Category: Marriott Rewards

Marriott’s latest MegaBonus promotion is live, plus free wifi!

Marriott has announced their latest promotion for February 1, 2015-April 30, 2015.  Marriott MegabonusMarriott has been using targeted bonuses lately which means my bonus may not be the same as yours.   Continue reading “Marriott’s latest MegaBonus promotion is live, plus free wifi!”

Marriott Announces 1Q2014 MegaBonus promotion

megabonusMarriott Rewards has announced their promotion for the period of February 1 – April 30, 2014 and it is very similar to the one they had last quarter, although not quite as nice.

To earn up to two free nights:

  • Register by March 31, 2014
  • Stay between February 1 and April 30, 2014
  • Earn a free night at a category 1-4 hotel after the second paid stay, up to two free nights

Their last promotion for me was the exact same except it was a category 1-5. Marriott had a devaluation last year where a lot of hotels moved up a category so it is getting harder and harder to use the category 4’s outside of Asia.  That said, I was able to use a category 4 certificates I had on my recent trip to Panama for some free nights.

While the offer above is the most common one, the offers are customized to the members and I have read about people getting 35K points for 20 nights and another 15K for 25.  There is also an offer for earning a free night at a category 1-5 after second paid stay, up to two free nights.

While I like this promotion better than the lackluster SPG Bring on the Nights promotion, the IHG Win Big promotion will give me more value with up to 15 free Pointsbreak nights at Crowne Plaza or Intercontinental with 6 cheap stays. If you are only going to have 2 or 4 hotels stays next quarter then this might be the best offer for you though.

This promotion does require registration so go ahead and take the 30 seconds to register now so you don’t forget about it. You will need to log into your account (which AwardWallet will do for you) and it may show you a different promotion if you were targeted.

As always, feel free to comment with any questions and follow me on Facebook or Twitter!

Eurotrip 2013: Part 2 – Planning for Hotels in Europe for Maximum Miles

turnberry
Turnberry Resort by Starwood Preferred Guest

This is the second post in a series about my 2013 trip to Ireland, Scotland and Great Britain.  Part of the free plane tickets were funded by the 40,000 point sign up bonus of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

When I started planning the hotels for my Europe trip, I wanted to take advantage of many of the hotel promotions that were going on this quarter and strategically redeem points where necessary when I was getting good value.  I don’t consider myself a hotel expert and rely on the excellent Loyalty Lobby blog to get a lot of my hotel promotions information.  In particular for this trip I accessed the Top Hotel Promotions June 2013 Guide.  I had Platinum status with Starwood and Le Club Accorhotel and Gold Status with Hilton going into the process.  I did a status match with Priority Club and Club Carlson via my Starwood status to get Platinum status with Priority Club and Gold status with Club Carlson. This would insure that I got the best treatment for my bookings on my trip. I saw from the promotions guide that Priority Club, Marriott, Hilton, and Club Carlson had the best promotions currently.

I’m going to give a run down of which hotels I chose in which cities, the prices, and why I thought each was the best choice. I knew we were going to have some expensive stays in Dublin, St. Andrews, and London so purposefully picked some cheaper properties with a good location when I thought I could.

Fairfield Inn by Marriott JFK Airport – $152 on a senior rate (traveling with Dad pays off!)

The Morrison Dublin, a Doubletree by Hilton Hotel – 2 nights @ 246 Euro on a senior rate

  • Hilton’s Daily Grand promotion should give me 1,000 bonus points and 1000 Virgin Atlantic Miles and my Gold Status will get us free breakfast so we can hit the ground running each day without having to go to an outside restaurant.

Waterford Marina Hotel in Waterford, Ireland – 79 Euro

  • This was one that my Dad’s picks because of the golf course located here.

Holiday Inn in Killarney, Ireland – 129 Euro

  • By stacking multiple promotions I expect at least 10,000 Priority club points from this stay (which could be enough for two PointsBreak nights in the future.)

Radisson Blu Galway, Ireland – 2 nights @ 136 Euro on a AAA rate

Holiday Inn Express Queen’s Quarter in Belfast, Ireland – 85 GBP

  • Stacking Multiple Promotions and multi stay bonuses.

MacDonald Rusacks in St. Andrews, Scotland 2 nights @ 282 GBP

  • This was one of my Dad’s picks because of the golf course located here.  They did have “The Club” loyalty program that I signed up for but it doesn’t look like it gives much to start.

Holiday Inn Express in Inverness, Scotland – 93 GBP

  • Stacking Multiple Promotions and multi stay bonuses.

Turnberry Resort, Luxury Collection Starwood – $110+6000 Starpoints

  • This was one I added on because of the golf course and that I could get a Cash and Points rate of $110+6000 star points which gave me a value of 4.1 cents per point redeemed.

Hilton Paddington London – 129 GBP

Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt London – 2 nights @ 44,000 Club Carlson Points

  • Redeemed 88,000 Club Carlson points for 2 nights in a 328 GBP a night room, yielding a value of 1.1 cents per point

Renaissance by Marriott London Heathrow Airport – 135 GBP

Holiday Inn Express Frankfurt – 114 Euro

  • Stacking Multiple Promotions and multi stay bonuses.

Once all of the points post I will do a summary post to see how I did.  I hope this gives you a feel for some of the thought that goes into booking hotel stays on an extended trip for maximum value.

Marriott announces Stay 2 Get 1 Free promotion for 3Q2013.

unexpectedbonusMarriott has announced their 3Q2013 promotion that runs from May 15-September 2, 2013.  You have to register for this promotion by July 31, 2013.  The promotion that most will get is:

  • Stay twice at any participating hotel between May 15 and September 2, 2013
  • Earn one free night after each second paid stay, up to two free nights
  • Enjoy your free nights at any category 1-5 hotel worldwide

This is an awesome promotion!  These promos lately have been for  at hotels category 1-4 and there are a lot of awesome properties that are Category 5, such as the CasaMagna Marriott Cancun.

casamagnamarriotcancun

If you have summer travel planned like I do, this is one of the best promotions available right now.  If you choose cheaper Marriott’s for your paid stays and you are smart about your redemption choices you can get a lot of value for your free nights.

Here are the other offers that have been reported. I think that the above offer is the best.

  1. Free Category 1-5 Night After Two Stays (Max of 2)
  2. Free Category 1-4 Night After Two Stays (Max of 3)
  3. 25,000 Marriott Points After 15 Nights, Additional 10,000 Points After 20 Nights (Max of 35,000 Points)
  4. 25,000 Marriott Points After 15 Nights, Additional 2,000 Points Each Additional Night (Max of 45,000 Points)
  5. 35,000 Marriott Points After 20 Nights, Plus 10,000 Points After 25 Nights (Max of 45,000 Points)
  6. 35,000 Marriott Points After 20 Nights, Plus 2,000 Points Each Additional Night (Max of 55,000 Points)

Make a good deal a great deal

You can make this deal even sweeter if you don’t have a Marriott Rewards account yet.  They are having a promotion for new members for a free night Category 1-5 after two stays.  And this new member promo should stack with the Unexpected Bonus promo! So if you don’t have a Marriott Rewards account yet, sign up using this link.  Then sign up for the Unexpected Bonus promo.  Then have four one night stays from May 15 to September 2 and you will end up with 3 free nights for a future trip!  What a deal!

 

Three free hotel status upgrades available with Le Club Accorhotels, Langham 1865, and Marriott. Also 2000 free points!

Update: Oct 23: The Accorhotels link is now dead for the platinum status but the game is still active.  You snooze, you lose!  Make sure to follow our site to get in on these limited time offers.

These are two chains you may not know since they are primarily in Europe or Asia, but they are currently offering free status with new account signup. I am actually writing this from an Accor Property, the ibis budget hotel at the Amsterdam airport. I have platinum status with Accor, just like you will after you read this article. This allowed me to get early checkin at 9 AM to our room and will get me late checkout when I leave. Here is the full list of status benefits:

This offer is for new accounts and you just need to click on this link and sign up and you will instantly be given Platinum Status for a year! Even if you never plan on using an Accorhotel this can still be useful because you can use this status to status match with other chains such as Radisson! When you have status with one hotel, other hotels assume you are the frequent traveler they are after and compete for your business. These links don’t usually last long so do it now before it is gone!

Once you have your account created, jump start your account with 2000 free points (worth $60 in hotel vouchers) by playing their Facebook game matching the cities with their names. They do 500 points a week over 4 weeks so you will have to go back each week to get the points. A quick google map search on the hotel name will usually find it really fast.

The second offer is for Voyager status with the Langham 1865 chain. This is their highest status other than their conceirge level. They are a boutique brand offering hotels in mainly Asia, but also operate locations in London, New York, and Los Angeles. Click on this link and then Enroll Now, and then enter 442394 in the invitation code box and it should change the next entry to Voyager for the upgraded membership. I am not sure if I will ever stay at a Langham, but free status is free so why not get it just in case.

The third offer is for Marriott silver status. This is offered to certain big companies such as IBM as a benefit, but the sign up is generic so there is no proof of employment needed. So if the link works, then go for it. Here is the link!

So there you go, you will now have upgraded status with 3 different chains of hotels to get you free upgrades as well as late and early checkout. It should take about 10 minutes to apply for all 3, so get to it and start enjoying the benefits!

Hat tip to View from the Wing and Loyalty Traveler for the news on these offers.