As the biggest hotel chain globally, Marriott has more than 7,000 properties in 131 countries. With such a wide footprint, odds are you've stayed at a Marriott hotel or two in your travels.

Along with the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program, which offers perks such as your fifth night free on award stays, Marriott provides an ability to combine different payment methods into a single booking. This is more than just convenient — doing so can save you a lot of time and money.

Below, we'll check out how to combine points, cash and free night certificates on your Marriott bookings, and inform you as to why you'd want to do so.

How Marriott Cash + Points works

Marriott currently operates on a semi-fixed award chart, which means you'll pay a standard amount of points per night based on demand. As a result, off-peak rates charge the fewest points, standard rates are a little more expensive and peak nights will cost you the most.

You can't decide which dates are considered peak or off-peak as a hotel guest. The number of points charged can also vary as much as 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a single night, which can make a huge difference in your bill.