Miles and Points Travel

How to use your Marriott free night sign up bonus

Earlier this year, Marriott offered 5 free night certificates (worth 50,000 points each) as the sign up bonus for the American Express Marriott Business card. Yes, it has an annual fee of $250. However, simple match tells you that 5 hotel nights will cost far more than $250. It’s an amazing deal, and I jumped on it.

Aside from the bonus, the card is solid. And I had a few trips in mind that I knew I could use the certificates for. With Marriott, you can add up to 15,000 points to each certificate. That really opens the door to high end redemption opportunities.

I was able to snag 2 nights at the St.Regis Toronto for a quick weekend away. Cash price for those nights? $2,000!! My out of pocket cost-just valet parking. An amazing stay that I could never have done without miles and points!

Let’s look at the property. The hotel is situated in the Financial District of the city, but we were able to walk to several restaurants and attractions. The service here is incredible. Everyone from the valet to the bell staff to the butlers are attentive, gracious and welcoming.

As you may already know, the St.Regis offers butler service. We were upgraded to a suite on our arrival, which was spacious and elegant. Each morning, the butler brought coffee service, complementary. They also provided calming bath salts, for a relaxing soak, and plenty of coffee for the in-room Nespresso maker.

I also have Platinum status with Marriott from my travels last year (combined with the nights you are given for holding a personal and business card). That gave us free breakfast each morning, which we had as both room service and in the lovely main dining room.

Our stay was amazing. We enjoyed the location, the service and the food! One of the best parts of traveling with miles and points is the opportunity to do things you could never have done on your own. Well, I suppose I could have paid $2,000 for the 2 night stay, but with a simple credit card sign up, I was able to keep that money in my pocket.

Take a look at the current offers for Marriott Business cards. The 5 night offer runs often! If you have upcoming travel in mind, this could, and should, be a no-brainer!