- Marriott owners are protesting Bonvoy costs.
- Bonvoy membership reached 283 million by Q1 2026.
- Marriott expects fee revenue near $1 billion this year.
Marriott hotels are mostly run by independent franchise owners rather than Marriott itself, but those owners still must accept Bonvoy point redemptions, the Wall Street Journal reported. When a guest books a discounted stay using points, it is the franchisee, not Marriott, who eats the cost of that discount. As more travelers learn to stack credit card points for cheap or free stays, owners say that cost is climbing steadily.
A group of 51 owners, who together run roughly 1,000 Marriott properties, put their concerns in writing and sent the letter directly to CEO Anthony Capuano and Chairman David Marriott. In the letter, they say as the credit card business grows more profitable for Marriott, the people covering the discounted rooms are not seeing a proportional benefit.
"Hotel owners are absorbing an increasing share of the program's costs while Marriott captures an increasing share of its revenue," the owners wrote, according to WSJ. At a minimum, they want Marriott to reimburse them for discounted bookings at the same rate third-party platforms like Expedia typically pay.
Part of what is fueling the frustration is how differently loyalty points get earned today compared to a decade ago. Bonvoy used to reward people mainly for actually staying overnight at Marriott properties, with franchise owners pooling money to cover the eventual free or discounted nights. That system still meant owners sometimes lost money on a booking, but it kept guests coming back specifically because they stayed at Marriott properties.
Now, a guest can rack up enough points for a free night just by using a Marriott credit card to buy groceries or fill up gas, never once checking into an actual hotel before redeeming the reward. For franchise owners, that disconnect between earning and staying is at the heart of why they feel shortchanged.
Marriott told WSJ it takes the owners' concerns seriously and pointed to recent steps it took, including raising compensation for loyalty bookings on busy nights and for the first time, sharing some financial details about the program directly with hotel owners.
The scale of the loyalty program keeps growing too. Bonvoy picked up roughly 43 million new members last year, bringing total membership to about 283 million by the first quarter of 2026. Marriott also projected that fee income from its co-branded credit cards would jump 35 percent this year to nearly $1 billion.
Separately, U.S. hoteliers report weaker than expected World Cup tourism demand, with lower international bookings and reduced visitor forecasts.
