Marriott’s free night award certificates extension for 2021: due to the pandemic, all free night award certificates that were due to expire in 2020 or 2021 have been extended once again to January 3rd, 2022.
One of the best features of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card (apart from the great Welcome Bonus that can give you 10 free hotel nights) is the annual free night award certificate you’ll get every single year.
It can be used for very luxurious hotels around the world (all hotels from Category 1 to 5): there are thousands of options, including many 5-star hotels.
Our Flytrippers Valuation of the certificate is ≈ $315, but it is easily worth hundreds of dollars (or even a thousand dollars in an overwater bungalow in Fiji). However, you usually have just one year to use them (unlike Marriott points, which effectively never expire).
Free night award certificate extension
The extension ensures that your free night award certificates won’t expire before 2022 at least. You can soon see this in your Marriott account (the previous extension was until August 1st).
Hopefully, you can go somewhere more fun by then, and you’ll get much nicer hotels with your certificate too: the worst use of Marriott points or certificates is often for hotels in Canada and the US (because they are expensive—and popular—countries).
Many travelers use the certificate for a $150 room sadly, when it can get you something so much better. That’s also what maximizing travel rewards is all about. That’s the beauty of variable-value rewards programs that give you outsized value and unlimited value (but only if you understand that you need to use them well!).
We’ll soon share our 25 best Marriott hotels where to use the certificate. But if the situation doesn’t seem to be getting better by next winter, we’ll at least share a post with the best luxury hotels here in Canada where you can use your certificate, in case that’s still your only option (we sure hope not).
Want to learn more about maximizing Marriott points?
Summary
Marriott’s free night award certificates extension for 2021 ensures that no credit card certificates will expire before January 3rd, 2023.
Have any questions about Marriott hotels? Ask us in the comments below.
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Featured image: The Ritz-Carlton Tamuda Bay upcoming Category 5 hotel in Morocco (photo credit: Marriott)
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