Marriott Bonvoy 85K Free Night Certificate Redemptions in Asia Pacific
Marriott’s 85K Free Night Certificates is the highest level of Free Night Certificate in the Marriott Bonvoy program, which can be earned through the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card and the Chase Ritz-Carlton Card with the annual fees of $650 and $450 respectively.
Marriott still secretly assign category to their hotels, and with this information, we can infer the potential of Marriott’s free night certificates with topups. Here’s the secret chart:
| Category | Minimum/Night | Maximum/Night |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,500 | 16,000 |
| 2 | 10,000 | 23,000 |
| 3 | 15,000 | 29,500 |
| 4 | 21,000 | 46,000 |
| 5 | 30,000 | 69,000 |
| 6 | 35,000 | 81,000 |
| 7 | 44,000 | 102,000 |
| 8A | 59,500 | 130,000 |
| 8B | 52,000 | 106,000 |
| 9A | 80,000 | 140,000 |
| 9B | 82,000 | 126,000 |
| 9C (StR/RC Maldives) | 70,000 | 164,000 |
| RC Reserve Zadun (Cat 11) | 131,000 | 212,000 |
| RC Reserve Dorado Beach (Cat 12) | 170,000 | 254,000 |
| Nujuma, RC Reserve (Cat 12) | 163,000 | 299,500 |
After studying the chart, I’m pleased to see that the 85K FNC is quite valuable. While not as valuable as Hilton Free Night Certificate, you can still redeem 85K FNC’s at really nice hotels, and they’re not as difficult to use like 50K FNC’s. In Asia, few Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties are within reach!
Due to the high-value nature of 85K FNC, I would only list hotels listed as Category 6 at minimum, and up to Category 9 which is the max Category an 85K FNC could be redeemed on hotels set at that Category. Countries excluded either mean that there’s no Marriott hotels there, or the max Category level found in the country is Category 5 or lower.
| Category | Points Range | 85K Cert Viability | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 35-81k/Night | Guaranteed without topups | Redeem during peak season, or if you can't find Cat 7 hotels at destination |
| 7 | 44-102k/Night | Guaranteed with topups for ~99% of Cat 7 hotels | The sweet spot category for 85K Cert. Try to aim for this! |
| 8 | 52-130k/Night | Good chances, but some of dates will be out of bounds | Redeem during low-mid season or plan trip around redemption |
| 9 | 80-140k/Night | Slightly harder, though the difficulty level could be similar to Cat 8 depending on the property | Plan trip around the redemption |
Category 7 is the sweet spot for 85K FNC redemption as the pricing during peak season is just below 100K points, and as long as you have the required Marriott points for top-up, then you’re pretty much guaranteed to redeem as long as award availability exists. So far, I only found 2 Category 7 hotels that’s out of bounds with 102K points max, and they’re Sheratons in Hawaii.
Understandably, there’s not as many Category 7 as Category 6 hotels in the world, so one might have to settle for that if they still wish for a guaranteed redemption without worrying about planning your trip around a hotel redemption.
Most Category 6 hotels are still very nice though, and would most likely cost more than the effective annual fee for the Bonvoy Brilliant, and even more so for the Ritz-Carlton Card at peak seasons.
If you really want to maximize the potential of 85K FNC’s belonging to Category 8 or 9, then you’d have to plan your trip around that redemption and look ahead months in advance for better chances.
Here’s the list for the hotels you can redeem 85K FNC’s on in Asia Pacific region:
Hotels with links are hotels I’ve personally stayed at and reviewed.
Australia
- W Melbourne (Cat 6)
- W Sydney (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa (Cat 6)
- Ritz-Carlton, Perth (Cat 6)
- Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne (Cat 7)
China
- JW Marriott Hotel Shenzhen Bao’an (Cat 6)
- Ritz-Carlton, Shenzhen (Cat 6)
- St. Regis Macao (Cat 6)
- St. Regis Zhuhai (Cat 6)
- The Shanghai EDITION (Cat 6)
- The Sanya EDITION (Cat 6)
- Ritz Carlton Shanghai, Pudong (Cat 7)
- Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Cat 9)
Fiji
- Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay (Cat 6)
- Sheraton Denarau Villas (Cat 7)
French Polynesia
- Westin Bora Bora (Cat 7)
- St. Regis Bora Bora (Cat 9)
Hong Kong
- Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel (Cat 6)
- Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Hong Kong (Cat 6)
- W Hong Kong (Cat 7)
- St. Regis Hong Kong (Cat 8)
- Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong (Cat 8)
India
- ITC Grand Bharat, a Luxury Collection Retreat, Gurgaon, New Delhi Capital Region (Cat 6)
- Goa Marriott Resort & Spa (Cat 6)
- Westin Goa (Cat 6)
- W Goa (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Goa (Cat 6)
- ITC Grand Goa, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Goa (Cat 6)
- St. Regis Goa Resort (Cat 8)
Indonesia
- Innit Lombok, a Member of Design Hotels (Cat 6)
- Ritz-Carlton, Bali (Cat 6)
- W Seminyak Bali (Cat 7)
- St. Regis Bali (Cat 8)
- Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Cat 9)
Japan
- Karuizawa Marriott Hotel (Cat 6)
- Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel (Cat 6)
- Tokyo Marriott Hotel (Cat 6)
- TIAD, Autograph Collection (Cat 6)
- The Osaka Station Hotel, Autograph Collection (Cat 6)
- The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, Autograph Collection (Cat 6)
- Genji Kyoto, a Member of Design Hotels (Cat 6)
- W Osaka (Cat 6)
- Shisui, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nara (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Hotel Nara (Cat 6)
- Westin Miyako Kyoto (Cat 6)
- Westin Rusutsu Resort (Cat 7)
- Westin Tokyo (Cat 7)
- Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort (Cat 7)
- Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel (Cat 7)
- Mesm Tokyo, Autograph Collection (Cat 7)
- St. Regis Osaka (Cat 7)
- Ritz-Carlton, Fukuoka (Cat 7)
- Ritz-Carlton, Osaka (Cat 7)
- IRAPH SUI, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Miyako Okinawa (Cat 8)
- Ritz-Carlton, Nikko (Cat 8)
- Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa (Cat 8)
- Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo (Cat 8)
- The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, a Luxury Collection Hotel (Cat 8)
- The Tokyo EDITION, Toranomon Hills (Cat 8)
- The Tokyo EDITION, Ginza (Cat 8)
- HOTEL THE MITSUI KYOTO, a Luxury Collection Hotel & Spa (Cat 9)
- Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto (Cat 9)
- Suiran, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kyoto (Cat 9)
- Higashiyama Niseko Village, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Cat 9)
Malaysia
- St. Regis Langkawi (Cat 6)
- Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi (Cat 7)
Maldives
- Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa (Cat 6)
- Le Meridien Maldives (Cat 6)
- Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort (Cat 7)
- JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa (Cat 7)
- W Maldives (Cat 8)
- St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort (Cat 9)
- Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands (Cat 9)
New Caledonia
- Le Meridien Ile des Pins (Cat 6)
Singapore
- The Singapore EDITION (Cat 6)
- St. Regis Singapore (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach (Cat 6)
- W Singapore – Sentosa Cove (Cat 6)
South Korea
- JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Hotel Seoul (Cat 6)
- Josun Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Seoul Gangnam (Cat 6)
Taiwan
- Le Meridien Taipei (Cat 6)
- W Taipei (Cat 6)
- Le Meridien Hualien Resort (Cat 6)
Thailand
- JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa (Cat 6)
- The Naka Island, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Phuket (Cat 6)
- JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort Suites (Cat 6)
- Vana Belle, a Luxury Collection Resort, Koh Samui (Cat 8)
- Ritz-Carlton, Koh Samui (Cat 8)
- W Koh Samui (Cat 8)
- Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Cat 9)
Vietnam
- JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa (Cat 6)
Conclusion
85K Free Night Certificates are quite valuable and can deliver in having you stay at many of the nicest Marriott properties worldwide. It can be worthwhile to collect as many as you could if you really enjoy Marriott’s luxury hotels, and to mitigate you from spending too many points for redemptions as Marriott points are harder to recoup compared to other hotel loyalty programs.
If you find this list useful and are interested in 85K Free Night Certificates signup bonuses when they come, please consider using my referral links below for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant and/or Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (for upgrade path to Ritz-Carlton Card) to help support this site! Thank you very much!