

Among the many main world lodge chains, Marriott and Hilton are most likely the 2 most compelling manufacturers for Canadian travellers trying to maximize their positive aspects by means of loyalty packages.
Each have spectacular footprints world wide, and their respective loyalty packages let you earn factors comparatively simply with out essentially having to spend some huge cash out-of-pocket, whereas additionally offering customers with aspirational redemption candy spots.
So how do they stack up towards one another? Is Marriott Bonvoy’s repute as one of the best lodge loyalty program for Canadians justified, or are there areas during which Hilton Honors is in reality extra advantageous?
The Worth of a Level
Each time we evaluate completely different loyalty packages, it’s helpful to ascertain the relative worth between a single level in every program.
On this case, we typically worth Marriott Bonvoy factors at 0.9 cents per level (CAD) and Hilton Honors factors at 0.6 cents per level (CAD), so we’ll refer to those a priori valuations all through the head-to-head comparability.
It could be tempting to conclude instantly from these valuations that Marriott Bonvoy is the extra precious program, however that’s not essentially the case for each kind of traveller, as we will see.
Incomes Factors
The extra avenues a loyalty program gives to build up respectable portions of factors, the better it’s for us to have interaction with it and derive advantages from this system.
Each Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors supply quite a lot of methods to earn factors, so let’s have a look at each in flip.
Credit score Card Welcome Bonuses
Marriott Bonvoy has two co-branded bank cards in Canada: the American Categorical Marriott Bonvoy Card and the American Categorical Marriott Bonvoy Enterprise Card, every at present providing 80,000 Bonvoy factors as a welcome bonus. Whereas the bonuses on these playing cards aren’t the best that we’ve seen, the playing cards must be within the wallets of anybody who takes their lodge factors significantly.
Dipping into the US bank card market opens up much more prospects for Bonvoy loyalists. The Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Good Card, Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card, and the Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Enterprise Card have gives of 100,000–150,000 Bonvoy factors, and likewise include quite a few different perks.
Moreover, Chase has 4 co-branded Marriott Bonvoy playing cards, starting from premium to no-fee: Bountiful, Boundless, Daring, and the Ritz-Carlton Card (which might solely be obtained by upgrading from one of many different three). These playing cards even have some juicy welcome bonuses and perks.

In the meantime, Hilton Honors doesn’t have a co-branded product within the Canadian market; as a substitute, any obtainable bank card gives can solely be accessed by means of the US bank card market.
The excellent news is that Canadians can simply provoke an American Categorical International Switch to one among Hilton’s Amex US merchandise: the Hilton Honors Card (100,000 factors), the Hilton Honors Surpass Card (130,000 factors), or the Hilton Honors Aspire Card (150,000 factors).
Verdict: Marriott is the winner right here, since they make it simpler for Canadians to earn factors by means of bank card welcome bonuses with out having to dabble with US bank cards.
Nevertheless, the spectacular amount of Hilton Honors factors provided on the US-issued Amex playing cards (150,000 factors is nothing to scoff at) make them well worth the hassle of going by means of Amex International Switch.
Credit score Card Spending
Probably the most highly effective factors incomes fee on a Bonvoy-branded bank card might be the “5-3-2” construction on the Amex Enterprise Bonvoy. You’ll earn 5 factors per greenback spent at Marriott resorts, 3 factors per greenback spent on gasoline, eating, and journey, and 2 factors per greenback spent on every thing else.
The US-issued Hilton playing cards supply a excessive fee of return when staying at Hilton resorts, though the bottom incomes fee is a uniform 3x on common purchases outdoors of america. The one exception to that is the 7 factors per greenback spent on choose journey purchases with the Hilton Honors American Categorical Aspire Card.
When making purchases outdoors of bonus classes, I’d undoubtedly select to make use of the Canadian-issued Bonvoy playing cards and earn 2 Bonvoy factors per Canadian greenback spent (which I’d worth at round a 2% return), as a substitute of three Hilton factors per USD spent on any of the Hilton playing cards (which I’d worth at round a 1.6% return, bearing in mind the international change distinction).
Verdict: Basically, Marriott Bonvoy’s co-branded bank cards supply a stronger return on spending, aside from the 7–14x earnings you’d get on really staying at Hilton resorts with one of many Hilton playing cards.
Transferring from Different Packages
Each Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors are switch companions from American Categorical Membership Rewards (MR), with switch ratios of 1:1.2 and 1:1 respectively. There are occasional switch bonus promotions to each packages, at which level the ratios can be quickly elevated in your favour.
There’s restricted worth in changing your Membership Rewards factors to both lodge program, since they are often way more successfully redeemed for airline rewards. Nevertheless, if you should high up your steadiness in both program for an aspirational redemption, you possibly can nonetheless get respectable worth out of the switch.

Verdict: Though each packages enable transfers from Amex MR factors, Marriott Bonvoy is the extra compelling possibility, because of a superior switch ratio.
Lodge Stays
Ignoring elite bonuses (we’ll get to that later), each Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors give customers 10 factors per US greenback spent at full-service properties and 5 factors per US greenback spent at limited-service properties.
Each packages additionally routinely placed on promotions for customers to earn further factors from their stays, equivalent to a window of alternative to earn double factors on each keep.
Verdict: Bonvoy and Honors each comply with the identical trade commonplace right here, however Marriott Bonvoy comes out forward if we evaluate the relative values of the 2 factors currencies you’re incomes.
Shopping for Factors
Buying factors outright is rarely the first-choice possibility for padding your balances, however it might probably at all times be helpful should you want a handful of additional factors in a pinch.
Marriott and Hilton each let you purchase factors, at traditional charges of 1.25 US cents per level and 1 US cent per level, respectively. Neither of those choices are significantly compelling, and may solely be used should you desperately have to top-up your account for an upcoming redemption.

Nevertheless, each packages usually placed on promotions permitting customers to purchase factors at a reduction.
Within the current previous, Marriott Bonvoy’s most beneficiant promotion thus far has been a 60% bonus, decreasing the acquisition worth to 0.78 US cents per level.
In the meantime, Hilton usually places on beneficiant 100% bonuses when shopping for factors, which is equal to a 50% low cost. This lowers the acquisition worth to 0.5 US cents per level, which is a suggestion I’d take up nicely earlier than Marriott’s discounted supply, particularly if I’m reserving some aspirational Hilton lodge stays.
Verdict: Hilton’s frequent 100% bonus occasions on factors purchases make it the winner on this class. Should you’re on the lookout for alternatives to strategically purchase factors to get a reduction on high-value lodge stays, you’d be a lot better served with Hilton than with Marriott.
Redemption Candy Spots
It’s solely significant to speak about factors incomes alternatives if we additionally take into account what you possibly can redeem these factors for. On steadiness, what number of free nights at a lodge are you able to unlock utilizing the bank card signup bonuses (and different incomes alternatives we lined above) from every program?
Once more, this query could be damaged down into a number of completely different issues:
Low-Finish / Mid-Vary Accommodations
Some travellers want to make use of their lodge factors to cowl as many free lodge nights as doable, with little regard for the luxurious issue that may include higher-tier resorts inside a program.
Marriott Bonvoy is transferring within the route of dynamic pricing in 2023. For now, we are able to reap the benefits of some candy spots throughout the program, equivalent to stays at mid-range resorts in Kuala Lumpur for round 12,500 factors per evening.
Should you’re visiting a extra expensive vacation spot, you possibly can nonetheless discover some candy spots inside Marriott Bonvoy. For instance, Australia strikes an excellent steadiness between price in factors towards the money worth.
Throughout Australia’s summer season months, an evening on the Brisbane Marriott Lodge prices round $400 AUD ($346 CAD) per evening.
For a similar time-frame, we are able to e-book rooms utilizing Bonvoy factors for 20,000–30,000 factors.
With this instance, a single welcome bonus of 80,000 factors from a bank card can unlock as much as 5 nights on the Brisbane Marriott Lodge (January 12–17) when utilizing the Fifth Night time Free profit, all for the annual payment of $120. That’s not unhealthy in any respect, contemplating that the identical rooms when booked with money would price $1,740 AUD ($1,506 CAD).
Then again, let’s have a look at some methods to make use of the welcome bonus from the base-level Hilton Honors Card from Amex US, which gives as much as 100,000 Hilton Honors factors for no annual payment.
As a substitute of utilizing a hard and fast reward chart, Hilton Honors additionally costs their resorts dynamically, that means that the award price varies primarily based on many alternative components. You’ll due to this fact must lookup your particular lodge to determine its actual award price, and we are able to solely make tough judgments on what number of free lodge nights you may get with a sure variety of Hilton factors.
Whereas a choose few Hilton properties world wide are priced as little as 5,000 factors per evening, most mid-range resorts in semi-popular locations world wide are priced at 20,000–40,000 factors per evening.
On the decrease finish, you’ll find properties such because the Hilton Backyard Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport for less than 5,000 factors per evening.
Transferring as much as a mid-range lodge, the Hilton Kuala Lumpur tends to cost out at round 30,000 factors per evening.
Subsequently, much like Marriott Bonvoy, your welcome bonus can be good for round two to 5 nights at a non-luxury property (bearing in mind the Fifth Night time Free profit, which Hilton additionally gives). Should you redeem factors for resorts on the lowest price in every program, you possibly can rise up to twenty nights with a single welcome bonus.
After all, this was solely the base-level Hilton bank card and the base-level Bonvoy bank card; the higher-end playing cards from Amex US can actually be used to cowl much more lodge nights in your journey.
Verdict: On steadiness, I’d put Marriott and Hilton roughly on par when it comes to redeeming free nights at low-end or mid-range resorts. It is going to be attention-grabbing to see how the 2 packages evaluate as soon as Marriott Bonvoy joins Hilton with dynamically-priced lodge redemptions.
Excessive-Finish Luxurious Accommodations
In distinction, different travellers want to redeem their factors for particular stays at aspirational resorts, and are completely satisfied to redeem a bigger chunk of factors for a luxurious expertise that will in any other case price them an excellent bigger chunk of money.
On the upper finish of the dynamic spectrum for Marriott Bonvoy, you possibly can count on to pay round 85,000–100,000 factors per evening. Whereas this may increasingly provide you with sticker shock at first, take into account that the identical resorts can price upwards of $2,500 (CAD) per evening, so parting methods with a big quantity of factors can nonetheless end in an amazing deal.
For instance, the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli prices between 84,000–116,000 Bonvoy factors per evening beneath the present iteration of this system.
Then again, Hilton Honors’s top-tier properties are priced at round 80,000–100,000 Hilton Honors factors per evening at most (once more, the pricing varies all year long).
After all, there are exceptions to this, such because the gorgeous Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, which fits for 150,000 Hilton Honors factors.

Verdict: On the luxurious finish of the spectrum, the comparatively decrease worth of a single Hilton Honors level really works in its favour.
Each packages cap their most aspirational properties on the area of 80,000–100,000 factors, however since an equal quantity of Hilton factors would fetch much less if redeemed elsewhere, it’s a greater deal to drop an obscene sum of Hilton factors than an equally obscene sum of Marriott factors for a luxurious keep.
Free Night time Certificates
With Marriott Bonvoy, you possibly can earn Free Night time Awards by means of bank card advantages and the elite standing program. With Hilton Honors, you possibly can solely earn Free Night time Rewards by means of bank card advantages.
Marriott Bonvoy’s Free Night time Awards are available numerous denominations. Relying on the way you earn a Free Night time Award, its potential worth adjustments.
With the Marriott Bonvoy American Categorical Card, the Marriott Bonvoy Enterprise American Categorical Card, the Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Card, the Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Enterprise Card, and the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card, you’ll get a Free Night time Award price 35,000 factors upon your card’s anniversary date.

In case you are a Titanium Elite member, you possibly can choose a Free Night time Award that’s price 40,000 factors as an Annual Alternative Profit.
With the Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card and the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful Card, you’ll earn a Free Night time Award price as much as 50,000 factors after spending $15,000 annually.
Lastly, with the Amex US Marriott Bonvoy Good Card or the Chase Ritz-Carlton Card, you’ll earn a Free Night time Award price as much as 85,000 factors annually. As premium bank cards, these characterize probably the most precious of all Marriott Free Night time Awards.
You’re additionally capable of top-up your Free Night time Awards with a further 15,000 factors. This raises the potential worth of every certificates to 50,000, 55,000, 65,000, and 100,000 Bonvoy factors, respectively.
With Hilton, you possibly can solely earn Free Night time Rewards as perks given by means of numerous co-branded bank cards.
The Amex US Hilton Aspire Card provides you a Free Night time Reward annually in your card’s anniversary date. It’s also possible to earn a further Free Night time Reward by spending a minimum of $60,000 (USD) on the cardboard every calendar 12 months.
Each the Amex US Hilton Surpass Card and the Amex US Hilton Enterprise Card let you earn a Free Night time Reward upon spending $15,000 (USD) in a calendar 12 months. You’ll be able to earn a further Free Night time Reward with the Hilton Surpass Card by spending a minimum of $60,000 (USD) in a calendar 12 months.
Apart from these surefire methods to earn Hilton Free Night time Rewards, there are additionally occasional spend-based or welcome supply promotions in which you’ll earn further Free Night time Rewards, too.

To redeem a Hilton Free Night time Reward, you’ll have to name Hilton Honors Buyer Care and provides them your Hilton Honors quantity and the Free Night time Reward ID. The agent will then course of the redemption over the telephone.
What makes Hilton Free Night time Rewards so highly effective is that they aren’t tied to a selected worth. Somewhat, so long as you’ll find commonplace room award availability, which is the bottom award fee for any given property, you possibly can redeem a Free Night time Reward.
In different phrases, you can redeem a Hilton Free Night time Reward for a room that prices 5,000 factors per evening or a room that prices 150,000 factors per evening. Naturally, we’d strongly encourage you to redeem them for the latter.
Verdict: On this class, Hilton is the clear winner. Whereas it might be barely tougher to come back throughout Hilton Free Night time Rewards, the power to redeem them for such excessive worth makes them way more precious than Marriott Free Night time Awards, which have a hard and fast most worth.
High quality & Footprint
Marriott is the world’s largest lodge chain with over 7,000 properties, whereas Hilton solely has about 5,600 resorts inside its portfolio.
However the distinction shouldn’t imply an excessive amount of in apply, as a result of they’re each extraordinarily complete world footprints, and most locations world wide can have a minimum of one Marriott or Hilton possibility so that you can redeem your factors.
In truth, there are even a number of notable areas world wide during which Hilton resorts drastically outnumber Marriott’s – Latin America and New Zealand come to thoughts.
Each chains are well-regarded for the standard of their resorts. Courtyards and SpringHill Suites are roughly akin to Hilton Backyard Inns and Hamptons, whereas full-service Marriott resorts are just about on par with full-service Hiltons.
As with most low-end and mid-range chain resorts world wide, you just about know precisely what you’re getting out of your keep.

On the luxurious finish, primarily based on my expertise, Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria surpasses Marriott’s St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton, which in flip is a step above Hilton’s Conrad model.
One thing else I like about Marriott’s luxurious portfolio is the abundance of distinctive Luxurious Assortment properties, which considerably outnumber these in Hilton’s corresponding LXR or Curio Assortment.

Verdict: It’s largely neck-to-neck between the world’s two main lodge chains in variety of properties. I’d most likely give Marriott the sting if I had to decide on a winner, however the distinction is unlikely to be significant.
Elite Program
Lastly, an enormous a part of what builds loyalty to a sure lodge chain is the elite advantages you get in return for giving the chain most of what you are promoting. How do the elite standing packages for Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors evaluate? We’ll take a fast have a look at two areas right here: how simple it’s to earn standing, and what that standing really will get you.
Ease of Incomes Standing
It’s easy to earn as much as Marriott Gold Elite standing by advantage of merely holding both the Amex Platinum Card or the Enterprise Platinum Card.
However the subsequent tier, Platinum Elite, is the place the true advantages begin to kick in, like free breakfast, lounge entry, complimentary suite upgrades, and assured 4pm late check-out.

Not too long ago, acquiring Marriott Platinum Elite obtained a complete lot simpler, as you possibly can benefit from the standing by merely having the Marriott Bonvoy Good American Categorical Card. The cardboard comes with an annual payment of $650 (USD), which is probably going quite a bit cheaper than incomes standing the common means, the place you’d have to earn a minimum of 50 nights in a 12 months.
Equally, Hilton Honors could be very beneficiant about doling out its increased elite standing memberships. Certainly, you possibly can earn top-tier Hilton Diamond standing just by having the Amex US Hilton Honors Aspire Card, with an annual payment of $450 (USD).
That is arguably probably the most beneficiant elite qualifying requirement out of all the most important lodge chains’ top-tier standing ranges.

Verdict: Breakfast, lounge entry, and suite upgrades can radically rework your lodge expertise for the higher. Hilton is the clear winner on this regard: its top-tier Diamond standing could be acquired from having a single bank card with an annual payment of $450 (USD), whereas Marriott Bonvoy’s mid-tier Platinum Elite standing prices $650 (USD) annually with the corresponding bank card.
Elite Advantages
The advantages related to Marriott Platinum Elite and better standing are totally on par with these of Hilton Diamond. In each circumstances, you’ll be handled to free breakfast and lounge entry (if obtainable), in addition to suite upgrades topic to availability.
There are, nonetheless, just a few key variations. Marriott Platinum Elite unlocks assured 4pm late check-out, whereas Hilton solely gives members the imprecise good thing about “late check-out”, which in apply could be very a lot up within the air and topic to the whims of every particular person resorts.
As well as, Marriott Bonvoy members who obtain Platinum and Titanium standing can select 5 Suite Night time Awards as a reward for doing so, which can be utilized to substantiate suite upgrades as much as 5 days prematurely of a lodge keep.

In the meantime, Hilton doesn’t supply its members any approach to verify suite upgrades previous to check-in; taken along with how simple it’s for anybody to earn top-tier Diamond standing by means of a single bank card, and I think that, on common, you’ll get higher suite upgrades as an elite member with Marriott Bonvoy than with Hilton Honors, particularly should you do a little bit of suite-talking.
Verdict: There’s barely extra worth in Marriott’s elite program than Hilton’s. Whereas Hilton gives its Diamond members a 100% bonus on factors earnings for each keep (in comparison with Marriott Platinum’s 50% bonus), I don’t suppose that’s sufficient to outweigh Marriott’s assured 4pm late check-out and Suite Night time Awards.
Conclusion
Whereas the worth proposition of Marriott Bonvoy has been frequently diminishing since its zenith in 2017–18, it stays probably the most accessible lodge loyalty program amongst Canadian travellers.
Having mentioned that, as we’ve demonstrated, there are lots of regards during which Hilton Honors does an equal, if not higher, job at assembly your journey wants, equivalent to providing compelling offers to purchase factors for discounted stays and offering extra beneficial alternatives for utilizing factors on top-tier luxurious properties.
For Canadians trying to leverage lodge packages to cowl lodging alongside their travels whereas minimizing their price, I’d suggest specializing in Marriott Bonvoy as your high precedence, after which, when you’ve gotten comfy on the Bonvoy aspect, diversifying into Hilton Honors with a fast Amex International Switch to unlock much more prospects without spending a dime lodge nights.
It is going to be much more attention-grabbing to revisit the 2 packages within the close to future, as soon as Marriott Bonvoy matches Hilton Honors and totally transitions to dynamic pricing in 2023.