Marriott Bonvoy's Spring 2026 Promotion: More Points, Fewer Elite Nights

Marriott Bonvoy has finally revealed its first global promotion of 2026, and it's a significant departure from the double elite nights formula that status chasers have relied on for the past five years. The new promotion (code SH26) runs from 25 February to 10 May 2026, offering 2,500 bonus points per stay and 1 elite night credit for each different Marriott brand you stay at during the promotion period.

If you're a Marriott loyalist who's been mentally banking on double elite nights to fast-track your status this year, you'll want to read on — because the game has changed.

Here's what you get after registering for the SH26 promotion:

You must register before your first eligible stay, so don't wait — register now via the Marriott app or website. As always, only paid stays booked directly through Marriott channels qualify. Award stays, Cash+Points bookings, and third-party reservations are excluded.

From 2021 to 2025, Marriott ran an almost identical spring promotion each year: 1,000 bonus points per night plus 1 bonus elite night credit per night. It was straightforward and incredibly powerful for status seekers. A member staying 25 nights during the promotion window would earn 50 elite night credits (25 regular + 25 bonus), enough to leapfrog from nothing to Platinum status in a matter of weeks.

The 2026 version is fundamentally different in two ways:

First, the points bonus has shifted from per night to per stay, but at a higher amount. You now earn 2,500 points per stay instead of 1,000 per night. For single-night stays, that's a 150% increase in bonus points. For multi-night stays, it's worse — a five-night stay that would have earned 5,000 bonus points now earns just 2,500.

Second, and more importantly for status chasers, the elite night credit is now per brand rather than per night. With around 30 Marriott brands in the portfolio, the theoretical maximum bonus elite nights you could earn is approximately 30, compared to potentially 75+ under the old structure. That's a massive reduction.

Let's be honest about who benefits from this change and who doesn't.

Winners: Frequent single-night travellers. If you regularly do one-night stays for business or during road trips, you'll earn significantly more bonus points than under the old promotion. Ten one-night stays now earn you 25,000 bonus points, compared to 10,000 under the previous structure. And if you happen to stay at ten different brands, you'd also pick up 10 bonus elite nights.

Losers: Status chasers who relied on the double elite nights promotion to accelerate their path to Platinum or Titanium. The old promotion was essentially a 'buy one night, get one free' deal for elite nights. That's gone. If you were planning to reach Titanium (75 nights) by staying 38 nights during the promotion window, you'll need to rethink your strategy entirely.

Also losing out: Extended-stay guests. A week-long holiday at a Westin now earns the same 2,500 bonus points as a quick overnight at a Courtyard. The promotion actively incentivises shorter stays and brand-hopping.

Even though this isn't the promotion many were hoping for, there are still ways to squeeze value from it:

Break up longer stays. If you're planning a week in a city with multiple Marriott properties, consider splitting it across different hotels and brands. Three separate stays across three brands would earn you 7,500 bonus points and 3 bonus elite nights, versus just 2,500 points and 1 elite night for staying put.

Diversify your brands. The elite night credits reward variety, so think strategically about which brands you haven't stayed at yet. Marriott has around 30 brands — from budget-friendly Fairfield and Moxy to premium options like St. Regis and W Hotels. Each new brand unlocks another bonus elite night.

Stack with property-specific promotions. This is a global systemwide offer, which means it can be combined with hundreds of individual hotel bonus points promotions that Marriott runs simultaneously. You could earn 2,500 bonus points from SH26 plus an additional 3,000–10,000 points from a property-specific offer on the same stay.

Check your 'Exclusive for You' offers. Marriott has been rolling out targeted bonus offers for February 2026, and some members are seeing generous individual promotions in their Promotion Central dashboard. These can stack on top of SH26 as well. Log in to the Marriott app and check your promotions page.

This promotion feels like a deliberate shift in Marriott's loyalty strategy. The double elite nights promotion was arguably too generous — it allowed savvy members to reach Platinum or Titanium status with far fewer stays than the programme intended. By switching to a per-brand model, Marriott is still offering a nod towards elite nights, but in a much more controlled way.

It's worth remembering that Marriott's soft landing policy continues in 2026 — members who don't requalify only drop one tier. So if you held Titanium status in 2025 and don't requalify this year, you'd still retain Platinum for 2026. That safety net, combined with elite night credits from Marriott Bonvoy credit cards (15 nights from the Marriott Bonvoy Amex, for example), means elite status isn't out of reach — it just requires more organic stays than before.

As a Marriott Titanium member myself, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. The double elite nights promotion was a brilliant safety net — knowing that your spring stays counted double made status requalification feel much more achievable. That said, I can see why Marriott made this change. The old promotion probably inflated elite tiers more than they'd like, and the properties (not Marriott corporate) are the ones footing the bill for elite benefits.

For points collectors, though, this is actually a decent offer. If you're someone who frequently does short stays, the 2,500 points per stay is genuinely more generous than the old 1,000 per night. And those points can be transferred to airline partners or used for free nights, which is always welcome.

The brand diversity angle is interesting too. As someone who tends to default to the same few brands, this promotion is a nudge to explore Marriott's wider portfolio — maybe try a Moxy for the first time, or give Aloft a go. There's something to be said for getting out of your comfort zone.

➡️ Register for the SH26 promotion here

If you're new to hotel loyalty programmes, our Hotel Loyalty: A Beginner's Guide covers everything you need to know about earning and using hotel points effectively. And if you're looking to boost your Marriott Bonvoy balance through credit card spend, check out our UK credit card recommendations — some of which let you transfer points to Marriott Bonvoy.

Happy hotel-hopping,

Jack