I am hoping one of the more experienced FTers can help me out. I have two certificates is my MR account and would like to book a stay using one of the certificates. I'm having a little trouble doing this online. I don't see an option anywhere to attach the certificate to the reservation. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I just called myself trying to book! You have to do it over the phone. I'm going to get a CY Downtown Phil based on another's recommendation in the thread about free stays

You do not have to do it over the phone. Book one night on points for a Cat 1-4 hotel and at the end it will say- do you want to use existing cert, say yes, and you are set.

Hi,

I posted the redemption instructions from Marriott Customer Care in another thread few months back. But here it goes. Hope it helps.


For your convenience, we have included instructions below that can guide you through the process of redeeming your rewards.

1. Start at the Marriott.com homepage (http://www.marriott.com), and click on "My Account" located in the upper right-hand side of the page to sign in to your Marriott Rewards account.

2. Enter your destination in the "Find: Hotel" section in the center of the page. Do not enter the dates of your stay at this point. Also, be sure to click on the box marked "Use Marriott Rewards points." Click on the red "Find" button to continue.

3. A list of hotels in the area will be presented as well as the Marriott Rewards category of each hotel. Click on the red "Select" button next to the hotel of your choice. To redeem the certificate without using additional Marriott Rewards points, select a hotel that is listed within the category range on your reward.

4. You will now be able to enter the dates of your stay and select a room. A list of available rooms, as well as the points normally required for your stay will be displayed. Click on the button next to one of these options. You can then confirm your room preferences. Click on the "Continue" button.

5. Review your personal information in the fields provided. After the contact information section of this page, you will see options to either "Attach the e-Certificate(s) below to my reservation" or "Order new e-certificate(s) and automatically deduct the points from my account." If you intend to use your promotional certificate, use the first option listed here. Click on the "Continue" button at the bottom of the page.

6. The final page will provide your confirmation number. You may wish to print this page for future reference.

If you need additional assistance, please feel free to reply to this email of contact an Internet Customer Care Associate by phone at 800-721-7033 (toll-free in the United States and Canada). We are available to help you 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

It was even easier than described. The payment page prompts you to use your certificate. Just sign in and search your desired location indicating that you would like to use Marriott points.

Was expecting only the basic room but was offered a choice of upgrades for the same #points. Nice.

Calling Marriott Rewards in the past to book certificate stays was never hard. The agents were always very helpful. But the new feature on marriott.com that allows you to book them on line is even easier. Thanks, Marriott! ^

Thanks for all the help. It worked like a charm.

Has anyone been able to gift these certs to someone other than the account holder? I tried to gift one to someone with the same last name as me but was told that I had to be there at check-in. I really won't use a Cat 4 cert and would prefer to give it to a family member. How stringent are they at checking that the person checking in is the one who earned the cert (promotional cert only, not a regular award night)?

Watch the dates on the certificates. Every time I book a room using a certificate even though I instruct the reservation agent to use my oldest certificate they use my newest certificate. I've been told it's a computer glitch. I've had two certificates expire because of this. They credited me points for both times.

If I book a reservation online using an e-certificate and need to cancel the reservation, will the e-certificate be returned to my account? Will it happen immediately or will there be some sort of a delay?

I've cancelled a couple of reservations that I booked using certificates. Both times they were unable to issue me a new cert and put a note on my account to credit me for the points when I made my next reservation. The points didn't show up in my account immediatly but there was a note on my account. One of the agents emailed me a confirmation that the points would be there when I needed them, the other said she wasn't allowed to email me the confirmation. In both cases the points were there when I made my reservations a month or two later. In both cases I had certificates for a cat 4 hotel and used the credited points along with my own points to stay at a cat 6 hotel. I liked this option as it didn't tie me to a cat 4 hotel.

no no.
This is not how you do it.
Call marriott first and book the reservation with them and tell them to attach the vouchers.
Then call the hotel and speak to staff to verify that you have the two vouchers attached. Hang up.
Next day call the supervisor and ask him to see if the vouchers have been used for the reservation.

upon checkin ask again the front desk as well as supervisor. Upon checkout you will be given a checkout receipt displaying nothing owed to the hotel.
In a few days you will be charged rack rate on your credit card. You will have to call back corporate and the hotel itself including the GM of the property. It will take a good 2 months, so just dispute it with your credit card...

hehe not really but I have been thru something like that before. : )

no no.
This is how you do it.
Call marriott first and book the reservation with them and tell them to attach the vouchers.
When you check in, deal with a befuddled clerk who can't find both the certs for your stay.
End up checking out with a zero bill.
Log on to discover 1 cert unused.
Post on FlyerTalk about the unsed cert, get a bunch of fuddy-duddies who reply (frankly, typical of MR elites IMHO).
Make a reservation online to use this cert plus a new one using process above in #4.
Need to change the reservation, hit the cancel reservation button online, find that the 2 certs immediately are redeposited in my account, make new reservation in seconds after canceling the old.
Voila.