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Platinum Status in Eight Days and $800 - No Stays Required

Old Dec 30, 2015, 10:18 am
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Last edit by: rustykettel
Ten (10) Elite Nights are given for each meeting held in a participating hotel under the "Rewarding Events" program. See below for non-participating brands. Information about the Rewarding Events program may be found at https://www.marriott.com/meeting-eve...els/rewards.mi

The 10 elite nights per meeting are independent of any hotel rooms booked in conjunction with the meeting. In fact, no hotel rooms have to be booked as part of the meeting in order to receive credit for 10 elite nights.

Although the Rewarding Events webpage refers to room nights for meeting participants, the most important section is the one that states 10 Elite Nights, regardless if you or your guest is paying for it

In general, a written contract is required (or should be obtained). In many cases, the meeting is booked through a central Marriott group sales office instead of directly with a hotel. If booked through a central Marriott group sales office, there is a three-page contract that makes reference to the Rewarding Events program on page 2 of the agreement. A MR member number should be included in this area of the contract by the group sales office.

FAQs:

Q: What brands participate in the Rewarding Events program?
A: AC Hotels by Marriott, Aloft, Autograph Collection, Courtyard by Marriott, Delta Hotels by Marriott, EDITION, Element, Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Marriott, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott, LeMridien, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club, Moxy Hotels, Protea Hotels by Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, St. Regis, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, & Westin.
Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites, & Marriott Executive Apartments do not participate in the program.

Q: How do I find a hotel that participates?
A: Click on the link to the Rewarding Events page and then in the "Plan" section of the page click on the "Find a Hotel" box. Enter the city you'd like to have your meeting in, purpose of event (Business) and then check the "I need meeting/event space" box. Enter the size of your meeting (2 attendees should work) and then click the "Find" box. Leave the start date and end date blank. A list of potential hotels will be shown. The smallest meeting room is not usually shown online --- you may need to call each hotel to find out which one has a boardroom or other small meeting room. Once you've found a small meeting room, then request a quote online.

Q: How quickly will Marriott respond with a quote?
A: Usually within a day or two --- and usually via email. The email should contain a telephone number of the group sales contact. Give them a call and tell them you'd like to follow up on the quote and you're interested in booking the smallest room available for a 2 person meeting for an hour. If they quote a price that's higher than you want to pay, ask them if they can get approval for a lower priced meeting (e.g., a recent quote was for $75 for an 8 hour use of a CY boardroom). They accepted a counter of $50 for a one-hour meeting in the room (plus service charge plus local sales tax). Urban hotels may charge significantly higher rates for meeting space than a smaller, less congested city.

Q: Is a contract required?
A: The terms of the program suggest "yes" --- although there are reports that 10 elite nights have been granted without contracts. A best practice would be to obtain a contract.

Q: How long do points and EQNs take to post after the event is over?
A: Generally, this takes 3+ business days. According to Marriott, it can take 15 business days. If you do not see anything post after 15 business days, contact the hotel before contacting Marriott customer support. The hotel has to be the one to post it.

You will get an e-mail with a subject line Your Rewarding Events Award has Posted: EVENT NAME

Q: Will the hotel know what I am talking about when I say points and elite night credits?
A: Probably not. They may know about the rewarding events points being 3x per dollar spent, but not always. Usually they know of only the Marriott system (Group Posting Tool) where they input how much you spent and when. This is done after the event and is usually authorized by the sales or general manager.

Q: The contract doesn't say anything about points, will I still earn them?
A: YMMV but so far all the electronic contracts from the website state it, but some fail to read it. The paper contracts usually talk about points, but some reports that they don't, but still post. Remember this is a Marriott Rewards benefit that the hotels don't seem to be footing the bill for.
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Platinum Status in Eight Days and $800 - No Stays Required

 
Old Apr 15, 2018, 5:35 am
  #2011  
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Originally Posted by Vince Chan
Much appreciated to your response. I contact one of Courtyard and they provide this link to me Earn Rewards at Marriott Hotels

And told me that in our CY, only room rates are qualify for points. This seems conflicts with the link OP provide that all most brands including Edition , CY, and Ritz participating with this rewards event. Maybe I have to book "10 Elite Nights when you book 10+ guest rooms for at least one night" to meet the qualification of 10 elite nights , instead of just holding a meeting ?
As I said before, most hotels don't know anything about Rewarding Events. Catering events, meetings in conference or boardrooms, and group room blocks all qualify.

The hotels really have nothing to do with the awarding of points and the 10 elite-qualifying nights. Marriott automatically awards the points and nights when the property posts the event using the software.

Just get a contract. Your contract will have a Rewarding Events provision that says something like:

REWARDS PROGRAM - REWARDING EVENTS

Approximately (10) business days after the conclusion of the Event (provided that the Event is not cancelled and [YOUR NAME] has otherwise complied with the material terms and conditions of this Agreement), the HOTEL will either award Points or submit an award for airline miles to the Member(s) identified below.

Rewarding Events program is not available in certain circumstances, including (1) for any government employee or official booking a government event (U.S. government event or non-U.S. government event) ; (2) for any employee of a state-owned or state-controlled entity (“SOE”) booking an event on behalf of the SOE; or (3) for any other planner or intermediary when booking an event on behalf of a non-U.S. governmental entity or SOE.

GROUP MUST CHECK ONE OPTION BELOW:

[ ] is eligible to receive Rewarding Events Points or airline miles

Member Name __________________________________________________

Marriott Rewards Program Member Number __________________________
*If airline miles are desired instead of Rewarding Events Points, please also provide:

Frequent flier airline miles account number___________________________ Airline Name __________________________________________________ _

OR

[ ] declines or is not eligible to receive Rewarding Events Points or airline miles and hereby waives the right to receive an award of Points or airline miles in connection with the Event.

The number of Points or airline miles to be awarded shall be determined pursuant to the Rewards Program Terms and Conditions, as in effect at the time of award. The Rewards Program Terms and Conditions are available on-line at marriottrewards.com, and may be changed at the sole discretion of the Rewards Program at any time and without notice.

The individual(s) identified above to receive either Points or airline miles may not be changed without such individual(s)’ prior written consent. By inserting the airline mileage account information, the recipient elects to receive airline miles rather than Points. All Rewards Program Terms and Conditions apply.
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Old Apr 15, 2018, 8:23 am
  #2012  
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Originally Posted by Vince Chan
Much appreciated to your response. I contact one of Courtyard and they provide this link to me Earn Rewards at Marriott Hotels

And told me that in our CY, only room rates are qualify for points. This seems conflicts with the link OP provide that all most brands including Edition , CY, and Ritz participating with this rewards event. Maybe I have to book "10 Elite Nights when you book 10+ guest rooms for at least one night" to meet the qualification of 10 elite nights , instead of just holding a meeting ?
Keep in mind there are two programs. One that deals with booking 10 guests rooms and the meeting planner gets credit for 10 nights. This is the one most properties are familiar with. The other has to deal with booking meeting rooms where booking one room will result in 10 nights being awarded. This is usually booked with a sales office and not the front desk or reservation center. Once they record the event using the Group Posting Tool, the hotel ponies up the points your spend earned and MR will pony up the nights. Again, I see most customer-facing staff (FDC, reservations) are not familiar with both programs so taking their word as truth is bad.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 2:34 am
  #2013  
 
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Originally Posted by GundamWing01
who here thinks with the new merger details leaked, this loophole is gonna get pillaged? with the prior program, this strategy had good but niche use. now, hitting PP75 would be a target for many. AMB100 $20k will probably get no love tho.
It's not a "loophole" - it's a well-documented feature of the rewards program. Many meetings cost 5 figures and up, and it's logical they want to incentivize this now and going forward. Is there a way to game things so you can spend a little and still get the 10 nights? Of course, but similarly it is possible to game regular overnight stays to get EQNs, free nights, bonus points, and other perks. That doesn't make cheap stays a loophole either.

If they end up implementing the spend requirement for Ambassador level, that will limit the value of cheap meetings to the extent of achieving Platinum Premier or LT objectives, but it certainly won't eliminate the usefulness.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 2:43 am
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Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
What does your contract state? Normally, it's 10 days.
Yes 10 days. It has now been 10. What would you recommend doing? Asking Marriott if they see it in their system?
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 5:12 am
  #2015  
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Originally Posted by rickastleyjr
Yes 10 days. It has now been 10. What would you recommend doing? Asking Marriott if they see it in their system?
Sometimes it takes a couple extra days because, despite the contract, some properties only post their events once or twice a month. Send an email to whomever handled your event and ask them if it was been posted.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 3:39 pm
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Originally Posted by mooper
It's not a "loophole" - it's a well-documented feature of the rewards program. Many meetings cost 5 figures and up, and it's logical they want to incentivize this now and going forward. Is there a way to game things so you can spend a little and still get the 10 nights? Of course, but similarly it is possible to game regular overnight stays to get EQNs, free nights, bonus points, and other perks. That doesn't make cheap stays a loophole either.

If they end up implementing the spend requirement for Ambassador level, that will limit the value of cheap meetings to the extent of achieving Platinum Premier or LT objectives, but it certainly won't eliminate the usefulness.
sure, its not technically a "loophole". so maybe i should have picked another word, but lets not get stuck on semantics. then you can call it what you want. my main point is that the new reqs are now out. people will want to know how to gun it for Plat 50 or Plat 75 which have meaningful benefits w/ no rev reqs or hitting LT reqs . mattress runs to 50 or 75 EQN wont make sense for many like how people left the Hyatt program after the reqs for globs 60 EQNs. so this thread and strategy will be outted even further. anything too rich and prosperous always dies when it hits reddit or whatever else. if u disagree then I guess we will see. my guess is that marriott will either reduce EQNs or put min rev reqs to get certain number of EQNs. cant be $50 meetings for 10 EQNs. as u said, marriott wants to incentivize 5 fig meetings. so $50 meetings hitting EQNs just wont stay forever.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 4:32 pm
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curious to see if anyone has any info on whether the meetings will still work with the new program?
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 5:02 pm
  #2018  
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Originally Posted by GundamWing01
sure, its not technically a "loophole".
It wasn't even a technicality. Marriott openly touts getting elite status through Rewarding Events. See here:

$50 for an hour in the boardroom is perfectly reasonable in some properties and some markets.

Originally Posted by tush17
curious to see if anyone has any info on whether the meetings will still work with the new program?
Good question. Marriott's FAQs on the new program indicates Rewarding Events, or something similar, will still exist. However, it sounds like they are trying to figure it out:

Are there changes to SPG Pro and Rewarding Events?

Members of both programs will be able to earn points for meetings and events through the new Rewarding Events structure. SPG Pro will end in August. We will honor any existing meeting and event contracts on the books at the new earning rate. Starting in early August, you can book meetings and events across all brands (except for Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Design Hotels and Marriott Executive Apartments) and if you provide your membership number at time of signing, you are eligible to earn benefits under the new Rewarding Events construct including base earn and bonus points based on Elite level (if applicable).

https://members.marriott.com/faq/#ar...warding-events
The phrasing of "new Rewarding Events construct" indicates something has changed. At the least, it infers more points.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 5:11 pm
  #2019  
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Is the exception for meetings at RI and TPS new? Some of these places certainly do have meeting rooms.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 5:31 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Is the exception for meetings at RI and TPS new? Some of these places certainly do have meeting rooms.
No, it's been there for at least the past several years. Some of them also have pretty low posted meeting rates too, which makes it unfortunate.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 5:40 pm
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Originally Posted by rustykettel


No, it's been there for at least the past several years. Some of them also have pretty low posted meeting rates too, which makes it unfortunate.
Depending on the "construct" of Rewarding Events moving forward, it might be a better option to do a mattress run. You can get plenty of Marriott hotels in Asia for $35-$50 a night. You could combine it with a mileage-run and fly over, check into a hotel for 30 nights and then leave. Or, if you're a telecommuter, stay there for a while.
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Old Apr 16, 2018, 10:56 pm
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So how can I convince the agent of Marriott when I leave the hotel that to ensure whoever posting my bill will using "Group Posting Tool" to handle that , other than that you might not get any nights.

And from the contract example from above, the hotel would only guarantee about receiving points or mile , but not the eligible nights, right?

I contact Ren and CY BKK 3 days ago by Marriott event website but receive none response, now I send directly to JW to check if any response.
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 2:58 am
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Originally Posted by Vince Chan
So how can I convince the agent of Marriott when I leave the hotel that to ensure whoever posting my bill will using "Group Posting Tool" to handle that, other than that you might not get any nights.
The contract gives them 10 days to use the tool to post the points, but I never rely upon this. I simply get them to confirm in advance in writing when they will use it to post. They usually reply that they'll do it within a day or two. If a property is unwilling to commit to this, or especially if they don't seem to know what the group posting tool is, I wouldn't use them for a meeting.

Originally Posted by GundamWing01
...the new reqs are now out. people will want to know how to gun it for Plat 50 or Plat 75 which have meaningful benefits w/ no rev reqs or hitting LT reqs . mattress runs to 50 or 75 EQN wont make sense for many like how people left the Hyatt program after the reqs for globs 60 EQNs. so this thread and strategy will be outted even further. anything too rich and prosperous always dies when it hits reddit or whatever else. if u disagree then I guess we will see. my guess is that marriott will either reduce EQNs or put min rev reqs to get certain number of EQNs. cant be $50 meetings for 10 EQNs. as u said, marriott wants to incentivize 5 fig meetings. so $50 meetings hitting EQNs just wont stay forever.
I'm not suggesting they'll never tighten it up... I'm sure you're correct that if it becomes unappealing to award 10 EQNs in exchange for $50 in high-margin revenue booking otherwise empty meeting rooms, they'll tighten it up. For now, as a Marriott LT Plat with 15 paid nights + 15 award nights + 15 credit card nights planned this year, I'm going spend ~$150 for 3 no-show meetings (+30 EQNs) to top off at 75 EQNs so when my status converts to LT Plat Prem this summer, I'll get 10 suite upgrades thrown my way. $15 per upgrade... not bad!
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Old Apr 17, 2018, 6:48 am
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Originally Posted by Vince Chan
So how can I convince the agent of Marriott when I leave the hotel that to ensure whoever posting my bill will using "Group Posting Tool" to handle that , other than that you might not get any nights.

And from the contract example from above, the hotel would only guarantee about receiving points or mile , but not the eligible nights, right?

I contact Ren and CY BKK 3 days ago by Marriott event website but receive none response, now I send directly to JW to check if any response.
None of the contracts ever contain language about the nights because the hotel has nothing to do it.

As for the hotels, you need to submit a RFP request through Marriott's website. Go to Marriott.com and select meeting and events at the right. Then use that search function.




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Old Apr 17, 2018, 11:11 am
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Much appreciated to mooper and hockeyinsider's advice, I will check if they know about group posting tools before I sing contracts with the certain hotel. Hopefully I can successfully get the eligible nights on this Bangkok trip. Is there any limitation for the eligible nights that one can receive through rewards event among a certain time? I meant if one member hold 5 different hotels for 5 events from Monday to Friday at 5 different Marriotts, he can easily gets 50 nights!? Is this correct? This sounds unbelievable.

I will stay at bangkok marriott hotel the surawongse this June, maybe hold one meeting there, and the other two in Ren or CY, if this really works out I can keep my plat next year
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