partner attached to the program.

Have a cool half-million PayRewards Points under your belt? You could turn these into 285,712 Marriott Bonvoy points. But here’s a tip. Keen a sharp eye on your inbox for the latest PayRewards transfer promotions. These can serve up extra points when transferring to Marriott Bonvoy, and other eligible partners.

Redeeming your Marriott Bonvoy points on accommodation

Okay, no prizes for guessing that you can spend Marriott Bonvoy points on hotel stays! But there are two main ways to go about it, and each option brings a different value to your points.

• Outright redemption: Book a standard room and pay for the entire stay using points.
• Cash & Points redemption: Book a standard room but pay an amount in cash alongside a reduced number of points.

So, which should you pick? I usually find the first option – outright reward bookings – to bring the best bang for your buck. That’s because Cash & Points usually requires half the number of points compared to an outright booking, but more than half of the cash needed for the equivalent paid room rate. In other words, you’re spending 50% of the points for a ‘free night’, but paying more than 50% of the money otherwise needed to book the same room.

Here’s an example. On dates we searched in August 2025, you could book a room at The Ritz-Carlton in Melbourne for 81,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night as an outright redemption. Through Cash & Points, the same room costs 40,500 points plus $323. Without points, room rates begin at $585/night.

With Cash & Points, you’re saving less than 45% on the room rate, while still spending 50% of the points. See now why outright bookings are my top pick?

Booking higher-level rooms with Marriott Bonvoy points

If you fancy something nicer than a standard hotel room, there are two paths you can take instead to use points.

• Redemption with Cash Upgrade
  Where you stay in a premium room category, spend points akin to an outright booking in a base-level room, and pay an extra fee in cash for your upgrade.
• Redemption with Points Upgrade:
  Much the same concept, but where the value you’d otherwise pay for the cash upgrade is converted into points.

Sticking with The Ritz-Carlton to illustrate, here’s what that looks like for a booking on the same date as our previous example.

I’ve crunched the numbers so that you don’t have to. Redemption with Points Upgrade trumps Redemption with Cash Upgrade – but both still give a better value for your points than a standard Cash & Points reservation. If you have Marriott Bonvoy points to spend, use them!

A handy hack when spending Marriott Bonvoy points on hotels

We won’t bore you with ‘cents per point’ calculations. Instead, keep this in mind. Marriott doesn’t apply a strict ‘points to dollars’ conversion rate when booking accommodation. While redemption rates still take commercial demand into account, the opulence of a hotel also plays a strong part.

Expect to spend more points for a high-end stay compared to an apartment hotel or economy property, regardless of how the paid room rates compare.

Here’s what I mean. Two properties can have very similar cash rates, but noticeably different points rates. On dates I’ve searched, the AC Hotel Melbourne Southbank has rooms from $207/night or 24,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. Separately, Courtyard Melbourne Flagstaff Gardens has rooms starting at $206 per night, but with points redemptions at 30,000 points. That’s 6,000 points more, for a cheaper room!

In short, take a moment to look through the many options available when booking, as your points could stretch further than you might expect.

Converting Marriott Bonvoy points into frequent flyer points

Outside of accommodation, Marriott Bonvoy is very popular for its extensive frequent flyer partnerships. Not only the sheer number, but also the value that this option brings.

With 39 transfer partners to choose from and competitive conversion rates, some travellers use Marriott Bonvoy as a way of accruing miles in programs not easily accessible to Aussies. Eyeing off some Delta SkyMiles? How about miles in American Airlines’ AAdvantage program? Or perhaps, topping up your ANA Mileage Club account ahead of a trip to Japan? That, and much more, is possible with Marriott Bonvoy.

If you haven’t yet twigged, herein lies the opportunity. You can convert your PayRewards Points into Marriott Bonvoy points – you already know that part. But from Marriott Bonvoy, you can convert your points again to earn miles with these lucrative frequent flyer programs, and many others.

In most cases, a 3:1 rate applies when converting Marriott Bonvoy points into airline miles. But for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred, Marriott kicks in another 5,000 airline miles (with a few exceptions). This means you could transform 105,000 PayRewards Points into 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at the usual 1.75:1 rate. You could then convert those 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points into 25,000 airline miles (3:1 conversion 000, plus the 5,000-mile bonus).

This is an advanced play (read more at Point Hacks), and makes the most sense when there’s a transfer bonus from PayRewards to Marriott Bonvoy. Perhaps, now you can sense the opportunity. Here are just some of the international frequent flyer programs you can reach via Marriott Bonvoy, which aren’t already directly available from PayRewards:

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• JAL (Japan Airlines) Mileage Bank
• LATAM Pass
• Saudia Alfursan
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

The Marriott Bonvoy website has the full list of transfer partners and conversion rates. The 5,000-mile transfer bonus described doesn’t apply with American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles or Delta SkyMiles. However, transferring to United MileagePlus sees the usual bonus become a higher 10,000 miles.

Unlocking special experiences through Marriott Bonvoy Moments

If your life is already filled with travel, why not use Marriott Bonvoy points for something different? Through Marriott Bonvoy Moments, use your points for a money-can’t-buy experience at some of the world’s major events.

For instance, at the 2025 Australian Open, Marriott Bonvoy members could use points for access to the Marriott Bonvoy Lounge near Rod Laver Arena. More of an F1 fan? Marriott Bonvoy members engaged in a bidding war for Paddock Club tickets at this year’s Australian Grand Prix! Sure, it’s not your typical travel booking – and some will always prefer those. But VIP experiences at events like this keep life interesting, don’t you think?

Making the most of Marriott Bonvoy

We’ve got a few final tips and tricks to help you bring home the Gold, literally.

• Take a shortcut to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite
  Do you have the American Express Platinum Card or the AMEX Platinum Business Card? Be sure to link your American Express and Marriott Bonvoy accounts to enjoy ongoing Gold Elite status! Gold Elite brings 25% more Marriott Bonvoy points on paid hotel stays. You also get access to ‘Stay for 5, Pay for 4’ – which means getting one night free when redeeming a five-night stay using points.
• Need extra Marriott Bonvoy points?
  Along with your stash of PayRewards Points, you might also have other reward points that can elevate your Marriott Bonvoy balance. For instance, convert points from American Express Membership Rewards at a 3:2 rate. Or, from CommBank Awards at a 3:1 rate, or Virgin Money Rewards at a 2:1 rate.

Written by Chris Chamberlin

Share this guide

About the author

Chris enjoys making the most of frequent flyer points, which have taken him around the world – usually, at the front of the plane. He’s travelled over 1.5 million miles sampling the best in Business Class and First Class. That’s further than three return trips to the moon! Chris is based at Point Hacks' Melbourne office as News Editor, and shares his experiences via @chris_chamberlin on Instagram. When he’s not travelling, he enjoys tennis, keeping fit, and discovering new gins.