Some Holy Bible of using a Marriott GC.
 

Firstly, I totally agree that the amount of dumb looks I've gotten from the FD staff is too innumerable to count. That said, here are some things I ALWAYS follow
1. Always check the balance on the Gift Card after each transaction. When you buy it, when you have checked in, when you check out and finally when the bill settles.
2. As far as possible, use the GC itself to check in. Make sure that the amount on the GC will cover the stay and incidentals charge that they typically apply per night.
3. NEVER use the GC again till the previous stay has completely settled.

And now the fun part....
4. When balance drops to a point when the balance on the GC will not cover the current stay, check in with your credit card.
5. Check the balance remaining on the GC and write it down or better still take a printout of the screen just in case you need to prove the balance to some moron. I've had to do wait a painful 20 mins while he called the 800 number to verify the balance.
5. On check out day plan to leave 15-20 mins early to deal with the hassles you WILL face when doing a split bill.
6. Keep the original bill that was slipped under the door. Then ask the FD guy/gal to charge the specific amount that is remaining on the card. If you get a dumb look as him/her to process/swipe as a Visa. 99% of the time this will work.
7. Hopefully you're now done. At this point, ask for the GC back. Tell him/her that you need to verify that the balance has indeed dropped to zero. Also take the new recpt that shows the split payment between the GC and your credit card.
8. Few days later check the GC balance is indeed zero and also Check the amount that was charged to your credit card is indeed the amount that was supposed to be charged.

That's it. Avoid trying to be greedy and use 2 GCs or worse 2 GCs + your credit card in the same transaction. I've done it and felt the pain more times than I've been successful.

I had a situation a few months ago where the Front Desk clerk deducted my hotel bill from my GC.... AND....charged my Visa both.

It took 2 calls to the hotel manager to get it straightened out. They ended putting the dollars back on my GC somehow, and left the charge on my Visa. (And I wanted it the other way around.)

I always check my GC balance before and after I use it.

I have found that NOT checking in with the GC is the best route!


1-Check in w/ CC.

2-Get bill under door...verify!

3-Ask front desk to switch payment method. Spend next 4-44 minutes explaining that marriottGC's CAN be used as payment, and make numerous requests for the person to "swipe the damn thing as a credit card!"

4-KEEP a COPY of the invoice.

5-CALL! Make sure the balance has been properly taken down. (I keep tabs on the back with a sharpie marker!!! works great!!!)

6-EXPECT the additional time to be 4-444 minutes upon check-out. MAKE SURE the bill is correct BEFORE switching to GC, or else the $$$ will be "tied up" for 3 weeks to 3 centuries!

7-EXPECT hassles.

8-Enjoy my 10% or free suitcase for my family for Christmas!


*****Now..WHEN will they run another promotion!?!?!?!*********

While PhillyPhlyer40's post may be a little over dramatic, it is pretty close to the way I handle using Marriott GCs as well. ;)

All good advice above - one can indeed use strategies to minimize the risk of using the MGCs. But for me, the calculus has become that it is still not worth the risk - even with a 10% discount offer. Even if I follow all of the recommended strategies, it is going to take more of my time than simply using a credit card (and, sadly, this extra time required is not trivial, and my time is worth something). And there is the situation where you become pressed for time and become slightly careless in reviewing the bill. Then there is the case where your wallet is stolen (has happened before) or simply have dropped a card somewhere without noticing it until too late (also has happened before). With a credit card, all will generally end well in such situations; with a MGC, you stand to lose the entire value under current Marriottt policy.

Personally, I'm going to hold out on using these in the future until Marriott institutes a system that provides a pathway to recover the value of a lost or stolen card and does a better job systemwide of training their employees to process these.

One practice that works for me, and makes it easier to keep track of the balance remaining on the gift cards, is to:

1. Reserve and check in using your credit card.

2. When you get the bill under the door, check that it's accurate (of course).

3. When you go to the front desk to check out, hand them the gift card and ask them to put a round number amount (but less than the total bill) "on this card". For example, if the bill comes to $482.94, ask them to put $400 on "this card" and the rest on your credit card.

4. That's usually easier for them, and it's easier for you to check. When you get the settled invoice, at the desk (don't wait for an e-mailed copy), you should see a $400 charge against your gift card (as a Visa, check the ending numbers) and the rest (and only the rest) charged against your credit card.

This also makes it easier to keep track of what should be the balance on your gift card.

At least, this has worked for me . . .

____________________
MM=> UA 96%, AA 93%

Some good ideas here, but this is one that I think someone - Grizshel since she started the thread? - should bring to Marie's attention & ask her to forward to the appropriate Marriott folk. The hoops you all have to jump through make the BOGO look like a summer breeze (pardon the mixed metaphors). Cheers.

Hello,

I was helping Grizshel with this issue through PMs. I have already sent the concerns and suggestions listed in this thread to the appropriate "Marriott folk".

Thank you,

Marie

Marie, thanks once more for paying attention. To me, the most troublesome part of the gift card program is the failure to make provision for folks whose cards are lost, misplaced, or stolen. There should be some provision to allow such cards to be frozen and reissued, even if a fee were imposed for such.

Another suggestion for those that are using these: write your name and a phone number on your card to give yourself a fight chance to get the card back if it is lost.

Also, don't use the card if you are not prepared to allow at least 15 extra minutes for difficulties that may arise at checkout and for time to call the number on the back of the card to confirm the new balance.

Oh - and thanks Marie and the others at Marriott for your assistance on this and other matters!

I don't use a lot of gift cards anywhere but is it the norm for others to replace/freeze them if lost?

Retail Stores, restaurants and the like?

I know this is a little off topic, but it would be greatly appreciated if you could provide some insight on the FX surcharge that Marriott's bank applied on using these giftcards for non-dollar charges.

I had started another thread here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=812450

I'm still shocked that no one was interested in this. It's not out of the question that the FX surcharge could wipe out all the benefit of using the giftcards.

Usually, no. But gift cards for retail stores and restaurants are typically at a much lower dollar value than the Marriott GCs. If I lost a 50 dollar gift card to some local establishment it wouldn't be a huge deal but the folks around here buy Marriott GCs in thousand dollar increments. In that respect it is more like a traveler's check or a pre-paid Visa card, both of which can be replaced if lost or stolen.

...the pre-paid visa card would probably also be easier to check out with. :)

This weekend I'm going to be paying for 5 rooms using gift cards and BB, should be a learning experience...

So the rules are basically the same.

I do agree the value can be different but I've had $1000 gift cards to big box stores in the past. I guess we just have to know to treat them like cash.

I wonder if Marriott even has a system in place to cancel a card? Seems to me they don't even know how much is on the card without calling it in.

I had an incident where the checkout person had no idea how to process the card. During the process, their computer frozed. However, the payment was applied. She claim it was not. Her manager than ran the card again on another computer. Of course, there was no money left except for a small amount. He than ran it again and took all the remaining balance of the card. Then was going to process the remaining hotel bill against my credit card.

I argue with him for 15 minutes before he finally called the Marriott line. They informed him both charges went thru. He had to canceled the second small charge. However, it took like almost a week before they credit the gift card back again.

I find one has to be very, very careful in using these cards.