Marriott elite status affords some spectacular advantages to frequent vacationers. However the perks get notably compelling when you accrue at the very least 50 elite nights in a calendar 12 months. At this level, you may unlock Marriott Platinum Elite status, however you may additionally get the flexibility to choose a Marriott Annual Alternative Profit.
You possibly can choose one Marriott Annual Alternative Profit whenever you attain 50 elite nights in a calendar 12 months and one other whenever you get to 75 elite nights.
If you happen to accrued at the very least 50 elite nights with Marriott Bonvoy throughout 2025, the deadline for choosing your Alternative Profit is Feb. 1. So, this is what it is best to learn about choosing Marriott Annual Alternative Advantages, together with the obtainable choices and how you can make the only option in your upcoming journey.
Marriott Annual Alternative Profit overview
You earn a Marriott Annual Alternative Profit whenever you accrue 50 elite nights in a calendar 12 months. Then, you may earn a second Annual Alternative Profit after reaching 75 elite nights in a calendar 12 months. Nevertheless, the Alternative Advantages choices differ between the 2 tiers.
The way to choose your Marriott Annual Alternative Profit
To pick out your Annual Alternative Profit(s), go to this page on Marriott’s web site. You need to sign up to your Marriott Bonvoy account to decide on your profit.
You possibly can’t change your choice when you make it, so select properly. If you happen to’re eligible for a 50-night and a 75-night profit, you need to choose your 50-night profit earlier than you’ll be able to choose your 75-night profit.
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When to pick out your Marriott Annual Alternative Profit
If you happen to accrued 50 or 75 elite nights in 2025, you need to choose your Annual Alternative Profit(s) by 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 1. If you happen to do not make your choice(s) by the deadline, Marriott will routinely select Nightly Upgrade Awards for you.
The way to earn Marriott Bonvoy elite nights
Incomes 50 or 75 elite nights in a calendar 12 months might sound daunting. Nevertheless, Marriott gives a number of methods to earn elite nights. You will earn elite nights at collaborating Marriott brands whenever you book directly with Marriott — even when redeeming Marriott points or utilizing a free evening award certificates.
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You too can earn elite evening credit with choose Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. You possibly can earn as much as 25 elite evening credit every year with a Marriott client card and a further 15 with a Marriott enterprise card. Some Marriott playing cards even provide extra elite evening credit whenever you hit particular spending thresholds.
Lastly, it is value noting that you need to attain the relevant elite evening thresholds to unlock a Alternative Profit. Though the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card comes with automated Platinum Elite standing so long as your account stays open, that does not qualify for a profit choice.
Nevertheless, the Marriott Bonvoy Sensible card does provide the same profit — the Sensible Earned Alternative Award — that cardholders earn after spending $60,000 on eligible purchases with their Bonvoy Sensible card in a calendar 12 months. Sensible Earned Alternative Awards — which you need to choose by Feb. 1 of the 12 months following the spending — embrace a alternative of 5 Nightly Improve Awards, a free evening award value as much as 85,000 factors, 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors or $1,000 off a mattress from any Marriott Bonvoy retail model. The low cost on a mattress buy is simply obtainable if you happen to earned your Sensible Earned Alternative Award based mostly on spending in 2025 or earlier than, although.
Associated: Why you need both a personal and business Marriott Bonvoy credit card
50-night Annual Alternative Profit choices
You will unlock your first Marriott Annual Alternative Profit whenever you accrue 50 elite nights in a calendar 12 months. Your choices for the 50-night profit earned by way of nights in 2025 are as follows:
- 5 elite evening credit
- 5 Nightly Improve Awards
- $1,000 off a mattress
- $100 charity donation
- Reward Marriott Silver Elite standing to a different member
Most of those advantages are troublesome to worth, so let’s look at every possibility extra intently. I am going to begin with the choices which can be unlikely to make sense for many elite members.
Reward Marriott Silver Elite standing
Giving status to someone else may initially sound like a very good possibility. Nevertheless, Marriott Silver Elite standing is not value a lot, as the first perks are a ten% factors bonus on paid stays and precedence late checkout.
As a substitute of utilizing your Marriott Alternative Profit to present standing, you may encourage your pal or member of the family to earn Marriott status via a credit card. For instance, major cardholders of the no-annual-fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (see rates and fees) get automated Silver Elite standing and 5 elite evening credit every calendar 12 months as a cardholder perk.
Give a $100 charity donation
You possibly can choose a $100 donation to a number of charities — together with UNICEF, the World Wildlife Fund and the Arne M. Sorenson Hospitality Fund — as your Marriott Annual Alternative Profit.
The $100 charity donation is a pleasant contact and may very well be the suitable resolution if you cannot use every other Annual Alternative Profit choices. Nevertheless, I would favor to earn points and miles by donating to a charity of my alternative and preserve my means to pick out one of many different advantages.
Associated: How you can donate your points and miles to charity
Get $1,000 off a mattress
If you happen to love the mattress at a selected Marriott model, you should purchase a brand new one in your house. If you happen to’re available in the market for a Marriott mattress, you’ll be able to choose a promo code value $1,000 off the total retail worth for mattresses and field springs from choose Marriott manufacturers as your Annual Alternative Profit.
Nevertheless, you’ll be able to’t mix the one-time $1,000 low cost with different affords. Subsequently, examine whether or not the promo code affords enough worth in comparison with different reductions to justify its choice.
Obtain 5 elite evening credit
Selecting 5 elite evening credit in your Marriott Annual Alternative Profit is wise for some vacationers. Marriott will publish the elite evening credit to the 12 months you earned them (which can be totally different from the 12 months during which you selected them).
Selecting elite evening credit could also be helpful if you happen to fell 5 or fewer nights wanting incomes Titanium Elite standing or a brand new Marriott Bonvoy lifetime status in the course of the 2025 calendar 12 months. If you choose 5 elite evening credit to clear the 75-night threshold for Titanium Elite standing, make sure additionally to pick out your 75-night Annual Alternative Profit earlier than the deadline.
Obtain 5 Nightly Improve Awards
Every Nightly Improve Award is legitimate for a one-night advance, confirmable improve to pick out premium rooms and suites designated by every property. For instance, you’d want 5 Nightly Improve Award certificates to request an improve for a five-night reservation.
Many members save their Nightly Improve Award for stays at high-end Marriott Bonvoy properties, whereas others acquire them for nights they’d like more room. In 2025, I used Nightly Improve Awards to safe a collection on the Moxy Glasgow Service provider Metropolis and a one-bedroom suite on the Component Toronto Airport. Nevertheless, remember that Nightly Improve Awards do not begin clearing till 5 days earlier than your arrival (or three days earlier than arrival for Version, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis stays).
If you happen to go for 5 Nightly Improve Awards as a Alternative Profit, your awards will expire Dec. 31 of the 12 months following the one during which you earned them. So, if you happen to reached 50 nights in 2025, your Nightly Improve Awards expire Dec. 31, 2026.
75-night Annual Alternative Profit choices
You will earn Marriott Titanium Elite status and a second Annual Alternative Profit after incomes 75 elite nights inside a calendar 12 months. If you happen to reached this threshold in 2025, listed here are your decisions:
- 5 elite evening credit
- 5 Nightly Improve Awards
- $1,000 off a mattress
- $100 charity donation
- Reward Marriott Gold Elite standing to a different member
- Free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors
The alternatives listed here are largely the identical as these obtainable after hitting the 50-night threshold. I am going to skip over the charitable donation, Nightly Improve Awards and mattress low cost since I’ve already mentioned these choices within the earlier part. Likewise, I will not talk about gifting Gold Elite standing since incomes Marriott standing by way of bank cards is comparatively straightforward.
Nevertheless, let’s take a more in-depth take a look at the opposite two choices.
Obtain 5 elite evening credit
Earlier on this article, I thought-about how some vacationers may choose 5 elite evening credit because the 50-night Annual Alternative Profit to succeed in Titanium Elite or lifetime elite standing. Nevertheless, it might additionally make sense for Titanium Elite members to decide on 5 elite evening credit to earn Ambassador Elite status. This standing usually requires 100 elite nights and $23,000 in annual Marriott spending.
This feature will probably solely make sense if you happen to ended 2025 inside 5 elite nights of a better lifetime elite standing tier or with 95 to 99 elite nights and at the very least $23,000 in annual qualifying spending with Marriott.
Get a free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors
The ultimate possibility, distinctive to the 75-night Annual Alternative Profit, is a free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors. This free evening award is barely extra priceless than the 35,000-point free night award certificates related to lots of the Marriott Bonvoy playing cards.
TPG’s January 2026 valuations say 40,000 Marriott factors are value $280, making this a priceless possibility. Nevertheless, if you have already got numerous Marriott Bonvoy factors and excellent free evening awards to cowl your future travels, it’s possible you’ll wish to think about one other profit.
Which Marriott Annual Alternative Profit do you have to select?
One of the best Marriott Annual Alternative Profit for many loyalists on the 50-night tier is 5 Nightly Improve Awards. On the 75-night tier, the very best Annual Alternative Profit is often 5 extra Nightly Improve Awards or a free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors. Nevertheless, the 5 elite evening credit could also be an excellent alternative at both tier in the event that they’d allow you to qualify for the next standing tier.
You might surprise what I usually choose for my Annual Alternative Advantages. After I earned Titanium Elite standing in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025, I picked 5 Nightly Improve Awards (beforehand referred to as Suite Improve Awards) for my 50-night alternative and a free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors for my 75-night alternative.
Nevertheless, I solely accrued 71 elite nights in 2024. So, I chosen 5 elite evening credit as my 50-night profit to succeed in 76 elite nights for 2024, requalify for Titanium Elite standing and acquire a 75-night alternative. For my 75-night alternative, I selected 5 Nightly Improve Awards. The free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors was probably a extra priceless alternative, however I needed entry to some Nightly Improve Awards since I did not select any as my 50-night profit.
Associated: 5 ways to maximize Marriott Bonvoy award night redemptions
Backside line
Marriott’s Annual Alternative Advantages are priceless, with ample choices at every threshold. The choices aren’t valued equally, so make sure that to rigorously think about which profit shall be most dear for you earlier than deciding.
If you happen to aren’t positive what to decide on, essentially the most priceless possibility on the 50-night tier is often Nightly Improve Awards. In the meantime, the best choice on the 75-night tier is often extra Nightly Improve Awards or a free evening award value as much as 40,000 factors. No matter you resolve, choose your profit by 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 1.
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