Dec 30, 2015, 10:18 am
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, LeMéridien, 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.
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, LeMéridien, 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.
Platinum Status in Eight Days and $800 - No Stays Required
Jan 13, 2016, 8:10 am
#1186
Join Date: May 2002
Location: DTW
Programs: DL FF, Marriott LT Plat., National EA
Posts: 100
Shoot!... I never knew that! That's a game changer! So I DID gip myself out of an extra 24 LT nights by calling to get the one additional night comp credit. Sure, I now have Platinum versus gold for 2016, but I'll have to spend another $300+ in meetings to make up for it. Ugh!
Also, I think it's pretty clear, but just to confirm... LT status does not give you any leg up towards achieving the next level, right? i.e. if you're LT Gold, you still need to collect 75 Elite nights in order to make Platinum the next year?
Thanks@
Also, I think it's pretty clear, but just to confirm... LT status does not give you any leg up towards achieving the next level, right? i.e. if you're LT Gold, you still need to collect 75 Elite nights in order to make Platinum the next year?
Thanks@
Jan 13, 2016, 8:22 am
#1187
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: GEG
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Lifetime SkyClub, AS MVP
Posts: 2,410
Jan 13, 2016, 2:20 pm
#1188
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 33
That's fine, just be sure they are prepared to start throwing around terms like "2nd quarter sales projections" and "Accelerated depreciation" if a meeting auditor appears!
Jan 13, 2016, 8:50 pm
#1189
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 112
It was worse than that for me. The front office manager actually had the audacity to come into the room and ask me if I was "really having a meeting or just doing this for the nights". When I fumbled around, he asked if he could see what I was working on, and fortunately I was smooth and opened up a spreadsheet with a bunch of numbers and he figured I must be legitimately working. I actually don't think they have the right to probe like this, so you could probably blow them off, but if you don't want to risk having the elite nights retracted, it's probably worth playing along.
Jan 13, 2016, 8:58 pm
#1190
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: 30 minutes south of EWR
Programs: UA 1k MM;*A Lifetime Gold; Marriott Lifetime Platinum; HiltonHonors Gold. Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 7,816
When something like that happened to me I told the manager that I was having a circle jerk meeting and I was waiting on the other attendees. I offered that for 100 bucks she could watch me start it myself but if she wanted to be there for the whole meeting she would have to throw in an extra 10 nights. She declined that offer but asked if she could set up audio/video for an extra 5 nights
Jan 13, 2016, 11:19 pm
#1191
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,285
When something like that happened to me I told the manager that I was having a circle jerk meeting and I was waiting on the other attendees. I offered that for 100 bucks she could watch me start it myself but if she wanted to be there for the whole meeting she would have to throw in an extra 10 nights. She declined that offer but asked if she could set up audio/video for an extra 5 nights
Or was the problem that the hotel wanted typical conference A/V rates, like $700 for wifi access for the room, $300 for projector rental, and $50 for every power strip?
Jan 15, 2016, 6:24 pm
#1192
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,815
Elite Benefits Booklet
Stated in the new Marriott Rewards brochure I received in the mail in black and white:
Platinum- 75 nights or 8 meetings
Platinum- 75 nights or 8 meetings
Jan 17, 2016, 6:54 am
#1194
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,815
Silver. Gold. Platinum
20% points bonus. 25% points bonus. 50% points bonus
10 nights or 1 meeting. 50 nights or 5 meetings. 75 nights or 8 meeting
Then it goes on listing all the benefits for each level.
Next page Earn Elite Nights
The second one is
Hold a meeting or special event or reserve a block of rooms- earn 10 NIGHTS.
Their highlighting not mine.
This was in the booklet Live Elite in 2016 my husband received last week as his status was renewed already.
Jan 17, 2016, 8:15 am
#1195
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
Jan 20, 2016, 1:00 pm
#1196
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 774
How much are you all paying after taxes per meeting? (Just got a folio that included a 16.5 banquet charge on top of the meeting charge and meeting room tax. Curious if this is typical as it's not mentioned in the contract.)
Last edited by okrogius; Jan 20, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Jan 20, 2016, 2:18 pm
#1197
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Formerly of SacTown, Cali
Posts: 1,243
It should be in the contract. I have had some properties charge tax and banquet fee and others don't. However, it would seem it should be in the contract... especially the banquet charge. On the other hand if you have gotten your 10 nights it's probably not worth complaining over $20. Take your nights and run!
Jan 20, 2016, 4:12 pm
#1198
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 774
It should be in the contract. I have had some properties charge tax and banquet fee and others don't. However, it would seem it should be in the contract... especially the banquet charge. On the other hand if you have gotten your 10 nights it's probably not worth complaining over $20. Take your nights and run!
"Catering Contract Terms
The following policies govern all catered and group events at the [...].
VI. Service Charges and Taxes
...
b. The service charges of twenty two percent (22%) applied in this letter of agreement are to offset labor and administration costs. This service charge may be taxable, subject to state and local tax laws."
It was easy to glance over since I didn't get any catering (might be logical that a catering service charge is based on the price of catering rather than meeting room). In the grand scheme of things, not a big deal, but might as well deal with a different property. It's pretty easy to find alternate locations and that adds up over several meetings.
Jan 21, 2016, 6:24 am
#1199
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: GEG
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Lifetime SkyClub, AS MVP
Posts: 2,410
But then again I was able to negotiate a $50 meeting room rate, so I'm not that excited about it in the grand scheme of things.
Jan 28, 2016, 2:47 pm
#1200
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 16
So I had a meeting 10 days ago and the nights haven't posted yet. Emailed the hotel and they said it takes 30-45 days? That seems longer than most have experienced. Any thoughts?