Planning ahead for your Marriott Bonvoy points
Lifetime transfer options and steps to take now for Marriott International points
Marriott Bonvoy Customer Service
Marriott International, 1818 N. 90th St., Omaha NE 68114, USA (the US and Canada "Write or Fax Us" address published on the Loyalty Customer Support page; general customer correspondence, not an estates intake)
Deceased Member Account request (Contact Us form topic "Deceased Member Account")
While Marriott International does allow post-death transfer of points, lifetime planning gives the account holder more control over how points are shared and used.
Marriott Bonvoy supports member-to-member transfer of points during the account holder's lifetime. Fees may be charged, but the transfer is immediate and does not depend on any post-death process.
How to protect your Marriott Bonvoy points
6 lifetime planning steps for your Marriott Bonvoy points:
- •Book free nights at Marriott properties worldwide
- •Transfer points to one of the 38 participating airline frequent flyer programs (3:1 for most partners, with a bonus on most transfers)
- •Use points for room upgrades and Marriott Bonvoy Moments experiences
Family sharing
Marriott Bonvoy allows living members to transfer points to any other Bonvoy member (not limited to family or household). Transfers are free and processed online through the Points Transfer Tool. Minimum transfer: 1,000 points, in 1,000-point increments. Sending cap: 100,000 points per calendar year. Receiving cap: 500,000 points per calendar year. Members are limited to 2 transfer transactions per calendar month and 6 per calendar year. Both accounts must have been open at least 30 days with qualifying activity or 90 days without. Marriott's help article states a recipient should expect to see transferred points within 24 hours, and that a transfer handled manually by a support agent can take up to seven days. Points can also be purchased as a gift for another member, up to 100,000 points per calendar year. Points transfer to 38 participating airline frequent flyer programs, at 3:1 for most partners (Air New Zealand Airpoints is 200:1). A 5,000-mile bonus is added for every 60,000 points transferred to most partners; United MileagePlus carries a 10,000-mile bonus instead, and Air New Zealand a 75-mile bonus on its 200:1 basis. The bonus does not apply to American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, or Delta SkyMiles. Airline transfers are irreversible, and miles already converted cannot be moved back.
Should you save your passwords for your family?
Some people store account passwords so a family member can sign in later. The practice has three practical limits:
- Two-factor authentication often blocks it. Most accounts require a second factor — a code sent to a phone, an authenticator app, a passkey, or a physical key. A saved password alone frequently does not grant access, and the recovery codes that would are easy to lose or let go stale.
- It usually conflicts with the platform's terms. Most operators prohibit account sharing and signing in as another person, including after a death. Stored credentials are not the operator's recognized access path, and using them can violate the terms of service.
- Operators provide other paths. Where an operator offers a designation tool — Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager, a beneficiary designation — that mechanism grants access the operator recognizes. A password manager's own emergency-access or legacy feature passes credentials through a controlled process. Digital assets named in a will or trust give a fiduciary authority under each state's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA).
Frequently asked questions
Yes. You can transfer up to 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per calendar year to any other Bonvoy member for free. The minimum transfer is 1,000 points, in 1,000-point increments. Members are limited to 2 transfer transactions per calendar month and 6 per calendar year, and a recipient account can receive up to 500,000 points per calendar year. Both accounts must have been open at least 30 days with qualifying activity (or 90 days without). Marriott's help article says a recipient should expect to see the points within 24 hours, and that a transfer handled manually by a support agent can take up to seven days.
Yes. Marriott lists 38 participating airline programs. Most transfer at 3:1 (3 Bonvoy points = 1 airline mile); Air New Zealand Airpoints is 200:1. A 5,000-mile bonus is added for every 60,000 points transferred to most partners, United MileagePlus carries a 10,000-mile bonus instead, and Air New Zealand a 75-mile bonus on its 200:1 basis. The bonus does not apply to American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, or Delta SkyMiles. Transfers run 3,000 to 240,000 points per day and are irreversible.
Marriott Bonvoy points are forfeited after 24 consecutive months of account inactivity, and an account inactive for five consecutive years may be deactivated. Qualifying activity includes earning points or miles, redeeming points, purchasing points, and converting points to miles. Gifting or transferring points, and receiving a gift or transfer, do not count toward maintaining active status. Lifetime Elite accounts are not currently subject to the expiry policy, though the Terms reserve the right to apply one in the future.
Listing the Marriott Bonvoy account in an estate inventory identifies it for a fiduciary, who works through the operator's official channels to manage or close it.
Marriott Bonvoy does not support beneficiary designations. Unlike financial accounts, there is no way to name a beneficiary on this type of account.
Sources
Data sourced from Marriott International primary sources (8 pages reviewed). How we research.
Marriott Bonvoy Customer Service
Marriott International, 1818 N. 90th St., Omaha NE 68114, USA (the US and Canada "Write or Fax Us" address published on the Loyalty Customer Support page; general customer correspondence, not an estates intake)
Deceased Member Account request (Contact Us form topic "Deceased Member Account")
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