From the client's perspective, "commissionable rate" means nothing. That sounds like travel-agent-speak. If you sell me a gift certificate and I attempt to use it to buy your product, I am not going to care about that kind of fine print.
I would not have the same expectation that I should be able to use a Marriott card at Starbucks, or a Starbucks card at Marriott, or Company X's card for Company Y's product. (Although more often than not, I don't see a Starbucks store inside Marriott hotels, I see Marriott selling Starbucks coffee.)
I realize it gets confusing when there's a restaurant leasing space in a building shared by Marriott - we see this confusion with the EEO 2-for-1 Dining certs - and I wouldn't expect that restaurant to accept Marriott's gift certificates or cards.
Originally Posted by Smart Shopper
As Marriott Travel Cards are heavily discounted (contact a Marriott Sales Manager in your region, if interested) you either were pulled over the barrel or talk about a different instrument like a Marriott GiftCard.
Well, yes, they
should be discounted. If I invest $1000 today, then my total future cashflows had better be greater than $1000 by an amount that makes sense given my risk tolerance and the timing of the cashflows (represented in this case by the Marriott stays that consume the card).
Buying any kind of gift certificate at face value doesn't make any sense whatsoever unless there's a "hook" that you can monetize. I just paid slightly
over face value for a giftcard because of the bonus points promo because I know (a) I'll consume the giftcard balance within about 30 days and (b) I can reasonably well quantify how and when I'll use the bonus points and roughly what value in present terms they have.
If a vendor is selling certificates that have restrictions preventing them from being used "cashlike", then odds are they're going to be a raw deal no matter what since you're forced to overpay the fair market value for whatever product you get back.