I know Marriott doesn't let you earn points for restaurants if you're not staying, but I also read that there was an experimental program earlier this year to allow just that. Has anyone on this forum heard any rumors about if and when this program might be unleashed?

I'd also like to know this. We eat at Marriott restaurants a lot when we are in Kauaii - but we don't stay at the hotel. Would be great to earn points without staying.

There's a thread on this & it listed the properties that were in the trial. I'll try to find it later, although it might be buried in a different thread which will make it harder to come up on search.

FWIW - I don't know if they'll continue w/ the trial/expend it into normal part of the program or now wait until 2018 when they merge both systems/programs.

Cheers.

I don't know about the FT thread, but this blog post included the list of properties. http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....y-earn-points/. Of course, there's no report on how they think the trial went...

My guess is (and it's only that) is that it might be something that's expanded/perhaps put into place in 2017, as they've had the trial & it's also something that SPG does. We've gotten a couple of things that came from the SPG side (aka, 4pm check-out) that SPG had in place previously. I can also ask a few folk I know w/ Marriott, although right now everyone is so busy w/ the merger I probably wouldn't get an answer for a while.

BTW - the irony in the blog article is the VP who's spearheading the restaurant/points idea was made because he didn't get points prior to joining when he spent $10K at Ritz Carltons on meals. Under current Marriott T&Cs, incidental spend doesn't count at RCs (a pet peeve of mine) so even if the program goes into place those at RC would still lose out - unless they change the T&Cs to have RCs added to all spend counts.

Cheers.

That would be a nice add-on to the program and I agree with Sharon - Ritz Carlton needs to get on board and start giving points on all charges not just room rates. How do that want to combine all 3 loyalty programs into one if there continues to be so many difference between brands.

I really wish this would catch on, but I'm not holding my breath. It's a great feature but my experience with it at SPG hasn't been good, because restaurant servers never seem to be aware of it (although when I called SPG it was nothing new to them) so it's like pulling teeth to get the points.

My SPG dining experience has been inconsistent: servers know, provide form, points post; form provided, but I ended up submitting claim myself; restaurant is third-party, requiring waiting in checkin line, and having clerk find a points form to complete based on my receipt.