PhoebeSnow,

Very helpful! Many thanks.

Flyerwife---looked at the certificate again. It doesn't actually say you can't make a reservation online; the wording seems mainly designed to reemphasize that you need to tell them in advance that it's a reward stay. But I'm going to call the 800 number now anyway and will post what I find.

[This message has been edited by chai (edited 12-20-2001).]

OK, here's what 800-MARRIOTT said: you should be able to make the reservations for the Rewarding Weekend nights online just as you would make a regular award res, although there's the small issue (apparently not a significant one?) that the reward code for the Rewarding Wkends promo is W14, which is not a standard reward code. But the agent seemed to feel that this was really not significant and would make no difference to the hotel at check-in, unless you were trying to use an RW cert during the week, which is of course against the rules for RW. The main thing is that as with regular award reservations, you must indicate when making the reservation that you are using an award cert as payment.

Regarding booking a 2-bedroom at an RI with this or any other reward certificate: Marriott Rewards told me that the rules technically indicate that you must get an upgrade certificate (5K points per night) to stay in a room larger than a 1-bed. However, the agent I spoke with also said that you can call the hotel individually and see whether they will allow you to just pay the rate difference (1- vs. 2-bed) at the front desk instead of redeeming points for the upgrade. This particular hotel (New Orleans RI on St. Joseph) said when I called that paying the difference is OK.

[This message has been edited by chai (edited 12-20-2001).]