Marriott $1000 Gift Cheque
 

I'm fairly new to the Marriott program - joined last year and already have earned over 400k points

I was wondering if this platinum reward is a standard thing they do every year or not - it mentions that it lasts until Dec. 06 but I didn't know if it was just renewed each year

Elite Only - $1000 Marriott Gift Cheque for 135,000 points

I also haven't checked but I would assume there is some sort of expiration on it - possibly a year?

I've booked a stay at the Kauai Marriott for next year using the 120,000 mile travel package for my honeymoon and plan on getting the $1000 to spend for the spa/dining/drinks - due to it being my honeymoon i'm not as concerned about the bang for buck here as I usually am

Looks like you are doing quite well.....
I never seen it before this year and the normal amount of points required is 180,000. I would not risk waiting if you want to redeem the points
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.

In addition, the cheques are just like cash and therefor your charges will accure additional points even when paid for with the cheques.
I took advantage of the offer this summer and Mrs L4pi spent five days in the spa at the JW in Vegas. It was a great use of points and she had a great time everyday, and I was "rewarded" very well....... ;)

Platinum Gift Checks
 

Hi Omar,
I ordered this award at the end of July. There were 20 each $50 checks that expired July 28th 2007. Though packages are probably the best use of points, you can earn points on this $1000 worth of spending & it is nice once in a while to have a cash treat :-) I believe this award appeared around 6 months ago & I assume will disappear as surprisingly as it appeared.
Have a wonderful Honeymoon - Kauai is so relaxing, love Sarah

This subject has been discussed before, but many people, including me, value Marriott Rewards points at roughly a penny apiece. If you agree with that valuation, then 135,000 points are worth $1350. Trading $1350 in points for $1000 in gift cards is not an especially good deal. I would do it only if I had no other way to use my points.

Bruce

I look at the cash-out option at 135k for $1000 as a reasonable "out" for people who simply have millions of points from business stays and no other way to burn them. It's sort of like redeeming points for golf clubs or a flat-screen TV. If you're considering this at all, you have probably already decided that raw return on your points isn't a huge issue.

If you are truly in a pinch and feel like the points are never going to get used otherwise, go ahead and cash 'em out. 0.74 cents is better than 0.00 cents. I've never had more than about 500k MR points in my account at any one time, so I've never been in a position where I felt like I'd lose my points. I always use them for Travel Packages - even did one at Marriott Kauai. :)

And for what it's worth, we didn't spend much money at the Marriott Kauai. We definitely wouldn't have burned through a grand. We played a round of golf and had 1 lunch in a hotel restaurant. The golf course is a little on the gimmicky side...too many funky short par-4's with blind shots and other oddball quirks. Not overly hard, I just got tired of hitting my 8-iron off the tee all day. The restaurant is so-so and overpriced. The hotel itself is wonderful - no complaints. I'd just spend as little money there as possible if I were on an award stay: there are too many other good restaurants, good spas, and even a few decent golf courses on Kauai.

love the responses - keep them coming

how i have it worked out in my head is to use about $400 of it at the spa and then the rest on drinks/food - if i have any leftover (which i imagine i will) then i'll just use them throughout the year - i stay at a marriott just about every week due to my job

i don't mind using the points to save some money on a few things so i'll have more for excursions (eat at the hotel one night and in turn order a nice bottle of wine the next night out somewhere)

it sounds like for 135,000 points i will be receiving 8-10,000 (depending on how close to the $50 increment i am) points back so it might as well be 125,000 for $1000 - since they expire in a year i'll probably just order the reward in december

we have already begun some light planning of things to do / sights to see and it's not even until june 07

pinniped: had the spa/drinks been "free" would you have been more apt to stay around the marriott from time to time?

voiletdog: i'm open to any recommendations - we are both in our low 20s and open to just about anything - cndij sent me some photos from her trip and it looks beautiful

longing4piedmont: thx for answering everything

This is exactly what I did as well (I thought it was just me!) ^

I booked our honeymoon (May 2007) using solely marriott points (two weeks in Thailand) and here's how it played out (sorry of it runs a bit off topic, I'll get it back on topic ASAP).

1. I booked two of the travel packages (235,000 points x two packages = 470,000 points total). This allowed us one week at the Marriott Bangkok Resort and Spa and one week at the Renaissance Koh Samui as well as FC round trip tickets in NH and TG from JFK>NRT>BKK (transferred the 240,000 airline miles that I received with the travel packages to a UA MP account and got the FC tix using a *A award).

2. Discovered this Marriott Gold Card: http://www.marriottgoldcard.com/en/l...php?lang_id=10 (the cost is 5900 Thai Baht, app. $158 USD). This will allow us to save a significant amount of money on food, drinks and spa services at both hotels during our honeymoon.

3. Redeemed a $1000 Marriott Gift Check (see? back on topic!) for the 135,000 points and will use the certificates to pay for the discounted food, drinks and spa services.

So all in all, the honeymoon would have cost me over $40,000 (yup, those FC tickets, not that I would EVER pay for them, are quite expensive). Seems like good use of 605,000 points (no clue what the points to dollar or vv ratio is) ^

The Marriott $1000 is great for picking up additional expenses while on your honeymoon! I can't wait to use 'em :D

I would assume that the only way to receive Marriott points for using the Marriott gift check would be to charge everything to your room and then apply the $1000 to your room bill? If so that would be 15,000 points earned (platinum + standard points) and the Marriott Gift check would only cost you 120,000 points as a platinum member. Pretty sweet!

Have fun in Hawaii on the honeymoon!

I forgot the platinum bonus points - but yeah I called the hotel to ask about using the gift cheques and you just charge everything to the room and settle it with the front desk

have fun on your honeymoon also :D

Well, we wouldn't have stayed around at the Marriott much in any case. Too much cool stuff to do on Kauai to hang out at a hotel. :)

But sure, if someone walked up to me and said "Here is a free certificate for the spa", I'm sure we would have used it. But that's a totally different discussion...

And yes, we had a poolside drink every now and then at the hotel...but still, I'd rather pay cash for the drink than Marriott points for the drink at the proposed rate.

I'm glad the gift cheques come in $50 increments, I was a little concerned you might not need the whole $1000 unless you ate every meal at the hotel and had spa treatments every day, of course that spa adds up. I remembered the name of the italian restaurant, it is Cafe Portofino, and it was very good (also recommended in my guidebook) I too was trying to maximize points even though on an award stay (working on the next trip :-), and had a little difficulty getting the meal at Portofino charged to the room, the waitress was not familiar with the procedure, but we got it worked out. (I think they must get a lot of business from outside of the hotel, the restaurant backs up to a popular shopping center as well). We didn't try Dukes, but it was recommended as well. Actually Kauai Revealed (if you don't have their guidebook yet, thats a must) gave pretty high ratings to all 3 of the main restaurants at the hotel, and he is very picky. We used the Revealed series of guidebooks 5 years ago and again this time on all 4 islands, and never were disappointed with the recommendations. He has terrific places to find off the beaten path, used to be you would find no one there, but this time, we saw a lot of people carrying his "little blue book" around, and more people at the hard to find places.
Cindi

Omar, Please remember that for 130--150K MR points U can get a free week in a hotel priced at $400--$500 buxanite! I recommend that U should save 'em for a 1st anniversary vacation in Paris ( if U can find availability ;) ! )

I agree with Bruce. I value my points at a penny each at the very least. With 130,000 you can get a 7 day stay at a cat.6 hotel which depending on the location can mean $1,500 to over $3,000 (I have a reward stay at Vail in February for a room that costs $450+tax per night). The only way to burn points efficiently is with travel packages and hotel stays. Period. So, unless you earn points much faster than you can spend them on stays, this is not a good decision.

back off task...Casa de Amechi, just off of Poipu Beach, is excellent...fresh, unpretentious and unassuming, yet elegent. Have fun!

I'm not sure that I agree with all the points-to-value arguments (at least not all the time.) Since the OP states that this is a honeymoon trip, personally, cost or future value of points wouldn't necessarily be my first concern. I would be more concerned with making sure the trip is as memorable as possible.

The OP may not have an extra $1000 to spend. Weddings, dinners, etc can be expensive, and using the points to help defray some of those costs might be very helpful. In fact, the OP may now be able to take advantage of other activities they might not be able to do because of the extra $1000. So while in general I agree that looking to get the best value out of one's points is a good thing, it is not always the number one priority. And this could very well be one of those situations.

Also note that the OP was able to accumulate 400K points in about a year. That's pretty fast. If this is going to continue, then using 135K points for a $1000 cheque, once, probably isn't going to "break the bank" so to speak.

hhoope01 - pretty much summed up my situation - earning more points isn't a huge deal - i might not always earn 400k+/year but it'll typically be 3-400k depending on where i'm working at

not to mention i said in my op