Here's an interesting scenario....

I'm Silver with 14 more nights to get to Gold. I have a ton of points. What I need is about 12 more nights at some cheap Marriott property to get to Gold. Maybe $800 worth of cheques might pay for a hotel stay and get me the nights I need to move up the food chain...

Any thoughts?

First, I'm going to assume that you already have the Premier Signature Visa and its 15 extra nights toward elite status. (If that is a bad assumption then I suggest you search this forum for information on it, or better yet, just go to Marriott's website and read about it.)

Second, that is a whole lot of points to use just to get Gold status. Personally, I don't think that Gold status is worth that much. Especially given that it doesn't look like you are burning down the hotel doors with stays since you only have some 23 nights stayed this year (again assuming that your 38 nights includes the 15 from the Visa card.)

I guess the real question is what are you getting from the Gold status that you feel is worth that cost? Concierge access? Only at full-service hotels. Are the free breakfast and evening snacks really worth that many points? Room upgrades? That really isn't much of a big benefit since suite rooms aren't normally a part of that. And at the lower end brands, Gold status doesn't even get you those benefits much less anything else over a Silver elite.

So personally, I would suggest keeping the points and use them for a week stay at a really nice hotel or use them as part of a travel package (includes airline points.) Or just about anything else. While Gold maybe nicer than Silver, I don't personally see it as being that much better.

GeorgeBurdell, if you want gold status and have the money, you would be better off paying with cash for mattress runs at cheap weekend rates. Depending on your travel plans for next year, it might be worthwhile to get gold. If you stay at a lot of FS properties during the week, the access to the concierge lounge can save you decent money. For instance, if you stay at the FS properties in NYC or SF, concierge lounge access can save you from having to pay for breakfasts that cost more than $20 (even for one entree off the menu). Also, it would be beneficial if you are planning to stay at more Marriott properties in the upcoming year.

People will differ in this, but I noticed that the service became somewhat better when I first became a gold member. Properties that have a good reputation for better than average service were more willing to occasionally upgrade me to a junior suite after I became gold. The EEOs that gold and platinum members receive can be valuable if you use them for weekend stays in urban properties.

Personally, I would rather save my points for free hotel nights. I feel this is a much better value than receiving a $1000 gift cheque.

Where on the MR website can I find these cheques? I'd like to use some points to buy a few.



>The cheques are issued in denomination of $50.00 each and do expire one >year from date of issue. There is no change given so be sure to cover any >charges in $50 increments.

The cheques are available here under the Marriott gift certificates:

marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/moreshop.mi

Elite members get to spend less points for the $1000 gift cheque. (135,000 vs 180,000 points) This elite offer is good until the end of the year.

Although I posed this as sort of a hypothetical question as one way to get a higher status, the responses were good.

I'm at 38 nights without the credit card. I didn't realize that Marriott had a card like the Amex Skymiles card that counted towards elite status.

I've got one more stay booked in December which leaves me with 12 nights to cover.

If you apply for the Premier credit card, the nights will post within 2-4 weeks of your application.

Would this work?

First order up a travel package that includes a 7 night cert for the property AND includes 120k airline miles. (the 120k miles are 120k points)

You dump the 120k airline miles in MY Frequent Flier account.

I send you my 20 $50.00 checks and a few $100.00 bonus buck certs as a thank you.

You then re-deposit the 7 night stay back into your account.

The $1,000 gift checks you dropped 135k points now cost you only 120k points and you have some extra bonus bucks for your Honeymoon.

Would Marriott let you "gift the miles" to an account not in the account holders name?

Sounds like a win/win if we could pull this off.

Thoughts?

IIRC, when you redeem a travel package, you can only redeposit the hotel certificates if you are willing to take a big hit in points. Regular room certificates can be cancelled without penalty, but travel packages are not the same. Marriott does this because it costs them much more than 1 cent/mile to buy the airline miles.

Right.

The OP has a regular 7 night certificate that may be re-deposited in full.

I am suggesting that he redeposit his original cert and get a package that includes airline miles that he gifts to me

I then give him $1000.00 in gift checks and $200.00 in bonus bucks.

The only problem with that idea is the T&C for the travel package, here :

Under term 2:

Transfer fees for moving miles between two different accounts will wipe out any savings from such a swap in most circumstances. However, you might be able to get the OP to claim a flight reward for you.