I haven't redeemed a Marriott reward in a while but I found out they changed the rules - you can no longer transfer American Express points directly into your Marriott rewards account. This is a bit of a problem since I was counting on using some free nights to help offset the extremely high price of a parade view room at the Marriott Marques during the NYC Thanksgiving day parade ($1600 for the night of parade/ 3 night minimum other 2 nights $600 each!). Staff at the Marques say that Amex rewards for Marriott stay are blackedout for the whole month of November but I could use Marriott rewards for the other nights) I've just applied for a Marriott Rewards Visa (15,000 for first purchase + points I already had in the account = 1 free night). I need enough points for 3 more nights. Any suggestions? Any loopholes to transfer points into Marrriott rewards account?