Advice needed on how to get to the 25 MegaBonus night level
 

I want to try to get the points associated with the 20 or 25 night level, but it looks like I will only get to 14 nights by 1/15. Any suggestions on the cheapest way to get there? I was hoping that a 7 day stay at a Marriott Timeshare in November would have qualified, but since I paid for the week through Interval International, the nights didnt go into the MegaBonus calculation, but did show up in my regular nights category. My incidentals were paid for with Visa, but there were no charges for the room. I have read where I could call the Platinum line and ask nicely for by MegaBonus promotion to be switched to free nights, so I plan to do that if I can't figure out a cheap way to get some quick nights. Thanks.

I would start by calling and see if they will credit the TS nights. If the folio closed to a VISA I don't see why they would count toward elite status but not to MB.

I don't believe that your timeshare will apply to the MegaBonus because you didnt pay the hotel directly and simply using your Visa for incidentials is not going to work. It has been discussed on here alot!

35K-50k points would not be worth spending out $75+ a night on a room just to get there. IMHO you have too far to go to make it beneficial.

I would try to go with the free nights.

Happy Travels!

I personally value the 2 Cat 4 free nights as being roughly worth 25-30k assuming I can find a very good use for them. In a case like this, I'd just bust 'em a call, make the switch, and be done with it. (Or switch to a lower, other Megabonus if you truly have no need for Cat 4 Free Nights in Spring '11.)

Your points gain by spending more money on unneeded rooms isn't going to be worth it.

Marriott gave me the two free nights.
 

However, they still have me in the points MegaBonus as well. I expect this to go away if they ever review my account.

The promo period does not even START until 2/1.

You are thinking about the next megabonus that has been announced for next year that begins on 2/1. There is currently a megabonus promo that is going on right now that ends on 1/15.

I, too, swithced from the points MegaBonus to the free nights promtion. They told me that my account would still show the points promotion as they switched it "behind the scenes," but when it was over I would be credited for the free nights rather than the points.

Same, but I asked them to credit the certificates immediately (I had completed four stays) and they did. The rep said that if I made it to the 20 nights, the bonus points would hit my account and they would have to manually take them back, but I didn't (and won't) get there, so it didn't affect me.

I saw on my MR acct. that I'm signed up for the MegaBonus, but I don't even remember signing up for this bonus. I'm fairly new to MR, and have only started staying in Marriotts regularly this Nov. I've gotten enough nights to earn the bonus, but I've always paid with a corp. Amex. so I guess all those nights wouldn't qualify. I saw in this thread that I can call and switch to 2 cat 4 nights...but does that apply to everyone? I searched the forum and I thought that the free nights was only offered to plats(I'm only gold). So my question is: can I switch to free nights instead of what I'm signed up for now? Thanks for the help!

I just saw today that the 2011 MegaBonus isn't specific to any credit cards, that'll make things much easier!

I don't understand the people who want the points. 1nt at a cat4 property is 30-50k in points, right?

So why not get two free nights at a cat4?

A free night in a Category 4 is 20,000 points.

While technically more valuable, the free nights must be used by September 30, 2011. The points can be accummulated in your account and used much later for higher-category awards.