Point transfer - Most ridiculus procedure ever
 

So it appears one can transfer Marriott points to one's spouse. The website says:

"You can transfer your points to your legal spouse or domestic partner at time of reward redemption provided he or she is also a Marriott Rewards member."

Great. It so happens my wife has 82,000 points in her account and we need 90,000 for an upcoming redemption. Simple.

What could possibly go wrong?

So I request a transfer from the Marriott website. Next day I get an email from Marriott:

__________________________________________________ _________

Dear Scooby3597,

Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards, and thank you for being a valued member since 2005.

Transferring points is an option that can only be done at the time of redeeming points for a reward and can only be done in increments of 1,000 points, up to the cost of the reward that is being ordered. If you are ready to redeem a reward, our office can fax or mail you a point transfer affidavit that the member donating their points needs to sign authorizing the transfer. Upon return of the signed affidavit, the points are transferred and the needed reward is ordered.

Please reply with the following information:

1. Your secure fax phone number or postal mailing address for delivery of the point transfer form:
2. Your home, business or mobile phone number, should our office need to speak with you:
3. The reward code(s) (if available) or description of the desired award:
4. The account number the points are transferring from:
5. The first and last name on the account number the points are transferring from:
6. The account number the points are transferring to:
7. The first and last name on the account number the points are transferring to:
8. Amount of points to transfer, in 1,000-point increments:
9. For Marriott hotel stays, the confirmation number for the reservation:
10. For mileage awards, the airline name and airline account number:

Please note that points cannot be transferred to order a SkyMall reward.

If you would like to make a reward reservation now, you may do so by calling our Reservations department at 1-800-228-2100. You may also book your reservation online at MarriottRewards.com.

We look forward to your reply, and thank you for choosing Marriott.

Sincerely,

XXXXX I
nternet Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards Guest Services

__________________________________________________ _______

OK then. So I reply with all the information they requested, with the exception of item #9. After all, I am transferring the points in order to top off my wife's account so she has enough points to make the redemption. Seems to make sense, right?:rolleyes:

Here comes the reply:
__________________________________________________ ________

Dear Scooby3597,

Thank you for this reply.

I apologize that I am not able to send out the point transfer form with sections blank. I would need to list the specific reward needed on the point transfer form. Meaning the that reservation would need to be booked. You can make the reservation by calling our Reservations department at 1-800-228-2100. You may also book your reservation online at MarriottRewards.com.

When the reservation is booked using reward points, please reply with the confirmation number of the reservation, and I will be happy to send you the point transfer form.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your assistance in resolving this matter.

We appreciate you choosing Marriott when you travel.

Regards,

XXXX
Internet Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards Guest Services
__________________________________________________ _________

Underlining is mine.

What on earth are these people smoking? I have to admit I lost my cool after that email. My reply:

__________________________________________________ ________

That has to be the most ridiculus procedure ever. You are asking me to book the reservation using rewards points, then you will send me the form so I can transfer the points I need in order to make the reservation!



Nevermind. I will transfer points from Ultimate Rewards instead. Now I remember why I have Platinum status with Intercontinental and Hilton, not with Marriott. By the way my spouse's Marriott credit card was cut in half this morning.



Scooby3597
__________________________________________________ _________


Anyone esle has encountered this issue with Marriott :confused:

You can make reservations on points without having the required number of points at the time. Marriott will wait to issue the certificate until you have the required miles, hence why they are asking for a confirmation number. It definitely does seem a bit ridiculous that you have to go through a drawn-out paper process to get the transfer done, though, versus just being able to call the MR line.

You can make/hold a points reservation without having sufficient points then either transfer the points, buy the points , or earn the points prior to the date of the reservation.

Sorry, but think Marriot has one of the most generous points transfer programs out there.

You do realize you can make a reservation on your wife's account without having enough points? Right? Also very generous.

Thank you for pointing that out... Looks like I lost my cool way too quickly :o

I wish they had explained that.

If you look through FT for the various schemes people dream up to beat various loyalty point systems, you can understand why Marriott is careful.

One of Marriott's good points is that they will allow points to be transferred from ANY other account with no charge. The major stipulation though is that only the points needed to order an award will be transferred.

Yes, the T&Cs state this is a benefit for spouses, but Marriott will actually allow any two accounts to be used. I don't know of any other program that generous with transfering points.

I would suspect that given this level of flexibility with transferring points, Marriott has to protect itself AND both of the parties in question. They do that with their fairly long and paper based transfer process.

Personally, I'll take their current paper based process over them not allowing transfers (or even truly limiting it to spouses.)

I thought the procedure was reasonable. My wife needed to transfer points to me recently. The process was done lin literally 20 mins from us receiving paperwork filling out and returning.--and that including upgrading a cat 6 TP to a cat 8 TP cert.

Not as generous as Club Carlson - while I'm just a rookie over there it's my understanding that all it takes is a phone call. Not sure about any limits on the number of points.

Hi guys, is it possible for us to cancel the reservation made by combining points?

Regards=)

Yes and the points will remain where they were transferred. Though it's not clear what benefit this has since you could just procrastinate until you're actually going to redeem the points. At the same time, it's not clear why they bother with this restriction.

Actually, today a rep let me combine points from three accounts. Or at least promised two forms would be sent.

Thats good to know.

Back in the day, I tried to do that once and they wouldn't let me. So I had to play the "dummy" reservation game to get all the points into my account.

Which department/email address should we contact?
 

Hi, guys, I tried to make a point transfer request online. The first email came back to me requesting me to fill in some information before they can send the transfer form to me.

I did and reply to that email. Surprisingly, the 2nd email handled by another agent asked me to contact another department for point transfer:confused:

I resent my information to the email address he gave me but no one replied me after few days:confused:

Anyone knows which subject should we choose for sending them email regarding points transfer?

Calling won't be an option I guess since my location is in SEA.

Thanks a lot beforehand.

No. The program is in place to allow two members to combine points for a specific, existing award reservations. It is not to "top off" an account. Use the program as defined and it's easy. Try to use for something it's not intended for (regardless of "intentions" and it won't work.

You lost your "cool" after an initial follow-up, when you did not provide the information requested? :confused:

That is exactly how the program works, and exactly how it is intended to work. It's a very generous offer, not available with most programs. It gets the combined award you need but prevents spurious transfers for no reason. MR isn't in the business of "topping off" accounts for, let's say, lifetime status or other random reasons.