The hotel will get close to 100% value for the bonus buck cert. You should insist on paying in US dollars at check-out if the room was quoted in US dollars. If they won't credit your bonus bucks at face value, you can ask if you can pay in US$ cash. It's the best way to avoid the approx. 9% "conversion fee" rip off that hotels all over the Philippines try to get away with.

What the Hyatt Casino is doing now is quoting in pesos. They raised their rates by about 20% to compensate for the 10% they were making in "conversion" from most unsuspecting guests when they used to quote in US dollars, and then convert into pesos at check out. Guests could get around it by paying in US cash. The old Hyatt Regency was the same as was the Ren. Makati. It's a legalized scam. :(

Sorry to bring up an old thread but can Gift Cheques be used at Ritz Carltons? I've got an upcoming pointsaver redemption at the Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman and would be interested in getting one or two of the $1000 Gift Cheques for 135,000. I'd be interested in using it for food and bars that I'd charge to my room. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Thanks

Any comment from Marriott Concierge?
 

Kevino,
Thanks for your reply. Yeah, the only places I've seen this done were the former Renaissance in Makati and the Marriott in Cebu.

I'm interested in the redemption value of the BB cert to the hotel because if the hotel isn't being compensated for full value, I'd be less likely to argue for them to give me $100 of value for it. But if they are getting $100 and only crediting me essentially $90 that would really.....let's say "bug me" for purposes of a family forum.

Any comment from Marriott Concierge?

The whole "conversion rate racket" is something I find very difficult to believe is mostly an issue of the "major" international chains. While this may be legal, it really seem to me to be unethical.

Bonus Bucks May Cause You To Receive Less Points on Base Rates
 

Hello,

I had a stay at the Charlotte Marriott City Center the first weekend in March.

At checkin, I attempted to apply my $100 Bonus Buck (BB) certificate since the instructions were to present the BB upon arrival. I was told to bring it back upon checking out and they would apply it to the bill. However, I waited until the next day and had my folio applied by a different employee.

Upon checkout, I noticed that the points that I would expect to earn was less than expected. The only items on the folio were the base rate of $119 per night (excluding taxes) for two nights plus a $12 parking charge which would equal 2,500 points. However, the folio was for around 1,879 points.

When I brought this up to the front desk upon checkout, he didn't know why the discrepancy occurred. He suggested that I contact Marriott Rewards (MR). Once I contacted them, they were able to resolve it for me.

Question: Could it be that the BB was put on differently somehow and that's what caused the projected calculations of points earned (that shows at the bottom of the folio) to come up short, or is there another reason?

Anyone else experience this with BBs.

Marcell

This has happened to me multiple times when using Bonus Bucks. You have to call or email Marriott customer support to get the points adjusted. That and the fact that they can only be used with certain rates have made me like them less and less. Also, I have had several issued to me with very short expiration. If Marriott would fix these issues and insure that there is a standard expiration period I might be interested in going after them again.

If a foreign hotel has posted exchange rates, it seems quite reasonable that BBs would be converted using those rates.

When Premium Pounds were the rage, I used them in a few hotels that had posted rates and the conversion was below the bank rate. My rule was if I didn't like the posted rate, I didn't have use the PP.

My memory is that BBs and the like are redeemed at an internal reduced rate, perhaps in the 75-80% range. Accordingly, I never fought over the last dollar.

I agree, the front desk staff should be trained. I have had only 2 problems over the years where the clerks did not want to take the bucks, but I got it handled. As far as the corect points being credited, I just keep the original folio that they slide under the door & the one after check-out w/the adjusted points. If it not correct, I just fax it, yes it's a pain, but I just do it, other wise I miss out on points.

The approx. 9% scam is a Philippines thing. It is not related to any conversion rate, though that's what they claim it is related to.

I don't know what most hotels usually make changing money, but I would think even 5% profit would be unusually high.

Dayone, I think actually the hotel gets reimbursed at the higher internal exchange rate talked about in the Premium Pounds threads. If that is the case, the hotel is making money when you redeem bonus bucks with them. :(

I did exactly that a few weeks ago at the new Marriott Manila and paid my whole bill with USD cash notes to save the hotel exchange and CC fees. Even walking into the casino next door to get Pesos from the ATM and exchange those into USD might give an advantage over regular CC payment at the Marriott.

Number of Marriott Gift Checks and Bonus bucks limit per stay
 

Hi, Guys,

I am having difficulty using Marriott Checks at hotel front desk. She is only able to enter 10 of them+ 1 BB I gave them the other day for total 11, her computer pops an alert saying"The maximum number of Incentive Certificates have been reached"

But my Gift checks and BBs have no limit on how many I can use them and I still have several of them need to be used. What to do in this case? Or is that just a limit per day?

My stay is 30+ nights

Thanks

Check out and then check back in :p

I suspect the manager should be able to override it. But the easiest solution is probably to have them check you out and back in after the balance exceeds your current certificate input amount. Then apply the next batch.

The only thing with checking out is that you lose the consecutive stay of 30+ days. In some localities, you can get back the room tax for stays that are 30+ days.

it doesn't apply to this area.

Just have them checkout your current folio and checkin a new one.