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Marriott Bonvoy has rolled out a new process where you can buy points when making an award booking. You will only see this option if you do not have enough points already in your account…

If you click on the “Buy Points” link, you will be given the option of buying however many points you desire. Importantly, any ongoing promotions, such as the current 50% bonus, will apply. The points purchase is NON-REFUNDABLE, even if you subsequently cancel the award stay.

Very unexpectedly, I was offered a price in British pounds, because I was doing a dummy booking at a hotel in the UK.

If you compare against the cost of buying Marriott points directly in US Dollars, this looks like a bargain…

I don’t have any desire to buy Marriott points at the moment – in order to test this new facility. But I am fairly sure that Points.com intends to charge you in US Dollars.  In which case the attractive GBP price is just false advertising…

Why you should NOT buy points this way

You would be missing out on cashback. Points.com is available on the USA version of TopCashback, but don’t worry… cashing out via Paypal or your Wise multi-currency account is easy.

If you are not yet a member of TopCashback USA, you can earn an additional $15. Simply sign up using this referral link – http://www.topcashback.com/join-us/inside-flyer/ref/craigsowerby – and earn $10 of cashback.

Why you might want to buy points during the award booking process

Members may purchase Points or receive Points purchased by another Member as a gift for a maximum of 100,000 Points annually through the promotion’s Buy Points or Gift Points pages.

Members may purchase up to an additional 100,000 Points annually while booking a hotel stay through the reservation path on Marriott.com.

Members are limited to buying 100,000 points per year (plus any promotion bonus). If you have reached your annual limit, however, you can buy an additional 100,000 points + bonus through the award booking route…

Bottom line

Assuming that the attractive sterling price is just false advertising, the only reason to buy points during the booking process is to double the annual maximum you are allowed to buy. (otherwise, buy through Topcashback for some cashback)

With Marriott moving to dynamic pricing, I can’t see myself needing to buy the maximum, but perhaps we will end up surprised by the new system…