t3ame

Have we discussed already the coincidence between the global marketing officer resigning and then 1.5 months of no promo followed by this very weak one?
https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-...ficer-resigns/

fdem

Still a bit confused, does a stay mean a night or a separate stay. Have a 6 night stay booked in Marrakesh in December. Wouldthefirst 2 nights ( paid) count as 2 stays? If not will be a bit p*****d off as last year had a14 night stay costing over£5000 and only got a credit for one stay. It seems that the way Marriott are targeting their promotions at business travellers staying one to 2 night, whic fair enough if this makes financial sense but for people like myself the promotions are useless

Gigantor

Correct... I spoke with Marriott Customer Service.

Pretty crummy...

GrayAnderson

So, I'm already at 75 nights for the year. I've got an 8-night trip coming up. Of those nights:
-Two were never going to Marriott to begin with: Two are going to the Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista (booked via Amtrak's portal) because $95/night for EMH beats Swan's $245/night and loyalty will overcome some difference but not $300 plus tax and resort fees (so probably about $400 all in) [1].
-Two other nights are going to the Delta Lake Buena Vista because the staff there knows how to make my tea, and the Delta may charge for parking (I won't have a car) but they don't play stupid games with resort fees.
-The remaining four could have been/could be fought for: Two are going to the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth because I'll be puttering around on VIA and I got about a $150/night rate there and the QE is literally on top of Gare Central. That's a pretty good rate; I considered the Sheraton out at Dorval, but the QE would probably have had to get closer to $200/night to push me off, or Marriott would have needed a strong promo. One is going to the Hyatt Regency Orlando International. Again, I got what I found to be a decent rate for the hotel in question, and if my flight out ends up being relatively early this is a lifesaver. The final night, in DC, may go to Marriott...still weighing that one.

I've got another batch of nights at the Marriott LAX (sci-fi conference with solid block rate). The real open question is going to be whether I have a slug of nights around Christmas in DC. With Marriott farting around with this promo, they've turned a near slam-dunk of me staying at the Courtyard one Metro stop from Union Station into a toss-up, especially since the extra nights border on being irrelevant (they'd probably put me up close to 90 nights, but those don't carry over into 2019, and the way LTP is set up I'm likely to crash through 600 nights long before I hit the ten-year mark). Location may trump, but there's also an HGI and a Hyatt Place within a block (and the triple Hyatt points promo mostly overrides the loss of Marriott points...this is basically a perfect storm for Marriott in terms of countervailing incentives).

Now, I do counter this with the extreme strength of those stacking promos back in the spring...but for marginal business a combo of weak promos, not-terribly-competitive rates, and bad hotel behavior (e.g. the resort fees) are causing me to divert at least some nights.


[1] A good promo could probably have gotten me up to about $75-100/night in difference (so, $150-200 overall). Maybe a bit more. But not that much. I could make up the nights with a mattress run somewhere in a pinch.

ftrichard

A stay is a stay. A night is a night. Very clear what they mean by a stay in the T&Cs. Even if you had two back to back one-night reservations at the same hotel they would officially count as one stay. Whether it seems fair to you or not given your individual circumstances doesn't matter. A stay is what it is.

This promo is so unimpressive that I wouldn't bother doing mattress runs to maximise the bonus points of your Marrakesh stay because you have no idea what the surprise bonus scheme will be after the first two stays.

nequine

I was planning a 3 night mini-holiday next month that I've now booked as 3 x 1 nights so that the promo kicks in. I've changed my dates slightly too to take advantage of some much reduced prices for the properties I am going to.

fdem

Agree not worth doing I miss the old promos where you used to get free weekend nights when booking 5 but alas that was another lifetime

Middleseatguy

so is this weird promo now interpreted as a stay is one night OR more?? I have a string of nights next week between two neighboring properties, not for this promo but just because I need the nights to renew for next year.

I kind of want to know what is sooo impressive about 2,000 points? It's like 1/5 of a night at a Fairfield.... Marriott- DO BETTER.

escapefromphl

A stay is however long you continuously stay at a property can be 1 or many nights. if you want to unlock the next promo sooner do short stays first. I'm holding back my bookings to see what people get for the "unlocked" portion of the promo.

DELee

I think the earlier post by itisme shows how weak the unlocked portion will be.

David

Points Scrounger

I tend to have relatively cheap one-night stays, so 2000 for two is basically double points for me.

This may be a first for Marriott since I joined a couple of years ago where the first stay is eligible!

clublounger

Or, you could say that the first stay is NOT eligible, 'cause you get 2,000 points for your second stay.

Stay once during the promotion and you get nothing.

Kacee

I would not (and will not) change my plans in the slightest to hit this promo.

2000 points is $16, max. Barely worth registering for IMO.

margarita girl

People are overthinking this. A stay is a stay and Marriott did not change the definition for this promo. However, they seem to be challenged by the English language.


clublounger nailed it. You’re getting nothing for your first stay.

As for me, I have no alternate programs to move to. No status anywhere else, so I’m stuck with Marriott’s crappy IT and promos. Is it too late to start all over? Maybe not since I have LT Tit with this lousy loyalty program. (I miss SPG and Fairmont, the 2 best hotel loyalty programs ever, both decimated in 2018.)

txpenny

You'll get nothing and like it.