I'm not a "Marriott guy" (I've got lots of points in several other hotel loyalty programs), but I could use a night at a Cat. 7 hotel. Seems like a bad deal at 35,000 points, but the published rate is high, too (like $300).

I think I've got about 20K Marriott points in my account. Is there any way to acquire the necessary points at a price that makes sense?

Thanks.

Not to be a smartass, but how about trading for them? I believe you can gift points through Marriott, no?

Timeshare presentation, a new MR Visa card, perhaps a convert in from the Amex MR program?

Both the timeshare and the MR Visa take a while to post, of course. Sadly, there's no C&P award with Marriott. I imagine you can buy points from Marriott but I doubt it would end up making any sense for you in the long run.

There aren't many ways to convert other miles/points into Marriott points. It's the one program of the big 3 where to accumulate a big balance, you really have to stay at the hotels. HH has its reasonably fair-value conversion in from AA and SPG has a powerful earnings option in the Amex. (The MR Visa is pretty lame except for when you use it at the hotels to earn 5 pts/$.)

Marriott will allow any two persons to "combine" their points for an award.

As for options for the OP:

1. If you live in a country that has a Marriott branded CC, you should be able to get some nice bonus points for signing up (up to 50K points plus a free night cert.) In the US, there are a couple of different "brands" of CCs and you should be able to get the sign-up bonus on all of them. In the past I was able to get the sign up bonus for the base personal Marriott Visa, the Premier personal Marriott Visa and the business Marriott Visa.

2. If you buy items online, you might look at using Marriott's portal to buy items through. I do believe you can some decent points for items you were going to buy anyway.

3. If you are traveling, try to move a night or two to a Marriott. It won't take long to build up your needed points doing that. And if you are going to be paying to stay somewhere anyway, you aren't out any extra money.

Thanks for the replies. Is it easy to trade hotel points on flyertalk? Like can I deposit x points in somebody's loyalty account and have them deposit (say) 15,000 points in my Marriott account? And is there any unofficial conversion rate (hotel programs seem all over the map as to what a point is worth).

Over the years, I think I've gotten 2 Marriott credit cards. My recollection was that the first time I got something like 20,000 points and a free night cert to a Cat. 4 hotel, and the second time I only got the 20K points (cert. limited to first time cardholders). If I apply again, these days, will they give me another sign-up bonus?

I've got about 10 weeks before my stay.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Hey, that's good to know. I think my wife also has about 20K points, so if we combine we'd have enough. Do I just call Marriott and ask?

I think I can get a negotiated rate at the hotel of $249+. What's a Marriott point realistically worth these days? Does it make sense to use 35,000 points to save $249, or would I get better value saving my points for other stays?

Alternatively, are there any easy ways to get Marriott gift cards using points (at a conversion rate that make sense?). If I buy a room on a negotiated rate, could I still use a gift card?

Thanks.

I thought pooling was limited to households? Unrestricted two-person pooling would be a pretty sweet benefit - I'm surprised that doesn't get more play here as a major differentiator from other programs.

HH had two-person pooling, same household, but they killed it off a couple years ago. My wife and I got in just in time...nice thing there is that when she stays at Hiltons she gets regular Gold benefits and earns all appropriate bonuses.

The Marriott T&Cs do state that this benefit is between spouses. But Marriott has not enforced this requirement and "pooling" of points from any two accounts. Even Marriott Concierge has commented on this. Check out the following threads:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-accounts.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...00-points.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...a-account.html

Basically yes. Marriott will fax you a form to fillout and sign. The other person, who has the other account, will need to fill out their portion and sign it as well. Once you have all the info filled out and signed, you just fax it back to Marriott.

Thanks guys.

I decided to apply for the Marriott Premium Visa Signature card using the link at FreeFrequentFlyerMiles.com, credit card, free cards (I don't see a way to link to this page).

$65 gets you 50K points, a free up-to-Cat. 4 night, and a free night (seems limited to Cat. 5) on your anniversary. First year $65 fee is not waived, but seems worth it in my situation. You only need a one-time charge, so I should get the points on my first cc statement.

In case something goes wrong -- like Chase is being picky with apps -- I can combine points with my wife and reach the 35,000 I need. And Marriott is helpfully allowing me to make the award rez even though I don't have enough points yet in my account.

Indeed, it's worth it. As long as you have a need for one Cat 5 Marriott night per year, it's well worth the $65.

I find that Cat 4 to Cat 5 is a pretty big jump in the Marriott system - in many cities it's the difference between a Courtyard and an FS Marriott (Washington DC is one that immediately comes to mind). I sometimes find myself stretching a bit to find good uses for the Megabonus Cat 4 certs I get all the time but I never have any problem finding a solid FS hotel to use Cat 5's.

Not that 4's are awful...I do find uses for them too. But 5 opens up a lot of good hotels in most places - hotels you couldn't simply get on Priceline for $65.

The category creep from 4 to 5 is recent (IMHO) so I imagine we still have a few years before someone returns to this thread and posts "Now you need Cat 6 to escape the Courtyards and Residence Inns."

Yeah, I think I'll keep the card for the anniversary certificate. I've observed that Cat. 5 is a lot more useful than Cat. 4. The free night certificate they throw in with this account (along with the 50,000 points) is only a Cat. 4, though, right? Still better than nothing! I'm presuming I won't have a problem getting the full bonus because I've never had this particular Marriott credit card.