Hi All - bit of a noob here.

I have to attend a conference in Washington in April, and the Conference has some group rates setup at Marriott hotels. Thing is, you have to book the room through the conference website in order to get the discounted prices. I've called the hotels to confirm this - they will not give match the price for me.

So if I do that, I won't get any points...which is pretty substantial considering its $250/night x 7 nights. Has anyone in a similar situation figured somethign out?