Originally Posted by
puchong
And then they get you on the exchange rate they use to convert your prepaid card to their local currency - BINGO
That is not the case. Hotels which charge scam conversion fee usually are hotels outside of the Australia and NZ where CC surcharges are legal. My experience of hotels charging scam fees are ALL in Hong Kong, the SkyCity Marriott which is owned by the casino Ho's daughter, and the Sheraton Macau. So I did not use GC there. However Courtyard Sha Tin very professionally applied my GC, better than many US-based properties!
Originally Posted by
margarita girl
Not my experience! My Marriott gift cards get exchanged at rates almost identical to the XE rate, sometimes even in my favour. I’ve been lucky enough to use gift cards almost exclusively since 2020 when Marriott started selling them at a discounted rate.
The most recent promotion was in Dec 2023 when lots of people received emails inviting them to buy up to $3000 worth of gift cards at 20% off. (It was posted here somewhere.) I had lots of friends/family members that had the offer so I was able replenish my stash.
Edit:
discussed here. Start at post #293.
Yeah, we had $120/$300 last year followed by a $50/$250 but we passed because we did not have actual need in the next 6 to 8 months. This year we have $60/$300, and would try to get it because we have multiple pay nights in Mar / Apr, Europe and US. Hence can make use of such.