Questions about Bonus Bucks usage
 

I used $200 in bonus bucks for a 4-night stay at a London property recently. Because $200 was a little more than a one night's room rate I have been advised that I would receive only credit for a three-night stay. My protests have fallen upon deaf ears. Anybody else have this experience? I have always assumed that bonus bucks were the same as cash.

This sound very bogus to me.

What they told you is false. Bonus Bucks are treated just like cash. You receive full Marriott Rewards points when using them. I can speak from very long experience.

Bruce

I use them almost Every week..... what I have found is that you get Night Credit for the whole stay, but only points credit for your net charge after the Bonus Bucks.

Which sounds reasonable to me........

Take it up with Marriott, they will get it fixed.



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Oracle Implementations .... Will Travel....

If you are having trouble resolving this, try emailing [email protected]. They (MR) have given inquiries to this address a high priority and you should get a response in less than 24 hours.

Since it is a weekend you may not hear anything until Monday. Just email them the details of the stay and I'm sure it will get resolved to your satisfaction.

Let us know if it works!

That's not my experience. I have used Bonus Bucks dozens of times and always received full credit for them.

Bruce

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[This message has been edited by socrates (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

I went through the last 4 months worth of receipts and only one stay at the Tampa Marriot Airport.. gave me full credit for using the bonus bucks....

Renaissance Washington
Renaissance Vinoy
Washington Metro Center Marriott
Washington Marriott Crystal City

all reduced the amount of my MR $ by the bonus bucks....

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Oracle Implementations .... Will Travel....

I think then that most properties view it as a gift certificate and therefore do not give you credit for the amount spent as presumably you have received the MR points when purchasing the gift cert.

I take a middle road on this issue. I have no problem in their not awarding you $ credit for those gift certs, but you should most definitely get stay credit, as it should be your choice, and not the hotel's as to how you wish to allocate those certs --on a nightly basis rather than in one fell swoop.

Obviously this is an issue with the current bonus promo, and Marriott ought to award you the night that was not credited by the hotel, plain and simple.

Of course, if we had an official Marriott Lurker on this board, he/she could make their feelings known and perhaps even assist you, but such is not the case with the powers that be in the Marriott hierarchy.

Sad, very sad.

I have used certs many times at Marriott hotels. They always post like CASH and I get the points.

I could understand the true BONUS bucks (i.e., free money if you do a 2 night stay, etc.) posting without points since those are more like a discount on the room rate.

But if it is a gift certificate that was paid for, it should absolutely post like CASH.

I have used many of these as well. My experience is that in US and Canada they post as either cash or some other credit to the folio, and you get full Marriott points and night credit.

In Europe they reduced my room rate by the Bonus Bucks amount. In Huntingdon England and Hamburg Germany. And they used a lousy exchange rate. Since they reduced the room rate, I did not get full pints for the stay but OK maybe it is fair that way, after all I got a discounted rate.

In Tokyo they posted as a credit AND they used an exchange rate favorable to me - a $50 cert credited at 6000 Yen or 120 to the dollar. The going rate was only about 108.

I might put up with not getting my full points, but I certainly wouldn't put up not getting full pints. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Just received E-mail from Marriott customer service in London that they will contact corporated headquarters for clarification and promised to respond when they receive answer.

My complaint isn't so much about the points as it is with the room night credit (although I am convinced that I should get points, too). I stayed at this property for four nights, yet I am receiving credit for only three. That's the crux of my argument.

Will keep you posted.

I have experienced both full credit (points) and the points being reduced by the bonus bucks. What I have figured out it that it varies depending on how they enter the bonus bucks into the computer and that you are better off to present at checkout as partial payment than to present them up front. Less chance of the credit being entered incorrectly.

After many E-mails to Marriott customer service in UK, I just got confirmation that bonus bucks, indeed, are to be treated as cash and I will receive room credit as well as points. It looks as though UK simply didn't have experience with this kind of certificate.

What is a BONUS BUCK?
 

Been Platinum fro a number of years now and just read somethign relating to Bonus Bucks adn when someone should expect them. I have never heard of a bonus buck and don't know where I have been. Marriott is my choice in my travels. First choice city after city. Bonus Bucks.... maybe they are brand new.

Bonus Bucks are a promotion that Marriott has been running at various hotels/areas for the last several months. They seem to have replaced the old free weekend night promos (Stay 3, Get 1 Free) for Category 1-4 properties.

You earn Bonus Bucks by staying at a full-service (Renaissance, Marriott) property offering a rate based on the 'OTP' promotional code. Currently, you receive a $100 Bonus Buck coupon for a stay based on the OTP promotion rate paid with a Visa. Here's an example of such a promo.

The Bonus Bucks can be used towards the cost of a future stay of two nights or more at any full service property.

Notes:
-They do/did offer the same promo for $50 with some Courtyards and Residence Inns. I'm not sure if the BB awarded through this promo are interchangeable for full-service properties
-For some reason, this promo doesn't always show up when you search for promos from the 'Specials and Packages' tab on the front page of Marriott.com. You have to keep trying to use the OTP code when ever you make a reservation. This is kind of irritating to me.
-You can buy BB on E-Bay for about 30-40 cents on the dollar.
-Personally, I like this over the free nights promos. With the free nights, it made it more difficult to requalify for status. Last year, I used 6 of the old free night promo awards and it had an affect on my requalifying.

Bonus Bucks have been around for a long time. (If you do a search for the term on this forum, you'll get a lot of hits).

Sometimes they're given as an enticement to stay at particular properties at particular rates.

Sometimes they're given as enticements to buy products from "partner" companies (I believe there was a deal not long ago with HP printers or some such that gave multiple $100 Bonus Buck certificates with the purchase).

Sometimes they're given in relation to other Marriott products (a couple years ago you could get a $25 Bonus Buck certificate free when you bought a Marriott Gift Card for $50 or more).

pay for room wih bucks??
 

SO i can earn some bonus bucks and use them to pay for subsequent marriott nites and the nites accrew toward my 75 nite goal to maintain plainum?? How about food and cocktaisl good there too??

thanks youhave been albig help

I'm w/ him.. :)
 

I've been around for a while & while I read about Bonus Bucks I didn't know what they were either. And too afraid to post I didn't figuring people would realize I'm the dumbest Platinum person around...thanks to the OP :)

Generally if you can charge it to your room bill, you can use Bonus Bucks to pay for it. (There are a few exceptions, usually applicable to concessionaires.)

I must reluctantly admit, too, I had no idea what a bonus buck was before now, and I've been platinum for three or four years. I'd also read about them on here, but I had no clue about the OTP rate, etc. Guess there's really no such thing as a dumb question after all. Thanks for the info!

I thought all OTP rates included a Fri or Sat night stay - the 2 for breakfast rate? have I been missing out?

What is the expiration date of the bonus bucks?

Depends on the location....business hotels will require a Friday or Saturday night stay, resorts would require S-Th

Here's the thorny question:

Let's say you stay 2 nites at $149 a nite and use a $100 bonus bucks. How many base points do you receive? 2980 or 1980? My experience varies - in Europe (UK and Germany) they actually reduce your room rate for one of the two nites by $100 in local currency (actually more like $85 after using their horrible exchange rate). In Japan they posted it as a credit and used a decent exchage rate, not the ripoff rate they use to exchange currency at the FD. In the US 99% of the time they post it as a credit to my folio just like I had handed them $100 cash. At the SEA Ren two weeks ago, they entered it in such a way that it showed up on the folio as "Bonus Bucks" and my points got trimmed by the amount of the BBs. I observed the FD clerk look up the procedure on a cheat sheet so I think this is the first time it has been done correctly as opposed to a "workaround". Bottom line - I have received fewer points 100% of the time in Europe and no reduction in points 100% of the time in Japan and 98% of the time in USA. Any insights, socrates or Chris J?

A somewhat related question - if I use the Summer EEO coupon for a free weekend nite with purchase of same, do I get one night stay credit or two towards Gold/Plat next year?

Bonus Bucks are supposed to be treated like cash (and this is what happens 99% of the time in the U.S., as you say). You should get Marriott Rewards points for the gross amount, before deducting the Bonus Bucks.

When using EEO certificates, I have always gotten the full number of nights credited. I suppose that the free night should not be credited, but Marriott's computers don't seem to be sophisticated enough to recognize use of the certificate and then split the stay into creditable nights and non-creditable nights. It may be too much trouble to bother with.

Bruce

When do the bonus bucks expire - not the promo ending but the actual expiration of the $100 certificate?

They vary. My latest one is 12/29/04, as I recall.

Bruce

Can bonus bucks be used with an award stay?

I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Award stays are not at "publicly available rates."

Bruce

Correct

Rates Required To Use Bonus Bucks
 

On the certificate, it says "any public rate." I'm guessing that leaves out things like AARP, AAA, GOV, VIP, and TVL. What I'd like to know is do you have to book at the full undiscounted rate to use them? That's what a Marriott CSR told me. But having been a hotel CSR in college, I know that many of them will tell you anything to get you off the phone so I don't hold a lot of faith in what they say.

I'm looking at the Waikiki Beach Marriott. I want a nice room, but the best ones are EXPENSIVE without any discount.

What I'd like to know is what rates can I apply bonus bucks to? I've been to this property before, and they are sticklers to the rules. They wouldn't even give us as platinum last year more than 1 hour of late check-out.

Any ideas? Oh, and if any Marriott CSR's are reading this post, I mean no offense. I worked with the Cendant Hotel Groups (the cheap stuff that I wouldn't even stay in with my discount), and I just know the general hatred of the job. =)

I have specific experience with this property. I booked a cityview room at a corporate rate of $112 a nite. When I went to check in, they offered to upgrade me (I am Gold) to an oceanview room in the makai tower vs a cityview in the mauka tower - but I had to wait an hour for it to be cleaned, I said OK.

I presented a Bonus Buck and the woman checking me in said she could take it (after studying the back for a few minutes and acting like she'd never seen one before). Then she said to bring it back later when she could actually check me in and she would post it to my folio.

So I come back later, check in with a different woman who says Bonus Buck no good on this corporate rate. Shows me a card with rack rates and says BB only good on rack rate which was ridiculous maybe $349 a nite. I call over first woman and politely complain that she had earlier agreed the BB was acceptable but couldn't accept it at the time because my folio had not been opened. 2nd lady goes into back office, confers with manager, comes out and says they will accept the BB.

Moral of the story: Don't give them two chances to say no. I should also point out that I have redeemed many BB's over the past two years and this was the only property that gave me any hard time at all.

I think they probably would tell me no because I'd be using either 3 or 4 of them.

Right now I don't have status with Marriott because I just love Hilton too much. I was there with a Platinum last year, which was nice. We got a great room at a great price. It was a deluxe ocean view for less than $150 a night.

For some reason, the rates are more this year. This was mid-August so the timing is about the same. Now, the rates run from $200-$340 a night at the "rack" rate. Paradise Plus is a bit cheaper, and it's a public rate I would think. However, I'm there as a media member writing a piece for a magazine. The media rate is cheap -- about $120, and they're likely to upgrade you because they want tyou to talk nice about their property. There's still no guarantee, though, especially without status.

That leads to my dilemma. Do I go for the expensive room and use the bonus bucks? Do I book at the media rate and HOPE to get to use them? Or can I find a bit cheaper rate where I can still use the Bonus Bucks. I'm hoping for the latter, but the rates in Hawaii are up this year so I don't know.

FYI...Marriott considers AAA a published rate even though you must show id....but you can use them at any rate offered by the reservation agent, website or other booking means (except wholesaler rates) as long as you don't ask for a discount...ie when you call and ask for hotel x on day x for x night the rates they quote are all ok...it does not have to be the full "corp/rack" rate

Let me add to my above post...different BB"s have different restrictions ......but "rack/corp" rates are "public avail rates" but not the only ones.....if the rate is avail to the general public (ie you dont have to be a part of a specific group to obtain the rate) then it's a public avail rate.....

The current BB's can only be used for a 2 night stay...ie you can only use 2 BB's for a 4 night stay

Fifteen minutes ago, I used $100 in Bonus Bucks on an "OTP" rate at the San Francisco Marriott. They merely asked if the certificate was the same one I got on check-in. It wasn't, so no problem.

Bruce

Right.........I'm looking at a 7-8 night stay at this property. I love the location. The property also has a new Paul Brown spa that I'm aching to try. =)

Do Marriott CSR's automatically offer you the best rate available? At Cendant, we had to do a song and dance. First we offered them the hotel's rack rate. Then, we chose a mid-range discount. Then we chose the "rock bottom rate" if they still said it was too high.

The goal of the job at Cendant was to sell quickly so you'd make bonus every week and get commission. Is that how it works with Marriott too?

Also, would I get a better raate by calling the Waikiki reservations center instead of the main Marriott number?