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Platinum Status in Eight Days and $800 - No Stays Required

Old Dec 30, 2015, 10:18 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: rustykettel
Ten (10) Elite Nights are given for each meeting held in a participating hotel under the "Rewarding Events" program. See below for non-participating brands. Information about the Rewarding Events program may be found at https://www.marriott.com/meeting-eve...els/rewards.mi

The 10 elite nights per meeting are independent of any hotel rooms booked in conjunction with the meeting. In fact, no hotel rooms have to be booked as part of the meeting in order to receive credit for 10 elite nights.

Although the Rewarding Events webpage refers to room nights for meeting participants, the most important section is the one that states 10 Elite Nights, regardless if you or your guest is paying for it

In general, a written contract is required (or should be obtained). In many cases, the meeting is booked through a central Marriott group sales office instead of directly with a hotel. If booked through a central Marriott group sales office, there is a three-page contract that makes reference to the Rewarding Events program on page 2 of the agreement. A MR member number should be included in this area of the contract by the group sales office.

FAQs:

Q: What brands participate in the Rewarding Events program?
A: AC Hotels by Marriott, Aloft, Autograph Collection, Courtyard by Marriott, Delta Hotels by Marriott, EDITION, Element, Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Marriott, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott, LeMridien, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club, Moxy Hotels, Protea Hotels by Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, St. Regis, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, & Westin.
Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites, & Marriott Executive Apartments do not participate in the program.

Q: How do I find a hotel that participates?
A: Click on the link to the Rewarding Events page and then in the "Plan" section of the page click on the "Find a Hotel" box. Enter the city you'd like to have your meeting in, purpose of event (Business) and then check the "I need meeting/event space" box. Enter the size of your meeting (2 attendees should work) and then click the "Find" box. Leave the start date and end date blank. A list of potential hotels will be shown. The smallest meeting room is not usually shown online --- you may need to call each hotel to find out which one has a boardroom or other small meeting room. Once you've found a small meeting room, then request a quote online.

Q: How quickly will Marriott respond with a quote?
A: Usually within a day or two --- and usually via email. The email should contain a telephone number of the group sales contact. Give them a call and tell them you'd like to follow up on the quote and you're interested in booking the smallest room available for a 2 person meeting for an hour. If they quote a price that's higher than you want to pay, ask them if they can get approval for a lower priced meeting (e.g., a recent quote was for $75 for an 8 hour use of a CY boardroom). They accepted a counter of $50 for a one-hour meeting in the room (plus service charge plus local sales tax). Urban hotels may charge significantly higher rates for meeting space than a smaller, less congested city.

Q: Is a contract required?
A: The terms of the program suggest "yes" --- although there are reports that 10 elite nights have been granted without contracts. A best practice would be to obtain a contract.

Q: How long do points and EQNs take to post after the event is over?
A: Generally, this takes 3+ business days. According to Marriott, it can take 15 business days. If you do not see anything post after 15 business days, contact the hotel before contacting Marriott customer support. The hotel has to be the one to post it.

You will get an e-mail with a subject line Your Rewarding Events Award has Posted: EVENT NAME

Q: Will the hotel know what I am talking about when I say points and elite night credits?
A: Probably not. They may know about the rewarding events points being 3x per dollar spent, but not always. Usually they know of only the Marriott system (Group Posting Tool) where they input how much you spent and when. This is done after the event and is usually authorized by the sales or general manager.

Q: The contract doesn't say anything about points, will I still earn them?
A: YMMV but so far all the electronic contracts from the website state it, but some fail to read it. The paper contracts usually talk about points, but some reports that they don't, but still post. Remember this is a Marriott Rewards benefit that the hotels don't seem to be footing the bill for.
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Platinum Status in Eight Days and $800 - No Stays Required

 
Old Apr 16, 2016, 12:18 am
  #1231  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: UA Mileage Plus Delta SkyMiles
Posts: 424
*noobie* arriving late on the scene.

Is there a tool to search for meetings with the price. I got on the website, and all I see is 'request' quote. Am I missing something?

Live in The Netherlands. Marriott in the Hague offering a double points offer.

That said, meeting room in the Marriott is going to cost more than in the Courtyard. But I'll see what their quote says.

Last edited by HeidiInTheAlps; Apr 16, 2016 at 12:47 am
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Old Apr 17, 2016, 6:49 am
  #1232  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: UA Mileage Plus Delta SkyMiles
Posts: 424
I found some meetings to book online. That issues the standard contract which states nothing if it is eligible for 10 elite nights. Should it?

Do I need to be worried I won't credit? Or should I ask that it be put in?

By the way, I will be using this space to lead a meeting remotely. So just need a whiteboard or flip chart.
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Old Apr 25, 2016, 8:42 am
  #1233  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: UA Mileage Plus Delta SkyMiles
Posts: 424
I hosted a meeting, a week ago. Meeting Rewards still not posted...

a bit gutted. I don't like to have to chase things down..
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Old Apr 25, 2016, 8:48 am
  #1234  
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
Originally Posted by HeidiInTheAlps
I hosted a meeting, a week ago. Meeting Rewards still not posted...

a bit gutted. I don't like to have to chase things down..
This is a pretty unfamiliar process for many properties and sometimes a chase is needed. If you disclose the location maybe someone here has already dealt with them and can provide specific guidance given their experience.

Some are pretty good at posting everything quickly, some batch up the lighter transactions to do once a week. Some assign the processing to a single person that might be out on vacation. Also, there are two different posting tools so maybe they forgot, or haven't gotten to the second one. Not to excuse failing to do their job, but just a reminder there's a lot to all this.
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Old Apr 25, 2016, 8:10 pm
  #1235  
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Originally Posted by HeidiInTheAlps
I hosted a meeting, a week ago. Meeting Rewards still not posted...

a bit gutted. I don't like to have to chase things down..
I don't think any of mine posted within a week.
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Old Apr 27, 2016, 8:57 am
  #1236  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: UA Mileage Plus Delta SkyMiles
Posts: 424
Meeting Rewards did post.

With renewed faith, will press on with scheduling more meetings this way.
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Old Apr 29, 2016, 4:41 am
  #1237  
mav
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: United States
Programs: Hilton, marriott, IHG, Club Carlson, United Airlines,timeshare owner
Posts: 213
Is there a thread that shows how to book these on line? Thank you for any help.
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Old May 2, 2016, 1:11 am
  #1238  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,895
Where are you able to see which hotels offer the double nights credits?
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Old May 2, 2016, 3:49 am
  #1239  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 693
i'm surprised y'all are getting credit when not showing up. i did this many years ago, and after 7 "meetings" the property told me the program required me to show up, and since it was in a different state, they just refunded my other meetings. it was $50/meeting so a great deal, and i think i got 7 or 8 of them in. enough to rollover, get me 2 years platinum, and make me lifetime platinum w my regular stays by the time it all expired.
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Old May 2, 2016, 5:11 am
  #1240  
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Originally Posted by imgonnafly
i'm surprised y'all are getting credit when not showing up. i did this many years ago, and after 7 "meetings" the property told me the program required me to show up, and since it was in a different state, they just refunded my other meetings. it was $50/meeting so a great deal, and i think i got 7 or 8 of them in. enough to rollover, get me 2 years platinum, and make me lifetime platinum w my regular stays by the time it all expired.
Just like each of us choose what we do, so do the properties. Some have higher ethics than others. Booking meetings means revenue for the property. The cost of granting the status costs them very little, especially since they won't likely be called upon to deliver program benefits. I'm not saying bending the rules from time to time isn't appropriate, but some will be sticklers, some are just plain ignorant, and there's everything in between.

It would be nice if there was a consistent delivery across all the properties, but that's not going to happen. Even if all the properties were owned by Marriott and run by Marriott staff, someone is going to figure an angle to try to get ahead of their peers. Independent thinkers are what made the programs exist and got us here. FT allows us to share that information and exploit the weaker points and identify the strong players.
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Old May 2, 2016, 7:18 am
  #1241  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Formerly of SacTown, Cali
Posts: 1,240
Originally Posted by imgonnafly
i'm surprised y'all are getting credit when not showing up. i did this many years ago, and after 7 "meetings" the property told me the program required me to show up, and since it was in a different state, they just refunded my other meetings. it was $50/meeting so a great deal, and i think i got 7 or 8 of them in. enough to rollover, get me 2 years platinum, and make me lifetime platinum w my regular stays by the time it all expired.
My no-shows have generally been a at different properties. I don't think one no-show is going to alert anybody. Several no-shows and they might wonder.
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Old May 2, 2016, 11:12 am
  #1242  
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Boston
Posts: 10
Did it twice last week at two different properties, and in two different ways, and both just posted:

1). Used the booking tool from the link in the Wiki and got the price online. Entered my detail and it dropped down to $75 for the booking. I reserved it, and no one from the hotel ever contacted me, but I assume they actually did set up a meeting room. Points and days posted a few minutes ago.

2). Used the same tool but did "Request Quote". Sales guy from the hotel responded the same day and sent me a contract and CC authorization. Filled out the contract, which did specifically mention Rewarding Events. Never showed up, and the email came through this morning - checked my MR account and the points + 10 days did post. This one was particularly nice because I talked them down to $50.

I can't believe that this worked, but it will be nice to get Gold again (dropped to Silver a couple of years ago and have stayed there, with ~ 20-30 nights per year) before I do a bunch more business travel this year (I would get to it anyway, but it's nice to have it in advance). I'll have to do some legit meetings this year too with my team at a Marriott so I can add more into the Lifetime days.

Last edited by Ariel74; May 2, 2016 at 11:17 am
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Old May 2, 2016, 12:26 pm
  #1243  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 186
Originally Posted by Ariel74
Used the booking tool from the link in the Wiki
What is the link in the Wiki? Part of FT?
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Old May 2, 2016, 12:27 pm
  #1244  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 186
Nevermind, I'm dumb. FOund it
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Old May 2, 2016, 1:25 pm
  #1245  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,895
Cheapest Ive found is 100$

What if one had meetibgs three days in a row does that work or is that counted as one event?
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