nacho

It's very annoying that there is no holiday GC offer this year! I don't live in the US and I don't have a US CC. All I'm depending on is the AMT/holiday offer.

Is there anyway for us who are not based in the US to get some good offers to get Marriott GCs?

Thanks in advance!

mooper

To stack the additional 2 UR points/$ via the UR portal, you have to order online, and that entails paying an extra $1.99/GC fee. If you value UR @ 2 cents and Plink @ 1 cent, as I do, then here's the breakdown for various GC amounts (1 GC per order):

$50 GC: $1.25 in Plink + $1.04 in UR - $1.99 fee = + $.30 ($0.006 per GC $)
$100 GC: $3 in Plink + $2.04 in UR - $1.99 fee = +$3.05 ($0.0305 per GC $)
$150 GC: $3 in Plink + $3.04 in UR - $1.99 fee = +$4.05 ($0.027 per GC $)
$200 GC: $3 in Plink + $4.04 in UR - $1.99 fee = +$5.05 ($0.02525 per GC $)
$500 GC: $3 in Plink + $10.04 in UR - $1.99 fee = +$11.05 ($0.0221 per GC $)

As you can see, the return per $ spent is maximized with $100 GCs, where on top of the 5 UR/$ (which I value as a 10% discount), you're getting an extra ~3 cents/$ spent on GCs (3%), for a total discount of 13%. This could vary if your valuation of the Plink & UR points is substantially different, but you probably value them similarly.


Annoying indeed, especially without a US CC. Aside from the fleeting sales and offers, the best you can do is probably to buy from the GC brokers like Cardpool, Raise, etc, stacking CB when possible, or if they pose problems because of a lack of US presence, then eBay.

tomsam

Thanks Mooper, I appreciate the detail.
-tomsam

KMA26

As of this morning:

Ebates is currently at 5% cash back

Big Crumbs is offering 3% cash back.

mooper

Updated OP accordingly. Thx.

PHLisa

Over the weekend, I used the GCs I bought through the SW promo to pay for most of my bill, but I see that the only points that posted were for the small balance I paid with a credit card. I should have received the points for the amount paid with the GCs, correct? I just wanted to double-check before I start complaining to Marriott.

mooper

Points posted from your CC statement or posts posted from your stay (i.e., the 10-15 points/$ you always earn for stays)?

PHLisa

From the stay. I don't have the Marriott card. It seems as though the gift card credits to the bill may have made it look like I only had a bill of about $40 instead of $1040. I paid $1000 with gift cards and the balance with my CSP.

tomsam

Yes, you should have received stay points for the portion of the invoice settled with GCs as well.

PHLisa

That's what I thought. Thanks!

mooper

In many dozens of GC pays, never had that happen. Odd. Shouldn't matter how you paid, just how much you paid, so yes, you should have gotten all points regardless. Only if there was a credit given (such as a refund because of a complaint) should the total amount billed and therefore the total points earned be decreased.

lkar

I think there is some discussion of this happening from time to time when using gift cards for less than the full amount and a credit card for the rest. It's a glitch of some sort. I can't remember but it may have even happened to me and it was a hassle to resolve. I was a bigger player in the Marriot gift card world back during the honeymoon registry gift card boondoggle days, and if I had to guess there may have been some discussion of this issue back in those ancient threads, but I am too lazy to try to look.

BKKLEE

had a similar problem using GCs during the last stay at the Riviera Marriott Hotel La Porte de Monaco wherein if my bill was the equivalent of $1040 and I gave them a non-used GC for $1000 my bill was just reduced to the remaining $40 (which I paid w my Marriott Visa) but the Invoice would only reflect the $40 is if this was the full amount due/paid (and points would be obtained only for the $40 - partly my own fault for not checking the bill thoroughly before leaving but I had a flight out of Nice, but using the GC printout was able to get elite contact to eventually post points for the $1000)........

desi

This hap-pens when system and/or operator mistakenly record GC payment as "coupon" (i.e rate reduction) rather than "payment". Depending in jurisdiction and how the "reduction" is applied, this may or may not result in tax reduction and hence cant count on it to catch it. It helps when MRP earned are printed on bill itself.

Guava

Just want to express my thanks to the OP and all the contributors to this thread which is making this an extremely informative, accurate and up to date information on this subject matter. I wish the other hotel forums are as organized as the Marriott one. This is most helpful, many thanks again.