Points in Restaurants
 

Does Marriott have, like SPG, that you get points for dining without staying?

No. To get them at Marriott you have to be staying at the property.

Cheers.

Actually, that appears to be not wholly correct.

I recently dined at a Marriott hotel and tried to have the dinner applied to a phantom room and then pay at the front desk -- the front desk nixed that idea.

HOWEVER, I used my Marriott Visa to pay for the dinner and the dine was just coded as a Marriott hotel charge. I will soon see if it does indeed recieve a multiplier when paying with a Marriott Visa for a hotel stay, but it looks likely that I will get it, so one can't be sure just how a hotel restaurant will code the dine.

I will let you know when the charges post to my account.

NJ

I'm still thinking this would be more an exception than a rule, as I've been told no every time. But do report back! Of course for those that don't have or can't use Marriott Visa due to corp cards, they may still be out of luck.

FWIW - I'd rag on Marriott re: this, but I don't think the other big brands do it either - Starwood being the exception.

Cheers.

Sharon - Do you mean Marriott Master Card? :eek::D;)

The few times where I have dined at a Marriott (but not been in-house) I have been somewhat successful in getting points for the meal.

Both times I had to goto the FD first and find an employee willing to play, they setup a reservation and then assign me a room number to charge against.

Then I dine at the restaurant, fill the receipt out like I was a hotel guest and checkout at the FD.

I have luck with this route at 3 Marriotts and been denied at 4 trying this same route, so I guess it depends on the hotel.

Dan

There is Marriott Visa Signature card from chase.

Not where I live!

Marriott points from the dine were credited as a stay at the hotel so I received the 5X multiplier!

Cool NJ! But I think those not using the Marriott Visa or Marriott Mastercard ;) are still going to be out of luck for the most part.

I want points just as much as the next person, but I'm not going to go through the rigamarole of trying to convince a FDC to set up a dummy room reservation that I can charge against & then checkout. Just strikes me as wrong, not to mention it's a hassle.

OVMV.

Cheers.

I'm not sure if it is "wrong" or not, but that is pretty much the official procedure for getting SPG points for dining without staying at the hotel.

But even though that is their "official" procedure, from some of the posts in the Starwood forum, it looks like it can be a bit of a pain getting everything right. If it can be a pain where they have an actual "policy", what would it be like at a Marriott where there isn't a standard policy? So I have to agree with your second part about it being a hassle.

Even Hyatt GP members get points for dining in hotel's restaurant without being a registered guest at the property!

Yes if you go to the front desk and ask to set up a charge account, they will give a 'dummy' room acct number that you can charge to. Then have your or whatever, charge to the room and then close out the acct. I've never done this for a single meal, but have when I've been staying at a property on vacation where there is an adjoining marriott that doesn't have the accounts cross linked so I could charge there for the week.

Better than Hilton who is refusing to give us points for a dinner at the Hilton LHR T4 despite the fact that we were staying there albeit, on an Aadvantage redemption. Same trip I had an award stay at a Marriott and while I had to send in the folio to get points for incidentals, I was able to get them.

That is good to know. So if I am staying at a Marriott and dine at the hotel restaurant, is it better (pointswise) to charge the meal to the room (paid with corporate card) or put it on my Visa and get reimbursed? Do you get 10 points per dollar if you charge to the room? In another scenario, what if I stay at a Fairfield and walk over to Marriott to eat? Any way to get the 10 points under those circumstances?

My experience may have been an exception. Therefore, it is always better to put your dine on your room bill, as well as any other expenses you may incur while at the hotel.

Remember, some brands you only earn points on the room rate --e.g. Courtyards -- so check the rules for each brand.

Status quo? Still no points for restaurant visits?

Well, you were asking Sharon, and what matters is that the Marriott Visa from Chase is what's avialable where she lives.

Anyway, the point is, if you have any Marriott credit card that earns extra points for purchases from Marriott hotels (whatever that card is), then in most cases you should earn those extra points on restaurant purchases inside Marriott hotels (the main exceptions I would expect is if the restaurant operation is "outsourced" including the credit card billing).

Similarly, if you have a non-Marriott credit card that earns extra points on all hotels (regardless of brand), then in those same cases the card would earn extra points on restaurant purchases inside Marriott hotels.

And, conversely, if you have a non-Marriott credit card that earns extra points on all (stand-alone) restaurant purchases, then you would likely not get those extra points for a restuarant inside a Marriott (because the charge would come through as from the hotel instead of from the restaurant), just as you would not likely get the extra points from a restaruant inside a department store or furniture store (Scan!), because those restaurants often bill through the establishment they're inside of.

So what is the final consensus on this? I will be traveling to STT next month, not staying at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Beach Resort but was hoping to earn 5x the points by dining at the restaurant and bars there. Otherwise, I'll just leave that card at home.

Dining bills have always been coded as a Marriott charge on my credit card which gives me the 5x. I have also had luck setting up the dummy room at hotels before, so I could get my 20x points per dollar (15 from plat and 5 from credit card). This is just my experience.

That's a really good idea! I'll remember that next time I'm in a similar situation. Thanks. :D

Guess I will have to try it and report back. Setting up a dummy room does seem like an extra hassle. What do you tell the front desk I'm not staying here but want to have all of my bar/dining expenses charged to a room :confused:

I'm into points just as much as the next person, but (for me) going through the hassle of setting up a dummy room (assuming the front desk even agrees; not all do) just to get some extra points for a meal is not worth the effort. If you've got a Marriott Visa & use it at a Marriott hotel restaurant, it will code as a Marriott for the 5pts.

Cheers.

I am always getting the extra points when dining at Marriotts.

My experience with this is with The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel. The front desk manager is generally always up front helping check people in and she is very familiar with the process. The first time I asked about it, the manager came over to me while I was eating and said it wouldn't be a problem.

You are just assigned a phantom room. As evidenced by this thread I am sure many people have asked at various hotels. I wouldn't rely on a general front desk agents answer, but rather ask for the MOD to see what they can do for you.

Blasphemy, These are Marriott Points Sharon! Say five Hail Mary's and realize what forum you are in.

I would not normally do it, but I would ask if I was spending more than $25 on the meal.

:D :D

On a dif note - if someone is going to go through the hassle of setting up a phantom room, they need to remember to make sure it's at a property that actually gives points on incidentals ;)

Cheers.

I had a reward stay at Courtyard and didn't earn any points on dinning and parking, all paid with the Marriott visa card.

T&C are pretty clear that you don't earn marriott points on incidentals at Courtyards, only on room rate. You should earn points on your CC as a marriott charge however, 3 or 5 pts/dollar depending on which card you have.

This.

Wife and I will stay at a U.S. Marriott this month. The stay is in my name. My wife needs 13 Marriott points. Tried to change the reservation to her name, but that would require setting up a new reservation and by doing so the room charge would go up significantly.

Question: How can 13 points be earned easily? (Neither of us has a Marriott credit card right now. We don't do Facebook, so any offers through it would not work. And we won't be renting a car.) It seems that you can earn points by dining, or buying a drink or something, at the hotel…but since the stay will be in my name, could my wife still earn points in this manner, for example by telling the waiter to use her account number? (Any suggestions would be appreciated.)

At check-in, advise that you want your wife to earn MR points instead of you and give her account number that will earn the points -- this presents no problem and I have done this, although rarely because I hold Platinum status.

However, if you have status, likely then the only status that will be applied will be that of your wife. Some have waited until after the stay is almost complete and then ask for the change in the reservation to be made when settling the bill -- I am against that but one's ethics dictate.

Does she need the points to redeem an award? If so just transfer points from your account to hers and order the award.

Actually not that. Just needs a few more points before transferring all her points out to United account.

Thanks. Good to know that this is possible.

Muji,

You could also try calling MR and asking them to just give her the 13 points so that she can top off her account for the transfer. If you have any status this might help and you could always say that your business travel has picked up and you want to concentrate all of your dual stays to your account to maximize your elite status, as well as future loyalty to Marriott.

Thanks, NJUPINTHEAIR. If spending at the hotel won't generate the points needed, I thought of doing exactly that.

Your wife could buy 1,000 points for $12.50 from the Marriott website. They'll credit to her account usually within a few hours.

Cheers.

I dined at a hotel restaurant after checking out (so could not charge to my room)...can I send in to Marriott for the points if I have my confirmation number?