As of Feb. 17 I still was unable to register for the Spring MegaBonus promotion by clicking on the home page (I was redirected to "you're not eligible"). Nothing appeared in Promotion Central in my account. Not a nice way to treat the Elites, one might argue. Pre-registration would have been the right thing to do, but whatever.

I had to write to Marriott CS and received a prompt reply that they had enrolled me and "selected" for me 25K points after 15 paid nights during Spring MegaBonus period. That's the Fall '12 MegaBonus for which I qualified last year, so I had been expecting the usual Spring MegaBonus of 2 separate stays = 1 Cert.

Anyhow, a non-Elite friend went on-line this AM, and was able to register immediately from the Marriott home page. His promo is the 2-day = 1 Cat 4 Cert (to max. three certs).

OK, I know that Marriott may "target" the promos, but I'm not sure I would have used this target. I got to see that a non-Elite had no-hassle instant promo registration customer experience AND a superior promo opportunity (my 15 paid nights bonus points equal = 1 Cat. 5 Cert.).

MR's "selection" for me means that I'll pursue my bonuses other than at Marriott during Spring MegaBonus this year. Some promotions help to keep the loyal, loyal. Other promotions risk sending the once-loyal in the direction of the competitions' promotions.