Work out what your Marriott Bonvoy points are worth against a specific stay, and how many nights your balance actually covers now that Bonvoy prices awards dynamically.
Marriott retired its published category chart in favor of dynamic pricing, so the points cost of a room now tracks the cash rate rather than a fixed table. The practical effect is that Bonvoy points behave much more like a fixed-value currency than they used to. When the cash rate rises, the points price rises with it, which removes most of the arbitrage that made award charts interesting in the first place.
Bonvoy still gives you a free fifth night on a five-night award booking, which is a straight twenty percent discount and the single most reliable way to improve your rate. If your trip is four nights, price a fifth. The extra night is free in points and the effective cost per night drops across the whole stay, which occasionally makes staying longer cheaper in real terms than staying shorter.
Amex, Chase and several other flexible currencies transfer to Bonvoy, and it is usually a poor use of them. Because Bonvoy prices off the cash rate, a point transferred in tends to buy less than the same point transferred to an airline partner would. Transfer bonuses to Bonvoy can narrow the gap, so check our transfer bonus tracker first, but the default answer is to earn Bonvoy points through stays and the co-branded cards rather than importing them.
The annual certificates that come with Marriott cards are capped at a points value, and under dynamic pricing that cap bites harder every year as properties drift above it. You can usually top a certificate up with points to reach a more expensive room, which is worth modeling rather than assuming the certificate is stranded. Check what yours can still book before you pay another annual fee, and see our Marriott card eligibility tool if you are weighing a switch.