Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Discontinued Programs/Partners > Marriott | Rewards
Reload this Page >

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

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Dec 30, 2015, 10:18 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.
Print Wikipost

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

 
Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Apr 12, 2016, 5:47 pm
  #1216  
yrs
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: WAS (IAD, DCA, BWI)
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum, WN CP
Posts: 245
$100 or less in the WAS area

My apologies, I spoke hastily earlier. The app seems to have changed a bit from what I was used to seeing. I am still able to find a few hotels at $100. But I am not able to find any for less than $100.

Would certainly appreciate any tips and pointers from folks in case there is availability of meeting space in the WAS area for less than $100 for an hour.
yrs is offline  
Old Apr 12, 2016, 9:11 pm
  #1217  
stc
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
Originally Posted by yrs
My apologies, I spoke hastily earlier. The app seems to have changed a bit from what I was used to seeing. I am still able to find a few hotels at $100. But I am not able to find any for less than $100.

Would certainly appreciate any tips and pointers from folks in case there is availability of meeting space in the WAS area for less than $100 for an hour.
Why does it need to be in the WAS area? Are you actually planning on having a meeting?
stc is offline  
Old Apr 13, 2016, 11:43 am
  #1218  
yrs
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: WAS (IAD, DCA, BWI)
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum, WN CP
Posts: 245
Yes, I do actually plan to hold meetings. I live in the WAS area, and was looking for something in driving distance.

On a slightly different topic, If I were to not be able to attend a meeting, would the nights credit still post?
yrs is offline  
Old Apr 13, 2016, 2:46 pm
  #1219  
stc
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
Originally Posted by yrs
Yes, I do actually plan to hold meetings. I live in the WAS area, and was looking for something in driving distance.

On a slightly different topic, If I were to not be able to attend a meeting, would the nights credit still post?
They should. They have for me and various people I know.
stc is offline  
Old Apr 13, 2016, 5:14 pm
  #1220  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: CA
Programs: AAdvantage ExecPlat (LT Plat 2.1 MM),United S, SPG P, Marriott P, Hyatt Diamond *-)-
Posts: 213
Originally Posted by yrs
...
Would certainly appreciate any tips and pointers from folks in case there is availability of meeting space in the WAS area for less than $100 for an hour.
Tried to book a meeting in Tysons and the catering manager/hotel manager/whoever-was-responsible-for-arrangement that I spoke with, had no idea what rewarding meetings were. They (claimed) they checked with the national office who said only MR points would be rewarded per dollar spent on the meeting cost
AA_CPA is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 5:30 am
  #1221  
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
Originally Posted by AA_CPA
Tried to book a meeting in Tysons and the catering manager/hotel manager/whoever-was-responsible-for-arrangement that I spoke with, had no idea what rewarding meetings were. They (claimed) they checked with the national office who said only MR points would be rewarded per dollar spent on the meeting cost
Staff claim a lot of things that many times are just not true, added some CSRs make up rules to meet their lack of knowledge. There is a separate group that processes the Rewarding Events, read up-thread for the specifics.
RogerD408 is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 10:14 am
  #1222  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Frozen in Carbonite
Programs: UA Aluminum 0.6MM, Bonvoy Life Sentence, Hyatt Eliteist, AA Super Plutonium
Posts: 2,878
Originally Posted by yrs
On a slightly different topic, If I were to not be able to attend a meeting, would the nights credit still post?
I had a few over the years that I had to cancel last minute for one reason or the other (and by cancel, I mean just not show up). The nights and points always posted, as did the charge to my credit card....

In general, I think you'd better get these meetings in soon if you're trying to build up your account for lifetime status. I have a strong suspicion that this gravy train will end when the program combines, and maybe even before that. Frankly, I'm surprised MR has not closed this loophole already.

That being said, there is still the points component hurdle of lifetime status and that one is a lot tougher to game.
TommyC80 is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 3:01 pm
  #1223  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
Originally Posted by yrs
Yes, I do actually plan to hold meetings. I live in the WAS area, and was looking for something in driving distance.

On a slightly different topic, If I were to not be able to attend a meeting, would the nights credit still post?
They did for me. The hotel didn't even expect me to show up (4 AM meetings).
sethb is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 3:02 pm
  #1224  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
Originally Posted by TommyC80
I had a few over the years that I had to cancel last minute for one reason or the other (and by cancel, I mean just not show up). The nights and points always posted, as did the charge to my credit card....

In general, I think you'd better get these meetings in soon if you're trying to build up your account for lifetime status. I have a strong suspicion that this gravy train will end when the program combines, and maybe even before that. Frankly, I'm surprised MR has not closed this loophole already.

That being said, there is still the points component hurdle of lifetime status and that one is a lot tougher to game.
If lifetime is a consideration, go for double: if you get 150 room nights this year, 75 carry forward and you're Platinum an extra year. AND you have lifetime credit for 225 nights (150 this year, 75 next year).
sethb is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 3:42 pm
  #1225  
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
Originally Posted by TommyC80
I had a few over the years that I had to cancel last minute for one reason or the other (and by cancel, I mean just not show up). The nights and points always posted, as did the charge to my credit card....

In general, I think you'd better get these meetings in soon if you're trying to build up your account for lifetime status. I have a strong suspicion that this gravy train will end when the program combines, and maybe even before that. Frankly, I'm surprised MR has not closed this loophole already.

That being said, there is still the points component hurdle of lifetime status and that one is a lot tougher to game.
Although MR can change the program at any time, it's been stated they won't even be looking at merging the two programs until 2018. Yes, the sooner you get your LT status the better, but no need to rush out today.
RogerD408 is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 4:50 pm
  #1226  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Midwest
Programs: Marriott Titanium, IHG Plat, Hyatt Globalist, HHonors Diamond, AA Plat Pro, UA Silver
Posts: 571
Originally Posted by yrs
My apologies, I spoke hastily earlier. The app seems to have changed a bit from what I was used to seeing. I am still able to find a few hotels at $100. But I am not able to find any for less than $100.

Would certainly appreciate any tips and pointers from folks in case there is availability of meeting space in the WAS area for less than $100 for an hour.

I am jealous. I have looked throughout the Midwest and the cheapest I can find is $150. Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha. Most of the rates have the quote button. Only 2 hotels in all those areas had a rate of $150. Some of the Chicago ones were 1K + Is there a key to finding the rates? IE weekend versus weekday? Number of guests? etc
kklems is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2016, 11:52 pm
  #1227  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
Originally Posted by kklems
I am jealous. I have looked throughout the Midwest and the cheapest I can find is $150. Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha. Most of the rates have the quote button. Only 2 hotels in all those areas had a rate of $150. Some of the Chicago ones were 1K + Is there a key to finding the rates? IE weekend versus weekday? Number of guests? etc
Always specify 2 guests; why get a bigger room than necessary?

Also, the shorter the meeting the better.

If you aren't going to be there, why do you care where the hotel is?
sethb is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2016, 7:36 am
  #1228  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Formerly of SacTown, Cali
Posts: 1,243
Originally Posted by sethb
Always specify 2 guests; why get a bigger room than necessary?

Also, the shorter the meeting the better.

If you aren't going to be there, why do you care where the hotel is?
Agreed. Make it 2 guests and then adjust the time to 2 hours. It defaults to a full day. The cost cuts in half when you cut to 2 hours. It's real easy.
SacTownGuy is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2016, 8:59 pm
  #1229  
stc
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
Originally Posted by SacTownGuy
Agreed. Make it 2 guests and then adjust the time to 2 hours. It defaults to a full day. The cost cuts in half when you cut to 2 hours. It's real easy.
Better yet, cut it to an hour.
stc is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2016, 11:23 pm
  #1230  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Midwest
Programs: Marriott Titanium, IHG Plat, Hyatt Globalist, HHonors Diamond, AA Plat Pro, UA Silver
Posts: 571
Ah I was looking at the search page where it listed cost and using two attendees but I never changed the start end times on the next page to Notice the change in price. Going to go mess around. My $150 mtg spot is now $75 for 1 hour.

So now I one spot in my area that I can use. Am I missing something for the request a quote meeting spaces?
kklems is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.