altiguy

I have a $100 Bonus Buck Coupon that expired on May 31, 2005. I redeemed for this coupon last year using my points from a loyalty program. My original purpose for redeeming this coupon is for our honeymoon, however, my brother in law decided to pay for our hotel stay and therefore, I did not end up using the coupon. Now that the coupon had expired, I tried calling Marriott to see if they can extend the expiration date and they said they cannot.

Has any of you tried using an expired Bonus Buck Coupon or have managed to extend the expiration date before?

Thanks!!

jonathansullivan

My mother is the king of going up the command ladder until she gets the answer she wants to hear. She attempted to use a expired bonus buck and gift check. They budged on the gift check (probably because it is like cash, and in some states expiring is illegal) no luck whatsoever on the bonus buck.

Just my 2 cents.

bdschobel

I dimly recall that expiration dates are restricted in California. You may be able to use it there. I'm sure that our California participants can say more about the rules there.

Bruce

jessej

check some other threads
someone posted that they were able to use one
it may help if you are a elite member also

holtju2

As a fact GIFT CARDS cannot expire in California as they do in some other states after a year or so. I am not sure about gift checks/bonus bucks/certificates i.e.

CentralPark

It couldn't hurt to write a letter

cndij

Wonder if there is anyone here from Rhode Island? A company that we print coupons for, had to change the format for Rhode Island as they were not allowed to have an expiration date on them there. Don't know exactly what the law was or how it would apply to Bonus Bucks.

mrcheaps

A gift certificate had a cash basis and cash cannot expire. Bonus Bucks is like a coupon. NO cash backing. I believe this is why some states do not allow a gift certificate to expire - like theft if they expire.

My 2.5 cents (Inflation)

zakami

I do not think the California law will apply to bonus bucks since it was a freebie and no one had to "pay" for it. Of course gift cards/certificates do not expire in California.

Ramomatic

Once they expire just throw them in the trash

pinniped

Finished up a stay at the Ren. Pere Marquette in New Orleans. I've described this less-than-stellar stay in other threads in rather painful detail, so I'll just stick to the topic of Premium Pounds here.

Upon check-out, I encountered a clerk who had never heard of Premium Pounds, and for that matter was unaware of the concept of "foreign currencies". I was half-expecting this, so I remained very calm and polite and used that morning's Wall Street Journal to explain how other countries don't use dollars but rather other money that can be expressed in terms of dollars by using a foreign exchange rate table.

The table in the WSJ showed the value at $1.735, so I explained that my Premium Pounds certificate was worth $173. (Forget the fifty cents...I didn't want the clerk's brain to explode.) He was cool with it, credited $173, off I went...

Well, a few days later, I noticed an $11.72 charge from the hotel. My first thought was that someone fabricated a minibar charge to my account. I called the Gold line and was redirected a couple of times and eventually wound up talking to some sort of regional accounting agent who said that my certificate had been "readjusted" to $161 and change.

She said that the exchange rate was $1.61, I explained to her that she was likely looking at a retail rate for a customer exchanging cash for cash. I offered to email her interbank rates, charts, whatever... She agreed, said it wouldn't be necessary, and reversed the charge.

Just a heads-up for folks who use these certificates. Watch for this readjustment - which would always be in the $10-15 range regardless of the exchange rate, because that's about the "juice" that a retail currency exchange place would skim off of a hundred quid...

happywanderer

Consider your readjustment refund a gift. I do lots of international travel and I have always found exchange rates and Marriott to be 5 to 8 oercent lower than "official" exchanage rates. It's not much different than paying a commission to get currency exchanged at a bamk or currency exchange booth although Marriott 's exchange rates are still somewhat less attractive than the rates offered elswhere.

pinniped

I do lots of international travel as well and I'm familiar with commission and the buy/sell rates typically seen at a Bureau de Change. This is a different situation: no actual foreign currency transaction ever takes place. The hotel doesn't need to engage a bank or handle actual U.K. banknotes. They just slap a credit on the folio and run the Premium Pounds cert back through Marriott.

dayone

The coupon is denominated in UK£. When it is initially "sold" by Marriott (a U.S. entity) to the offering non-U.S. entity (hotel, timeshare entity, car company, etc.) a conversion is made. Likewise, when it is redeemed by you, a conversion is made. These may be internal transactions so a bank does not have to be involved in the currency conversion.

I believe Marriott is well within its rights to use a discounted conversion rate (just like your credit card) when calculating the value of Premium Pounds. I also understand that others will certainly disagree.

Counsellor

Are you sure? I was under the impression that (at least for the ones connected with a non-Marriott product like those IT products that give Bonus Bucks with a purchase) the promotion sponsor does pay Marriott a fee (or, to put it another way, that Marriott "sells" them the Bonus Bucks at a discount to face).