Make sure you are familiar with the terms and conditions on Marriott's web site. These are the t&c for earning MR points.

http://www.marriottrewards.com/rewar...ms/earning.asp

RI only earns you 5 pts per dollar. A full service Marriott earns you 10 pts per dollar. I'm sure if you are going to stay for a month or longer, you should probably be able to negotiate a refrigator and a decent "eligible" rate in the deal from the hotel.

Make sure you have your profile set to "earning points" (not "earning miles").

There's also a 3 stay to earn Silver elite status promo on the Marriott Rewards website: http://www.marriottrewards.com

The main (only?) benefit to Silver Elite is the 20% point bonus for eligible Marriott charges. It's worth doing. Normally you need 15 nights or something like that to get to Silver. The promo also gives you 2 free weekend nights. If your stay is prior to March 31, also register for the double stay credit and double point credit promo and make sure to check out and back in on Mar 31st if you need to (follow the t&c's of the promos to the letter.)

Also, make sure to verify with the hotel manager that your rate, if it's a specially negotiated rate, will earn points and will earn them for the entire stay and that you will get stay credit for the entire stay. I thought Marriott had a 30-day limit for stay credits and point earning, but I must be mistaken because I didn't see it in the t&c.

You might consider getting the Marriott Rewards Visa, which is free for the first year and use that card only to pay for eligible Marriott charges. I wouldn't use it for non-eligible charges unless you are close to a particular point threshold you need for an award. At 1 pt per dollar for non-Marriott charges, you are better off using almost any other card, especially the Starwood Amex card, where 1 pt is worth a lot more than one Marriott point. But at 3 per dollar combined with the 20% bonus for Silver status, etc, you can end up earning around 15 pts per dollar spent, until you make it the next level.

-David


[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited 03-02-2002).]

[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited 03-02-2002).]