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Marriott Annual Choice Benefit is an exclusive perk for Marriott Bonvoy members who earn 50 and 75 eligible tier-qualifying night stays in a calendar year and become a Marriott Platinum Elite and a Marriott Titanium Elite, respectively.
In this post, I will discuss each Marriott Annual Choice Benefit and leave it up to you to decide which selection will benefit you the most in the Marriott Bonvoy program.
Photo: The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua
What is the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit?
Marriott’s Annual Choice Benefit is one of the perks offered to Marriott Bonvoy elite members, such as Marriott Platinum Elite and Marriott Titanium Elite.
To qualify for the Annual Choice Benefit:
- Platinum: Marriott Bonvoy members with 50 qualifying nights in one calendar year can choose an Annual Choice Benefit.
- Titanium: Marriott Bonvoy members who earn 75 qualifying nights in one calendar year can choose a second Annual Choice Benefit.
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What are the Marriott Annual Choice Benefits?
Currently, once your Marriott Bonvoy account is eligible for the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit, you have the following gifts to choose from:
For those who stay at least 50 Qualifying Nights in a calendar year:
- Get five (5) Nightly Upgrade Awards.
- Get $1,000 off Marriott mattresses at Shop Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton Shops, St. Regis Boutique, Westin Store, and more.
- Gift Marriott Silver Elite status to a family member or friend.
- Give $100 to support the Arne M. Sorenson Hospitality Fund, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), or World Wildlife Fund (WWF) charities.
- Add five (5) Elite Night Credits to get you closer to higher Elite status.
And for those who stay at least 75 Qualifying Nights in a calendar year, you earn a second Marriott Annual Choice Benefit. You can choose from the option above plus the following:
- Receive one Marriott Free Night Certificate worth up to 40,000 points, and top off with additional Marriott Bonvoy points of up to 15,000 Marriott points.
- Gift Marriott Gold Elite status to a family member or friend.
When Can I Choose the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit?
After determining you have stayed enough qualifying nights for Marriott Platinum Elite and Marriott Titanium Elite to earn the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit, you must wait for the selection to become available. Unfortunately, the process is not immediate.
Here are my sample timelines for your reference:
- On September 22, I earned 50 elite night credits for Marriott Platinum Elite status.
- September 23: I attempted to select an Annual Choice via the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit website but received the message, “Apologies, as of now, you’re not eligible for an Annual Choice Benefit.”
- Then, on September 25, I received an email from Marriott Bonvoy congratulating me for unlocking an Annual Choice Benefit.
Therefore, the option to select a Marriott Annual Choice Benefit is not available immediately after you’ve reached the eligible elite status. It would be best if you waited a few days; in my case, it’s three (3) days after I earned the Marriott Platinum Elite status from the qualifying 50-night stays. If you have not received the email, you can check to see if you can choose via the official Marriott Annual Choice Benefit website.
When is the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit Deadline?
If you qualify for the benefit this year, you must select a Marriott Annual Choice Benefit by January 7 of next year. If you do not make a selection by then, Marriott will automatically add the Five (5) Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards into your account as the default choice.
It is also important to note that once you confirm your selection, it is final and cannot change. You still have time before January 7 of next year to select the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit, so there’s no need to rush if you do not have an immediate use.
How Do You Select Your Marriott Annual Choice Benefit?
Suppose your Marriott Bonvoy account qualifies for the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit. In that case, Marriott will let you know via email and prompt you to select your Annual Choice Benefit with a link inside the email. However, if, for some reason, you do not receive the email or want to check whether your account is eligible for the Annual Choice Benefit right away, you can do the following:
- Go to the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit website.
- Click the SIGN IN button to sign into your Marriott account.
- If your Marriott account is eligible for the Annual Choice Benefit, you should see the selection page (see the screenshot below).
- Note that once you make a selection, it is final.
- If you do not make a selection by the deadline, Marriott will automatically deposit Five (5) Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards into your account as your default choice for that year.
- If your Marriott account is not eligible for the Annual Choice Benefit yet, you’ll receive the following message:
- Apologies. As of now, you’re not eligible for an Annual Choice Benefit. However, if you’ve received this message in error, please connect with Member Support. You must earn at least 50 Elite Night Credits this year to select one of these exclusive benefits.
Which Marriott Annual Choice Benefit is Best?
Everyone’s circumstances can be different. Therefore, an Annual Choice Benefit that is valuable to me may not be valuable to you. Regardless, I recommend that you do not rush to make a selection until you know you will benefit from the Marriott annual gift choice you select. You have until January 7, next year, to decide and choose if your account qualifies for the benefit this year.
For example, you might need five elite nights to reach the Marriott Titanium Elite status by the end of the year, so the choice option to add five elite nights can be valuable.
Gifting Marriott Elite Status
Marriott Platinum Elite members can gift Marriott Silver Elite Status. However, this benefit is worthless to gift to my friend or a family member because Marriott Silver Elite status does not offer many valuable benefits in the Marriott Bonvoy program.
Marriott Titanium Elite members can gift Marriott Gold Elite Status. Again, Marriott Gold Elite in the Marriott Bonvoy program offers a few benefits to make this selection worthwhile.
Adding Five (5) Elite Nights
Marriott counts the Five (5) Elite Night Credits for the year you earn the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit.
For example, you earned the Annual Choice Benefit in 2025 and selected to add five (5) elite night credits as your Marriott Annual Choice Benefit. Marriott will credit those five elite nights to your Marriott Bonvoy account and get you closer to higher elite status in 2025, not 2026.
This choice is helpful only if you need five elite night credits to reach a special status, for example, Marriott Titanium Elite, which offers complimentary United Premier Silver Elite status and one Marriott Free Night Certificate with a redemption value of up to 40,000 points, and can top it off with a maximum of 15,000 Marriott Bonvy points.
Marriott Platinum Elite status is already good enough for me; thus, I prefer to look into selecting another choice benefit instead. Furthermore, there are other methods to earn elite night credits. However, your situation may be different from mine.
Donating $100 to Charity
There are three (3) charities for this year’s Annual Choice Benefits:
- Arne M. Sorenson Hopspitality Fund
- United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Donating money to charity is certainly a nice thing to do. I want to maximize the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit because I value it more than just $100 US dollars. Ultimately, this selection depends on your decision and whether you want to support a good cause you believe in.
Receiving $1,000 off a Marriott hotel mattress
If you have your favorite Marriott hotel bed, you can receive $1,000 off. It is a decent discount considering how much they want for those beds.
Once you select the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit, the discount promotional code appears on the confirmation page. You can also view the promotional code at the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit website and go to the
benefit history page.
You can receive $1,000 off your favorite Marriott hotel bed at the following Marriott Bonvoy brand stores:
- Curated by JW
- Gaylord Hotels Store
- Shop Courtyard
- Collect Renaissance
- Shop Marriott
- Fairfield Store
- The Ritz-Carlton Shops
- Sheraton Store
- St. Regis Boutique
- Westin Store
- W Hotels Store
- Luxury Collection Store
Earning 5 Nightly Upgrade Awards
Once you confirm your selection of Five (5) Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards as the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit, Marriott will deposit those awards into your Marriott Bonvoy account.
I’ll likely select the Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards as my Annual Choice Benefit because these awards can be valuable. Moreover, additional brands such as The Ritz-Carlton and EDITION now also accept those NUAs, and 20% more premium room types are available for upgrades up to suites.
It is also worth noting that if you do not select a Marriott Annual Choice Benefit by January 7 of next year, Marriott will automatically deposit these Five (5) Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards into your Marriott Bonvoy account.
Earning One Marriott Free Night Award
Once you stay at least 75 qualifying nights and earn the Marriott Titanium Elite status, you receive a second Marriott Annual Choice Benefit plus this Marriott Free Night Certificate benefit.
Marriott will deposit the Marriott Free Night Certificate into your Marriott account. You can then use it for an award-night stay with a redemption value of up to 40,000 points per night, and you can top it off with up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
The Marriott Free Night Certificate benefit can offer a great value in return because you can use 40,000 points for a free night stay at a Marriott property worldwide. Check out this blog post for some of the best uses of the Marriott Free Night Awards.
Can I Change the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit?
No. It is final once you choose a Marriott Annual Choice Benefit. You cannot change or replace the chosen benefit.
Conclusion
Each Marriott Annual Choice Benefit can be valuable based on your situation. It is critical to understand that while you may earn the annual choice benefits early in the year or the middle of the year, you do not need to choose a benefit immediately. You have until January 7 of next year to select. Therefore, I recommend you wait until the selection deadline to decide which Marriott Annual Choice Benefit is best for you if you don’t have an immediate use of each benefit.
Furthermore, Marriott will award you the five Nightly Upgrade Awards as the default of choice if your situation is unchanged and you do not select by the deadline. As a result, you will not lose the Marriott Annual Choice Benefit one way or another.
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