I should have been more clear about my situation. We do stay at Marriotts during the year where we pay for our room and we also have used our points to stay and just have the expenses for meals/etc that go to the rewards system. But not enough to reach the gold level on our stays alone.

So an extra 20% on points isn't compelling to me. The certificate would be a plus. Is the separate reservation system better than general reservations? Thanks