Reposting because this page was incorrectly showing EDITION properties that were not eligible for this certificate. Those have now been removed and the list is now accurate.
One of the benefits of the Chase Marriott card is that on your card anniversary you receive a free night certificate that can be used on any category 1-5 property. The annual fee on this card is $85 and it comes with other benefits so this free night certificate can be useful in trying to offset that annual fee. In this post we will look at the best uses of this free night certificate, specifically looking at hotels with the highest cash prices. Keep in mind that the best use for you won’t necessary be the most expensive property, you should be using certificates like this to achieve your travel goals and it always better to use a certificate than let it expire waiting for that perfect redemption.
It’s also important to note that Marriott is changing the category of some of it’s properties on March 6th. We’ve included properties that will be category six after this change (meaning you need to book them before March 6th) and properties that are currently category 6 but will drop to category 5 (meaning you need to book them after March 6th). These are clearly marked with * & **. This data has again gratefully been provided by Pointimize. Pointimize has a hotel award search tool that shows prices in cash, cash & points and award nights using points, the data found below is based on real world users using their search engine. This helps to give us accurate data (e.g more searches will be done during peak periods when hotels are more expensive, but you’re also more likely to visit during these periods). This can cause some properties to have much higher rates than you’d expect, but there is usually a reason for this (e.g sports match or other one off event). Now onto the lists…
Contents
Best Uses Based On Cash Rates
Below you can see the top 30 properties based on their cash rate. It’s also interesting to see a category 1 and category 2 property make the list. There are also two properties that won’t be eligible after March 6th and one that isn’t currently eligible but will be after the change.
Best JW Marriott Properties
JW Marriott is one of Marriott’s luxury brands. Below is the highest cash price JW Marriott properties.
Best Autograph Properties
Autograph is Marriott’s boutique brand, below you can see the top 10 Autograph properties based on their cash rate.
Our Verdict
As always big thanks has to go to Pointimize for giving us access to this data and their sister site AwardTravel for organizing it nicely. The more people that use the Pointimize search engine, the more useful this data will become. Make sure you actually use your free night certificates and don’t let lists like these persuade you to visit somewhere you’re not interested in visiting. I personally just use these lists as a quick guide when planning trips.
If you liked this post you might be interested in other similar posts:
- Best Uses Of Your Chase IHG Free Night Certificate
- Best Uses Of Your Chase Hyatt Free Night Certificate (Category 1-4)
- Best Uses Of Hilton Free Night Certificates
- How Much Are Southwest Rapid Rewards Points Worth?
- How Much Are JetBlue TrueBlue Points Worth?
- How Much Are FlexPerks Points Worth?
- A Complete Guide To Amtrak Guest Rewards Points (AGR): Best Uses & How Much They Are Worth
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Please note that the list currently includes EDITION properties that are not eligible. We are aware of this issue and will be fixing shortly.
Not saying each marriott category should warrant its own separate post, but is there a way I can access a list like this for all marriott categories 5 and up? So like a list for category 6, a list for category 7, a list for category 8, etc. I have a marriott 7 night certificate that i’ve upgraded to category 6 and can pay 30,000 points for each additional category upgrade, so it would be great to see the best value properties in each category
Marriott’s own website: https://www.marriott.com/hotel-search.mi
Good stuff as always!
This post was a fail, sadly. Edition hotels are Tier 5, not category 5
Doc, bad data everytime Pointimize does one of these things. You should have ended the relationship with them by now after they messed up on all the previous ones before. Hilton, IHG etc.
Everybody makes mistakes, this data is invaluable.
Better check EDITION hotels – no way those will qualify to book under Marriott Cat 1-5 certificates.
I think it’s also worth noting, while everyone should always be using redemptions like this for the most useful value to you vs. the most cash value on paper before it expires (especially because of regular downgrades), there are many success stories of easily getting this extended for an additional year by calling or emailing Marriott. As a recent data point, I just had mine extended for an additional year two weeks ago via email.
Do u get to keep the certificate if u cancel the card after first year?
I believe I booked mine right after it posted to my account, but before canceling the card. not sure if you typically keep it or not but that worked for me. this was a couple years ago, and I have had the card for a few years.
I think yes. I got my certificate and cancelled my card 3 months ago. The certificate is still in my account now.
But aren’t the Edition hotels considered Ritz Carlton Tier 4, not Marriott Category 4, and therefore not eligible for the Chase Free Night? Hope I’m wrong – it would be great to be able to use this in London this summer!
Absolutely. London and NY are definitely not eligible for this, since they are Tiers and not Categories.
The London EDITION (and I suspect the other EDITION hotels) is a Tier 4 hotel (not category), and not eligible for the annual free night certificate.
Yep, 60-70k/night if they’re tier 4/5. But hey, did you see there’s a good deal in Kuwait City?
Miami Beach Edition is tier 5 not Category 5. Same issue.. it caught my eye because the last I remember , all the FL East Coast hotels had became at least a category 6.. I knew no Miami Beach hotels should be within this price range.
Way to break my heart DOC lol
The Edition hotels are Ritz-Carlton Tier 4, not Category 4 – they wouldn’t qualify for this list.