In a prior article, I recounted my journey for the year with Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador status, which ranks as Marriott’s highest level. In this article, I want to discuss my experiences with Marriott Bonvoy Nightly Upgrade Awards, the upgrade “tools” that can be confirmed for enhanced rooms prior to check-in.
Opinions on these tend to vary; some consider them highly beneficial, while others deem them ineffective. To be frank, my experience this year in getting these to confirm wasn’t outstanding, especially in comparison to earlier years… but I still derived some benefit!
The fundamentals of Marriott Bonvoy Nightly Upgrade Awards
Marriott Bonvoy features the Choice Benefits program, allowing you to select specific perks upon reaching 50 elite nights and 75 elite nights in a calendar year. For numerous individuals, the standard choice is Nightly Upgrade Awards (referred to as “NUAs”), as you can select five at each of the milestones (cumulatively totaling up to 10).
The goal is for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members to secure a room upgrade prior to arrival. Each NUA is applicable for one night during a stay, and based on the brand you are booked with, these can begin to clear either three or five days in advance of your arrival.
While Platinum members and higher are granted unlimited upgrades subject to availability at check-in, this benefit essentially permits members to prioritize upgrades for the stays that hold the most significance to them.
The downside with NUAs is that, even at the three and five-day intervals, they are capacity controlled, which means they don’t guarantee last room availability. An algorithm determines whether they are approved, creating a bit of uncertainty.
Another aspect to consider with NUAs is the ability to specifically select which upgraded rooms you wish to utilize an NUA for. Some properties might offer one or two selections, while others could provide up to 10 options.
This can range from rooms with slightly enhanced views to expansive suites. Therefore, requesting them always necessitates a bit of decision-making — you aim for the finest suites possible, obviously, but the more upgrade selections you include, the higher the likelihood of them being approved.
My luck with Nightly Upgrade Awards this year wasn’t ideal
As the year comes to a close, how did I fare with Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards in 2025? Well, I successfully utilized five of them, one went missing (long story), and I’ll finish the year with four expiring. Ugh — I truly dislike seeing these expire, so I really need to be bolder when it comes to deciding on which stays to request them.
To be more precise, I had NUAs clear on the following stays:
At the same time, I had Nightly Upgrade Award requests fail five times, including at venues such as the St. Regis Hong Kong, Ritz-Carlton New York NoMad, Koenigshof Munich (Marriott Luxury Collection), The Vinoy St. Petersburg (Marriott Autograph Collection), and others.
Honestly, that’s poorer luck than I’ve experienced in the past. I usually tend to be precise about the kinds of room upgrades I seek — in other words, I don’t aim to use an NUA for a room with a marginally improved view, since I’d expect to receive that upgrade regardless. In every instance, the rooms I requested remained available for sale within the upgrade window, but the upgrades were not confirmed.
Clearly, I’m still too cautious with utilizing these, considering I have four that are expiring this year. I’ve encountered worse luck this year than in previous years; however, that ultimately stems from a few specific stays not clearing, so I can’t necessarily draw broader conclusions from that.
I am interested to learn about the experiences of others — did you observe any changes in these clearing this past year compared to prior years, or not?
Final thoughts
2025 hasn’t been a particularly favorable year for me regarding Marriott Bonvoy Nightly Upgrade Awards. I did manage to secure three upgrades, yet I experienced five failures. In the end, I attempt to be strategic in my use of these and also realistic about their likelihood of clearing. Nevertheless, I certainly had poorer luck this year than in years gone by.
Even so, I persist in selecting NUAs through the Choice Benefits program, as when the upgrades do go through, I find them to be incredibly valuable.
What has your experience been with Marriott NUAs this year? Did you have more successes or failures?