Redeeming a Marriott 85K Free Night Certificate for The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto

I just redeemed an 85K Marriott Free Night Award (FNA) Certificate for a night at The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto.  In my opinion this is a great use of this certificate.  Cash rates for this property are over $1,000 per night.  I received the 85K FNA Certificate since I hold the Chase Ritz-Carlton credit card.  Each year on your account anniversary you receive an 85K FNA Certificate.  Other notable benefits you receive with this credit card are automatic Marriott Gold status, 15 elite night credits, Priority Pass membership and a $300 annual travel credit that can be used for airline incidental purchases such as lounge passes, seat upgrades, baggage fees, in-flight entertainment and in-flight meals.  The annual fee for this credit card is steep at $450, but I believe the benefits plus the FNA Certificate you receive in return make the fee well worth it.



In order to use the FNA Certificate I had the choice between a Deluxe Guest Room, 1 King, with either a City View or Courtyard View.  I chose the Courtyard View only because I thought it may be quieter.  As you can see the points required to make the redemption are 90K, while the FNA Certificate I have is only 85K.  One great thing Marriott allows with its FNA Certificates is the ability to top them off, meaning I can use the 85K certificate plus add 5K points to make the redemption.  Marriott allows you to use at most an additional 15K points when redeeming a FNA Certificate.



As you can see the total for the room came out to 90K points plus 3,000 JPY (approx 20 USD at the time of writing) for taxes and fees.



The cash price for this room including fees for this 3 person reservation came out to 227,158 JPY (approx 1,515 USD at the time of writing).


I'm really excited about experiencing this hotel and being able to use a FNA Certificate to save a significant amount of cash to stay at this luxurious hotel is what makes this hobby so great.

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