What to do with 2 million Marriott points? Get a Bellagio fountain show
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 thing to bid on — something that no number of phone calls and no amount of money could buy,” Krupa says. “The Bellagio show was the right one.”
What goes into making a custom Bellagio fountain show
Choreographing a Bellagio fountain show is incredibly complex. Show choreographers account for technical challenges, like the time needed to refill the tubes with sufficient air pressure to shoot the water into the sky. Songs are broken up into millisecond segments, with every water and light motion meticulously planned.
To choreograph the show, Krupa flew to the Los Angeles studio of WET, which is the water feature design firm behind the Bellagio show. It’s also the team behind other famous water installations, such as the HSBC Rain Vortex at Jewel Changi Airport, which is often considered the best airport in the world.
Krupa covered his own airfare, but the Bonvoy Moment he bid on included a hotel stay in Los Angeles, a private tour of the studios and a work session with the WET team to choreograph the show.
Once the show was ready for debut, Krupa and his fiance flew to Las Vegas. Marriott covered the hotel stay and a tour of the mechanical room underneath the 8.5-acre lake where the show takes place.
“This is the kind of experience that truly defines one in a lifetime opportunity,” he says.
And while Krupa says he was willing to spend every last point to his name, he didn’t have to.
“Let’s just say I didn’t spend them all,” he says. “Now I’m saving again for another Bonvoy Moment.”
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Sally French writes for NerdWallet. Email: sfrench@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SAFmedia.
The article What to Do With 2 Million Marriott Points? Get a Bellagio Fountain Show originally appeared on NerdWallet.