Marriott Bonvoy and United MileagePlus Launch "Stay, Fly, Earn" Summer Promotion

If you've got a summer trip that pairs a United flight with a Marriott stay, this one is an easy way to pick up extra points and miles, as long as you clear the fine print.

Marriott Bonvoy and United MileagePlus dust off their dual-currency promotion every so often, and the 2026 version is back under the name "Stay, Fly, Earn." Book a paid hotel stay and a paid United flight, and you'll earn a bonus in both programs at the same time.

How the Promotion Works

Register first, then earn 2,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and 1,500 United MileagePlus miles every time you pair a stay with a flight.

One thing to note is that the two sides have to come in equal numbers. A flight only pays out if there's a stay to match it, and a stay only pays out if there's a flight. No spare halves.

It's counted per stay and per flight, by the way, not per hotel night or per connecting segment. Anything you've already booked still counts too, as long as you register in time and travel by September 30, 2026.

Registration is open now through August 31, 2026. The points and miles can take up to 12 weeks to show up after the promotion ends, so don't panic if they're slow to land.

You sign up at marriottbonvoy.com/stayflyearn. If your two accounts aren't linked yet, you'll need to join the RewardsPlus partnership first, over on Marriott's travel partner page.

Who Can Earn the Bonus

One thing worth knowing upfront is that the promotion isn't open to everyone with linked accounts.

To take part, you need to be enrolled in the RewardsPlus partnership, and that enrollment is limited to top-tier elites. On the hotel side, you need Marriott Bonvoy Titanium or Ambassador Elite. On the airline side, you need United MileagePlus Premier Gold, Platinum, or 1K.

If you're sitting just below one of those tiers, there's unfortunately no buy-in or workaround to get in.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

A handful of rules decide whether the bonus actually lands, and they're the easy kind to miss.

• You only earn on matched pairs. Marriott's own example has someone with four flights and seven stays walking away with just four pairs, so the three extra stays count for nothing.
• It has to be paid travel. Award nights, award flights, and "money plus points" bookings are all out.
• Your Bonvoy account has to be set to earn points, not airline miles. Get this wrong and you'll earn zero, even if everything else checks out. Worth a quick look before you travel.
• You get one dual-currency campaign a year, so signing up for this burns your 2026 slot.

How Much Is It Really Worth?

Let's not oversell it. This is a nice top-up, not a jackpot.

Using our valuations of 1.6 cents (CAD) a United mile and 0.8 cents a Marriott Bonvoy point, each pair is worth about $40 (CAD), and that's on top of the points and miles the stay and flight already earn you.

Do three trips and you're looking at 6,000 points and 4,500 miles. Handy, but not enough to book much on its own.

The whole thing only makes sense if you were already flying United and staying at Marriott this summer. If you're booking trips just to trigger it, you've missed the point.

One note for Canadians. Bonvoy points transfer to United at a rough 3:1, which is poor. The upside here is that you skip that entirely, since you're earning both currencies straight up rather than converting one into the other.

Conclusion

My honest take is that this is worth it for a narrow group. If you're a top-tier Bonvoy or United member with summer travel already booked, take two minutes to register and make sure your Bonvoy account is set to earn points. Easy value.

Everyone else can let it slide. If you're not already deep in both programs, a few thousand points and miles isn't worth reshuffling your travel for, and you'll probably want to save your one yearly slot for a bigger trip.