Is there an easy way to determine if a CY has a lounge available to Gold/Plat other than calling each hotel? I don't see a list other than the list of which lounges are closed on weekends. Thanks.

The 2 sticky threads listing hotels with open/closed lounges is probably the best place to look. I don't think Marriott's website will let you search based on whether a hotel has a lounge or not (though you can search just certain hotel brands).

If you go to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-weekends.html and do a search for "Courtyard", you should find almost 60 hits. While that may not hit every single CY outside NA that has a lounge, I'm betting its a majority of them. :)

It maybe easier to go to the hotel's individual listing on the Marriott website and have a look at their rooms. If you see a type of room with executive lounge or similar, you'll have your answer.

I usually just ask Marriott Rewards directly. They told me they can see it.

Probably posting in the wrong thread but here's my story. My wife and I pooled over 300k points in 2015 for a trip through Italy. I developed a severe health issue and we had to cancel the trip. All points were refunded and fortunately I'm well now. I fully realize there is ongoing devaluation of rewards programs. However, when I try rebooking my trip at hotels like the Grand Hotel Flora in Rome it not only requires 45,000 points but also 200 Euro a night! The Boscolo Venezia is 45,000 points AND 350 EURO PER NIGHT. How on earth is this considered an award stay?? I wan't in a coma for 2 years, when did this happen?

Most likely what you are seeing is the hotel doesn't have any standard rooms available for awards during the times you are looking. What you are seeing is the base award cost for your stay (for a standard room) plus a "per night" charge for an upgraded room (i.e. better view, corner, balcony, larger, etc.)

And note that it isn't unusual for a resort(ish) type hotel to run out of standard room award inventory well before they do the awards for the upgraded room. This is because most Gold/Plats know they have a good chance at a free upgrade during check-in. So why pay for the upgrade with extra cash or points?

If this is the case, that means you can either pay the extra "upgrade" fee or look for different award dates.

Does Marriott do a sale on MR points purchase?

If a friend uses his/her 7-night certificate to book a stay for me, but isn't staying there with me, will I enjoy the status benefits based on my friend's account status? or my own status? Or no status benefits?

I've heard using your 7-night cert (from nights and flights) to book a room for someone else is allowed, but someone please correct me if that isn't the case.

Yes, it is allowed, but technically the person who ordered the award will need to call Marriott to get it attached to your reservation (i.e. the non-elite person).

As for whether or not you will get their elite status benefits, technically you shouldn't. But if the reservation is made in there name and your name is added to the reservation, you may well get the elite benefits. But beware of going down that path, it is possible a particular hotel might not let your friend check in until the elite person shows up which could be very inconvenient. I don't think this happens very often in the US, but in other parts of the world where they ask for your passport when you check-in, this might be more of a problem.

So the safest route would be to have the elite person who ordered the TP award call Marriott and make the reservation specifically for the non-elite person. It is much more likely that no elite status recognition will occur this way, but they won't have to worry that the hotel might not let them check-in either.

Thanks. But if I am elite, and the person booking the reservation makes the reservation specifically for me, then will I get my elite benefits? My status is actually higher than the person redeeming the certificate for me.

Then I'd suggest your friend make the reservation in your name and ask a Marriott Customer Service agent to attach the cert to the reservation. You should be able to go in an add your MR# to the reservation, but even if you don't, just show them your MR elite card and the check-in agent can add it then.

Can I earn Gold or Platinum status solelythrough award night stays ?

I don't know of any stated requirement that X% of nights be paid/cash versus any other type of acquired nights. So I guess it should be possible if you have enough points to stay the required # of nights. And between potential roll-over nights and/or CC nights, maybe you don't need that many nights after all. :eek:

So I could have sworn that gold status required 25 nights, but I just checked and it's 50. Did they change the requirement recently and I missed it?

No.

I do believe it has been 50 nights for Gold since the beginning of the current Silver/Gold/Plat elite program. I don't remember if it was 50 nights back in the old Marriott Marquis days (when Black was an elite level as that was 20+ years ago.)

TownePlace suites no longer listed as earning points
 

I suppose it's just a glitch on the website but this page no longer lists TownePlace Suites as earning any points:

https://www.marriott.com/marriott-re...earn/hotels.mi

I tried to find out more in the T&C but apparently the earning rate is not mentioned in the T&C.
So just wanted to confirm that it's still earning 5 points like it used to be?

Just checked and I still see TPS right next to RI with both listed as earning 5 pts/$ spent on room rate.

Interesting. When I access Marriott.com from IE, I can see TPS listed. But if I try from Chrome, I don't see it. :eek:

In any case, I doubt this is a radical change from Marriott by dropping certain brands from their Rewards program. ;)

Strange. I distinctly remember looking into getting the Marriott credit card because it gives you 15 nights/year. I usually stay 10 at Marriotts, and I very vividly remember thinking "with the credit card I'd meet the 25 night requirement for gold." I'm very concerned that I seem to be hallucinating this entire experience. Then again, given Marriott's lackluster IT, it could have been a webpage from 20 years ago *snort*

Could be early stage dementia.

Maybe your thought process was:
- I'll be staying 10 nights
- get the credit card for 15 nights
- spend $75K/year on the credit card for 25 nights.

Just a guess.

Or, it could be early stage dementia.

Interesting indeed, problem seems to be related to Chrome. (or correcter to a not so good tested website by Marriott IT)
Firefox shows TownePlace suites as well.

But attached screenshot is how it looks in Chrome.

Does doing a mobile check in count as an actual check in for purposes of stay/night credit? If that's the case, does the charge for the stay simply go onto the card used to hold the booking if I don't show up in person?

I have a couple of mattress run reservations coming up for my Plat challenge and I'd love to skip the added step of actually going to the hotel for one of the stays in particular since it's a bit out of the way.

On the phone with customer service who surprised me by saying that if you book a room on points and pay extra for an upgraded room (e.g. at time of booking), that room rate is not eligible for Marriott points? That seems a bit surprising, as money spent on hotel nights is usually the core of any program. I had a $2,000 stay in Hawaii and only got credit for $400, which seemed a bit off (to be fair, $400 was an outside provider, plus another $180 on taxis).

Hi,

I do not see this question in the FAQ.

Do any Elite Benefits apply when booking through a travel agent rather than with Marriott directly?

Thank you.

I do'nt have too much experience booking through travel agents (as opposed to OTAs) but from what I know, if a Virtuoso travel agent, for example, books your hotel for you you still earn points and get elite benefits. Someone can confirm whether this is true for all travel agents.

You should receive your elite benefits with virtually any reservation, even Priceline type reservations. You just need to make sure your MR# is in the reservation. You might not get night credits or points for some reservation types though.

Got an interesting Promo today for Marriott via United Mileage Plus. Booked OMA-IAH-PBC a few days ago and got this email. Did a quick search but couldn't find anything about it anywhere.https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/pr.../united/sp.png

Interestingly enough I just connect thru houston, terms don't specifically say I can't book in Mexico as well but when I click the link it pre-fills Houston as the search city. I can change it though...

Anyone else try this before?

I am a Ritz Carlton member (Platinum Elite due to SPG Plat status). I can't seem to register for the current Marriott 3K point bonus per stay. Is it because I am a RC member and not Marriott? Is there a similar promo for RC members or should I change my RC account to a Marriott? Now that I am a lifetime SPG Plat, I'd like to see the other side and try some Marriott properties, but not if I don't get any bonuses.

My understanding is that while the RC and Marriott programs are essentially the same thing, they do have different "marketing" front-ends. That usually translates into different promotional offers for RC members than for MR members. So I'd guess, the answer to your question is yes. You will need to switch over your program affiliation to MR instead of RC to get the Marriott promotion.

As for whether there is a current RC promotion going on, I'm not sure on that as my account is currently on the MR side and I don't keep as close an eye on the RC side as I probably could. You might go look in the RC forum to see if there are any threads on current promotions. I didn't see one when I did a quick look, but you might start a thread there asking about any current promotional opportunities with the RC program.

Not sure if this is FT worthy, but!

I called to request an elite status card (I had matched to MR Gold from Starwood Gold through Amex Platinum), and was told by MR desk that elite status cards are no longer issued upon request, and generally will only be issued when changing elite status tiers through status challenges or hotel elite night stays.

Additionally, I somehow was downgraded to MR Silver for 2 days despite having Starwood Gold through Amex Platinum. I had to call MR desk and was initially told that I was downgraded due to lack of activity, and that the Amex Platinum match "didn't count". Asked for a supervisor who refuted that assertion and manually moved me back to Gold Elite, especially since I am 5 stays into a Platinum challenge for MR (of 9 nights). Would have been a waste of 5 stays!

Hope this helps others out there.

If a fully flexible rate (Rewards Member Rate) says "guaranteed method: credit card", does that imply I will actually be charged the full room rate upon making the booking? This happened to me at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, and I only noticed the charge on my card several weeks after making the original booking, and subsequently cancelling it due to conflicting travel plans.

I reached out to the hotel to get the refund processed and once that finally happened, the actual refund to my (Singapore issued) card was lower than what had originally been charged. Since I am no longer based in Singapore I would have to transfer money from overseas in order to cover the balance.

I have reached out to the RC to ask if they can cover the balance, but even if they do I may be charged late payment fees since I only noticed the charge on my card several weeks after it had been made. How would you proceed with this matter?

I'm wondering if you have been hit by a changing exchange rate? And as such, I'm not sure the hotel will do much for you. I would recommend trying to pay the difference to your CC company as quickly as you can and then try to work with the hotel management to see if there is anything they are willing and can to do. If you missed there being a balance on your credit card due to this, you can always call your CC company. Tell them what happened and ask if they will waive the late fees for you. I've had similar issues with charges and refunds in the past. And the CC companies have actually been pretty accommodating to me. So maybe they will be with you as well.

I wouldn't think they would normally charge your card unless the rate rules specifically spelled out you were pre-paying all or part of the reservation upfront.

They didn't -- it was a standard Rewards Member Rate, which makes me think they are 1. wrong in charging me in the first place and 2. since they charged me they should be responsible for ensuring I am fully reimbursed (regardless of card currency). Or am I way off here?

I would agree, but getting them to admit they shouldn't have charged you and should cover the full expense will probably take a lot of effort on your part. If they push back, maybe you can push for some points to "cover" the cost you have to pay for their inadvertent charge.

What's the difference between gifting and sharing points?
I notice that when I click gifting points, I am directed to a popup to enter in the Marriott member's name and reward account information. For sharing points, I'm directed to Marriott's customer support phone line.

I know FHR should earn points but is there any way to add it to the Marriott landing page? I included my Marriott number but it doesn't show / confirmation from Amex doesn't seem to work.

I see that the Courtyard by Marriott Paramaribo is at 7,500 points per night. It would be cheaper to buy points and redeem them for the stay since 8K points cost just $ 100. The revenue rate at this hotel is over $ 150 a night! What would be the best option if I want to stay 3 nights at this hotel? For 3 nights I need 22,5K points. Is it still possible to buy 7,5K Starwood points ($ 262,50) and transfer them to Marriott since 1 starpoint equals 3 Marriott points? Will those points directly appear in my Marriott account or will it take some days?