Interesting story I heard once regarding Marriott Rewards was a NYC guy had his daughter's wedding at the Marriott Marquis, where the final tab was $75000. Just before paying the bill on his Amex (getting more points) he asked them to make sure the 750,000 points would be put into his Rewards account and was told because he wasn't personally staying in the hotel...no points. Whereupon he went to a house phone, booked a room, checked in, and charged the wedding to his room.