I do believe that while Marriott's official rules are spouse only for transfers, there have been posts here where some were able to transfer their points into someone elses. I'm not sure if those were isolated occurances or if this is another of those "undocumented" features Marriott has.

I'll do a search and see if I can find some of those posts.

Found this thread where BigLar posted a number of other threads on this topic: Transfer Marriott Rewards to a Friend?

Better than that, the Marriott CSRs will routinely transfer to/ from ANYBODY. They treat the word "spouse" on the Website as an error, or have never heard of it at all! And as above, it takes only a day or 2.
In any case, Sharon, if U don't have enough points on Feb. 8 to issue the cert., CS will call U to discuss options such as buying the points. At that time just say that a transfer is in progress.

Thanks for the input. Will give the transfer of points from my friend a try. If that doesn't work then I'll buy them, although it turns out I'm short a lot (since one trip that would have gotten me the points fell through), so it will be pricey. But given the award is for London, not as pricey as actually paying the room rate.

Cheers.

Ok, talked to my friend & to Marriott CS.

Friend originally was no problem since he has a gazillion points & knows I'll return them. But he is nervous about transferring to me given that the T&Cs say to spouse only. He's concerned that if he transfers (since I'm not his spouse) that Marriott will close his account & take all his points away (and he has over 2million). I understand his concern. I wouldn't want to lose a boatload of points either. But I don't see that happening since he's not selling them to me, but gifting them. Plus I think it would be an over-reaction by Marriott, because if the transfer went through it was because MRCS agent did the transfer.

He also has a gazillion American Express points, and is checking with them re: transfering into my Marriott account. He thinks that would be totally 'legal' and he'd feel more comfortable vs taking a chance on losing his Marriott points. Since he was at an airport I probably won't hear until later in the day if that worked, since according to the American Express site transfer into Marriott ends today 1/31/08. We'll see.

Worst case I end up buying the points, or finding another Marriott friend who isn't as concerned about the gifting.

BTW - I have no problem if my first friend doesn't want to do it; I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable or take a chance on losing their points.

I also called MRCS & said I have an award stay coming up that I'm short points on and a friend is willing to gift me the points as a birthday gift since the award stay is for my birthday weekend. How do we do that? MRCS - we fax you a form, both MR members need to provide their account #, both sign the form & include the award reservation #, and fax it back, and then we transfer the points over. Me - does it matter if it's a friend, or does it have to be a spouse only? MRCS - it can be anybody, as long as both are MR members.

So technically while the T&C say spouse only, it doesn't seem to be being enforced by MRCS. I hesitate to post that here as I don't want Marriott to start enforcing it with a vengence, but speaking only for myself I think the spouse only thing is a bit silly.

And I'm not saying that just because I need points at the moment. If I had a gazillion points & another friend (or family not a spouse) needed points, I'd want the ability to gift it to them. OVMV.

Cheers.

One note on the AmEx Rewards is that as of a few years ago, one can no longer transfer points into Marriott points. I do believe he could purchase free night certificates, but those aren't really a good use of AmEx points.

Ok, I'll talk to him when he lands. He thought the transfer points to Marriott ended today, but maybe it's the free night certificates that can be bought is ending today.

Cheers.

If you friend has that many points, he should just book the stay for you and avoid all the hassles of transferring and buying points.

That's an idea. I'll mention it to him when he calls; I can always redeem a stay for him in the future.

Uh - how does that work? I've already made the award reservation, and would potentially (probably) lose it if I had to cancel & re-book. Sorry if I sound stoo-pid, but I've never had to deal w/ shortage of points, or making award ressies for others or transfering points.

Cheers.

Not to mention, Amex option will not work for this case (London)...
"Marriott Premier Award - Choose from more than 2,400 to include more than 400 full service hotels. Stay at select Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites and Fairfield Inn locations in North America and South America. "

I wouldn't think there would be a problem. I would suggest calling MR and tell them that you made a reservation, but that someone else will be ordering the award cert. If they give you any issues, you may need to give your friend the reservation # and let him call MR. He can then order the award, in your name, and have it attached to the reservation.

Sharon,
Log into your acct., write down the Confo. # of your res., then request,
"An "Authorization to Transfer Points" form must be completed and submitted to Marriott Guest Services to transfer the points. Forms are available by calling Marriott Guest Services at 1-801-468-4000. A request for reward redemption from the [transferor & transferee] must be submitted to the Guest Services Center with the Authorization to Transfer Points form."