Stayed at this hotel over Christmas as we were visiting my inlaws and they were 18 people trying to stay in a four-bedroom house. My mother-in-law wanted to put my wife and I in the same bedroom as two other NEWLYWED couples. As we make a considerable amount more than the others (most are still in college), we decided to use some of our Marriott Bonus Bucks and stay at the Marriott in Knoxville (using the Bonus Bucks made the rooms come out to about $55 a night). We stayed for four nights and the hotel was absolutely empty until our last night.

I knew right off that things were not completely right at this hotel when I went to check-in and handed her the bonus bucks, to which she said, "what are these?"

I did a quick explanation of what bonus bucks were, thinking she may be new or something. She quickly handed them back to me and said that this Marriott did not accept any such things. I replied that I was sure that they did and she should go ask the manager.

She then said, "I got in trouble last week by the accounting department for accepting these. I will not accept them."

Finally, after another few minutes of discussion and the reading of the T&C on the back of the bonus bucks, she brought another person forward to the desk, who said that yes, they accept them but they wouldn't apply the credit until after I left the hotel (after I checked out).

Having used bonus bucks all over the U.S. and the world, I had never been told this and 95 percent of the time, they had booked the credit right then and printed out a folio showing the credit.

At this point, I started to worry a bit that my cheap hotel room might become much more expensive than the local courtyard. They said they had to hold on to the bonus bucks until check-out--they wouldn't even give them back or make me copies of them as proof that I had turned them in.

In the end, I ended up having to hassle them at check-out to post the credit before I left and it all worked out fine.

Anybody else ever experience anything like this?