jatink129

Before anyone screams at me, I DID do a search on FT and found various threads discussing them, but none explaining what they are.

I found this page. Is that what you're talking about?

The only cheques/checks I saw there were in pounds. So what checks are they referring to here and here ?

I have a Marriott stay coming up in September... Two nights in NYC. It has to be in Manhattan, and the closer to Times Square, the better.

The search results are all Category 6 and up. Now category 6 suits me just fine, since anyway all we need is a place to rest our head at night.

The options that came up were- (for 2 nights)
-Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan/Times Square : 60k points or from $339
-Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan/Fifth Avenue : 60k points or from $449
-Courtyard New York Manhattan/Upper East Side : 60k points or from $341.

Reading those other threads, I saw members comment how they always use checks and it saves them money AND you can earn points on them.

Could someone please tell me where I can get these checks from? And in my case, would it be worth getting them? Would I be spending less if I paid via checks rather than points?

I appreciate your insights and help! thanks!

iztok

Simple, if you look you can buy $1000 of Marriott currency for 135k points (If you are Platinum, not sure about other levels, Golds might have that option too. you do a simple calculation.

So if you spend say $400 on two nights with cheques, you get 4000 points (+50% if Platinum = 6000 points). You still have $600 left on those cheques you can use for breakfast at Courtyard or whatnot (this is where full service property where you can pay dinner as well might be good).

In your case that might not be best as you can get 2 nights for 60k points.

It worked for me for example when I had a 5 day stay which would be more than 135k points but price was so low that I had cheques left over paying with them.

high category with low price = use cheques
high price with low category = use points directly

jatink129

A little confused with this. Could you please explain it a little further?
thanks!

djohannw

This is the key statement. Also note that you can use the cheques on LNF-rates that sometimes provide a very substantial discount, giving you even more value in this equation.

I have used these cheques as my preferred award now for three years running, and so do all my colleagues as well since I showed them the math...

Greetings - Dirk

jatink129

Sorry..I'm an absolute newbie here.. LNF is Look No Further? (googled it!)

And how would one go about getting that discount? Could you please explain it to me via an example?

Also- in my case, getting the cheques is not worth it, right? Or am I wrong?

iztok

Simple math really.

1 night - 30k points or $170

$1000/$170=5.88

So 135k points is little over 5 nights or close to 23k points per night.

So in your case it is marginally better to pay with cheque than with points directly. It is bit more convoluted if you do 4+1 night stay but for 2 nights it is not complex.

What is your MR status? Not all levels can get $1000 worth of Marriott Cheques for 135k points.

jatink129

I have silver status.

But from what I've read here, asking for the Platinum challenge, will get me a trial Platinum status, and since I have no plans to stay that many nights this year anyway, it doesn't make a difference to me.

Question 1- Does it HAVE to be a $1000 cheque? Can i redeem my 60k points for a cheque too?

Question 2- What happens to the balance in the cheque? Is it wasted?

eleeut

no residual w/ the cheques. they come in $50 increments, so lets say you use 4 cheques for a $195 folio, you won't get the $5 back. they are supposed to be treated like cash, so you can pay portion of the folio with the cheques and remainder with cash/credit. i think of the the cheques as a way to use the points as discounts for stays. i'm halfway through my first order and will probably redeem again next year.

for plats, there are 2 offers (platinum rewards when logged in):

1) 135K points, you can redeem for 20 x $50 cheques
2) 20K points, 2 x $50 cheques

not sure if this will be the same for silver elites.

you may have to watch out for what rate you use them on though, periodically some properties won't to accept due to the exclusionary language on the cheques stating that they are usable for "publicly available rates." i've been able to use them on Marriott Elite rates and my own company rate however.

twa777

Very true -- I've had a couple cases where I've been denied using the cheques when I booked on AAA rates. That's made them a bit less useful than I had hoped, but overall I've still gotten a good return with them.

Another benefit of using cheques is that stays paid that way should count toward your number of "nights stayed" for the year with Marriott. If you're borderline on keeping your silver status or on earning gold, those extra nights may make the difference.

djohannw

As far as I know you have to be a minimum Gold to get this offer, Silver and Base do not get the discount on the 20*$50=$1000 gift-cheques.

Greetings - Dirk

hungarianhc

I did a blog post about this issue here.

Here's the two second summary. It's not always better to use gift cheques. However, some places have great rates in the offseason (i.e. Grand Cayman during hurricane season), and those great rates often include breakfast. You can book those "paid" stays and redeem gift cheques for almost the same amount of points. And in this case, you get elite nights + megabonus + points earning for the stay.

The post has more detail, but look for high category properties with cheap paid rates - those are good fits for gift cheques.

sdsearch

Here's a whole thread that explains LNF for newbies:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...rsion-brg.html

A recent post in the thread also has a link to a website that explains a lot about doing your first LNF too.

jatink129

Thanks a lot you guys!^^^ This has been very informative.

I guess in my case, I'll just use the points straight up since it'll be much cheaper for me to book using my points.

P.S- a little off topic question- Say if I someone transfers their points to me when I'm making a reservation, and I end up cancelling the reservation, would the points that were transferred to me, go back to the originating account? or would they be deposited in my account?

jgottlieb

Points usage and points transfer are two separate things. Canceling won't affect the transfer, they'll be your points at that.... point.

Also, one other point about using the checks instead of points: The nights count toward status and megabonus... nights purchased for points don't count for either.

And if you're doing something like Big Crumbs, then your booking will earn your cash back on top of paying with the check.

AND... If you want a nicer room, one that is a significant upgrade from the base level room that the points get you, you can pay with the gift checks.

iztok

Actually in your case if you were say Platinum it would be better yield purchasing 135k worth of points and use cheques. Even better if you could find LNF on top of it. If you don't have that many points and/or not Platinum/Gold then no good.