By Sally French | NerdWallet
Most people spend their hard-earned hotel points on, well, hotels. Atlanta-based accountant Scott Krupa spent more than 2.4 million Marriott Bonvoy points at the Bellagio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino for a chance to choreograph his own Fountains of Bellagio performance, a water show with lights and music that takes place at the fountains outside of the iconic Las Vegas Strip hotel.
Set to the song “Beautiful Day” by U2, his choreography debuted in August 2024 and now joins a rotation of 40 possible fountain shows that run every 15 to 30 minutes every afternoon and evening.
How Krupa redeemed points for the Bellagio fountain show
Krupa exchanged his points through the Marriott Bonvoy Moments program, which allows members to redeem for experiences like concert and sporting event tickets. Some experiences sell at fixed prices, while others — like the fountain show experience — involve a bidding system.
Krupa said bidding for this experience was open for nearly two months. Five minutes before closing, it was going for just 1.3 million Bonvoys. But within the last few minutes, it went up by more than 1 million points.
“I knew this was truly the one [experience] I wanted to do,” Krupa says. “I was prepared to bid as much as I had.”
NerdWallet values 2.4 million Marriott Bonvoy points. That places Krupa’s winning bid at about $21,600.
How Krupa earned 2 million Marriott points
Krupa says that, while he vacations more than most people, he’s not obsessive about earning Bonvoy points. He says he’s been charging most of his purchases to a Marriott-branded credit card for years, but he’s not a travel hacker who constantly churns credit cards to maximize welcome offers.
Krupa said he considered saving his points to travel during retirement or redeeming his points for another Marriott Bonvoy Moments package, such as a stay in Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix, an annual Formula One motor racing event.
“I’d been waiting for the right…
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