Upgrading a five-night Marriott Bonvoy award: why the free night doesn’t cover the upgrade

On a five-night Marriott Bonvoy points stay, Marriott’s rules indicate that the Stay for 5, Pay for 4 free night waives only the standard points rate of the night with the lowest standard rate. This assumes upgrade charges do not affect which night is chosen, a point covered below. The rules also require any Premium Room or Nightly Upgrade Award to be applied to every night, including the free one. On that reading, an upgraded stay costs four nights of standard points plus five nights of upgrade charges. Spread over the four paid nights, a flat upgrade costs 5/4 of its headline per-night price.

What Marriott’s rules say

Section 3.3.d of the Marriott Bonvoy programme rules sets the conditions for the offer:

• It applies to five consecutive nights on a Standard Redemption Award or PointSavers Award, booked under one confirmation number.
• You pay points for four nights. The free night is the one with the lowest points rate. If two or more nights tie at that rate, the first of them is free.
• It cannot be applied to back-to-back separate reservations or after check-in.
• It does not apply to Free Night Awards or Cash + Points.
• There is no points refund or free night credit for any unused portion.
• It applies only to a standard room and “does not apply to a Premium Room”.

The same section adds: “if a Member applies Premium Room Redemption Awards or Nightly Upgrade Awards, they are required to apply these for every night of the stay, even the free night(s).”

Section 3.3.e adds that award stays may require extra points or cash to upgrade to a Premium Room, meaning a room upgraded for size, view, services or other attributes, including suites.

Marriott does not spell out how these clauses combine. Our reading is that the free night attaches to the standard-room award and the upgrade is charged on top.

Pricing the stay the way Marriott bills it

Step 1: the standard bill. Add the five nightly standard points rates, then subtract the lowest. If the nightly rates differ, don’t use an average.

Step 2: the upgrade. Add the upgrade charge for all five nights, not four. If the upgrade is priced in cash, keep that cash total next to the points bill and judge it as cash rather than folding it into the points figure.

Worked example (hypothetical figures)

These are hypothetical round numbers, not observed Marriott prices. The standard rates are 40,000, 45,000, 50,000, 50,000 and 35,000 points, and the upgrade is a flat 10,000 points a night.

	Standard room	Upgraded
Five standard nightly rates	220,000	220,000
Free night (lowest standard rate)	−35,000	−35,000
Upgrade, five nights × 10,000	—	50,000
Points charged	185,000	235,000
Free night as share of five-night price	35,000 of 220,000 (~16%)	35,000 of 270,000 (~13%)

This assumes the free night is chosen on the standard rate alone. The rule refers to the “lowest Point redemption rate within the same Award Redemption Stay” without mentioning upgrades. If upgrade charges differ by night, check which night the booking screen waives.

Why the upgrade really costs 5/4 of its headline

In the example, the upgrade adds 50,000 points to a bill covering four paid nights. That is 12,500 points per paid night, not the 10,000 shown on screen, and it lifts the total cost per paid night from 46,250 to 58,750 points.

So ask whether you would pay 50,000 points, or the equivalent cash, for five nights in the better room. If you would only pay 40,000, decline the upgrade: the free night does not make up the difference.

The comparisons worth running

Price three versions on screen before arrival, because the offer cannot be applied after check-in:

1. The un-upgraded four-night bill.
2. The upgraded total from Step 2.
3. Any premium room offered directly as an award.

Because 3.3.d limits the offer to standard rooms, a premium room booked directly appears to get no free night. Compare its full five-night price with your upgraded total using the live figures, rather than assuming either route is cheaper.

What the rules don’t settle

Put these questions to Marriott, or test them on the booking screen, before adding an upgrade:

• Does adding an upgrade to an existing booking count as a modification? The rules make you responsible for changes to the points required when you modify an award stay, so ask whether that would reprice the standard nights at current rates.
• What exactly is a “Nightly Upgrade Award”, and how is it priced?
• If you leave early, are prepaid upgrade charges for unused nights refunded, in points or cash?
• Can you upgrade only some nights and keep the free night? The every-night clause suggests not.

These rules are global and undated, and they do not address the UK market separately. For one way to think about what your Marriott points are worth, see our guide to finding 1p-per-point Marriott redemptions.