BigLar

I'm stunned to find out you don't have a Marriott Visa for all the staying you do at Marriotts.

If you value your United miles more than Marriott points, then it makes sense. I think.

But I long ago figured out that one can get a plane ticket in any number of ways, but even when you do you're usually in a hotel for a much longer time (days rather than hours) and the cost can easily overpower the ticket cost.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Sharon -- All the more reason to get the MR Visa now that the foreign transaction fees are removed -- therefore both of those cards that you have now have no fee.

Time to get 1 and the annual free Cat 5 cert with membership.

BigLar

Indeed.

My wife and I both have the card, and we like to use our certs at airport Marriotts the night before departure for a stree-free last night.

The Marriotts at LHR and CDG are particularly useful in this regard.

Counsellor

I like to use my free-night certificate to finish out a long weekend when it's a US holiday. For instance, this year the 4th of July is on Monday. It's a holiday for me (and I can get Tuesday AM off as well), so I'll spend the weekend in Munich and can extend it one day (that would otherwise cost EUR 225) and check out Tuesday AM.

Or you can use it for a Thursday night (Thanksgiving?) leading into a Friday through Sunday stay (at properties where Friday evening is priced at the weekend rate when combined with a Saturday night stay).

SacTownGuy

Maybe this is the conclusion drawn above but it seems buying Marriott gift cards with a Marriott Visa will get a lot of points. Maybe not the 50% plat bonus if you are staying at the hotel (if that applies to meals?) but if you buy the gift cards at the right time (i.e. December) you get the bonus also. In my opinion the tying up of money is a minor issue these days with interest rates where they are.

mooper

The cost of tying up that money - forgone investment income, cost of borrowing, or otherwise - is absolutely something you want to consider. Offsetting this, however, is the additional cash back you may earn on the gift card (4% right now), which is in additional to cash back you earn on the booking. Similarly, promotional discounts and/or points earned on the card should be factored. I'm still burning some cards from December, having forgone substantial investment income on the principal, but the 10 points (I value at 15%) and 4% CB give me a 19% edge that's well worth it.

Hopefully, similar offers will return towards year-end, when they are more typical. For anyone who values their MR points at 1+ CPP, the 10 points/$ offer was even nicer.

socrates

This would only work at FOSSE hotels...FS PMS handles house accounts differently....

potterew

It doesn't seem like it would be hard for Marriott to add a line on the bottom of all of their receipts to write in your MR account number and give you points.

It shouldn't be a hard thing for their IT staff to do so and it would help with their business. Most times when I am in Marriott restaurants, they are empty, so it seems like it would be a smart move for them. I'm not sure how many people would really go there for dinner if they got points, but it would be more than zero, and besides the reason they give points for hotel stays is to convince customers to stay there instead of the other choices.

Personally, I don't think I have ever eaten at a Marriott restaurant when I was not staying there because they are usually more expensive and not much better than the other choices in the area. I'm not saying I would eat at the Marriott every time I take my wife on a date, but would consider it more if I received points for it. It is no different than when I pay extra for my hotel when I go on vacation and I choose the higher priced Marriott over a different chain for the points.