Gift Card Triple Play?
 

Marriott is running a special promotion that allows you to earn 12 Marriott Reward points per dollar spent at the Marriott Gift Card site (up to 25,000 points) through December 1st. Click here for details.

As I recall, you can use a dollar-denominated gift card (e.g., a $100 gift card, as opposed to a "Dinner for two" gift card) to pay for lodging at a Marriott property, and get Marriott reward points as though you were using cash or a credit card.

This looks like a potential triple play on points if done correctly:

Buy (say) a $100 gift card = $100 spend = 1200 points;
Use your MR Premier VISA card = ($100) = 500 points (or is it fewer?)
Stay at Marriott FS property, pay bill with card = $100 on bill = 1000 points
Add elite bonus of 20%, 25%, or 30%, e.g., Platinum = 300 points

Total = 3,000 points for the $100 purchase, or 30 points per dollar!

Am I missing something?

Not sure if the purchase on the cc will get 5 points per dollar. The T&C are as follows:

You will earn 5 points for each $1.00 spent on qualifying Marriott transactions, 2 points for each $1.00 on net purchases made at retail establishments that classify their merchant location for Visa as dining, airline, or rental car, and 1 point for each $1.00 spent on other net purchases.

Is this a qualifying Marriott transaction?

Great find. Thanks.

Regardless of whether on gets the full MR visa points(unfortunately MR visa sets very high credit standards-I cannot get one even though I qualify for other CC's)This is a very very good deal.
Unfortunately I just bought $2,000 worth of Marriott cert via giftcertificates.com to qualify for the 20,000 NWA mile bonus.That worked out to 25NWA miles per dollar spent and of course I will get the 12.5 MR points(as gold)(plus 25,000 bonus MR points for the mega bounus) when I use them-so all in all a great use of $2000!

And a big thank you to Counsellor for finding this.

It seems this should work - The T & C below state that CC points are awarded for purchases made with a Marriott Visa.


Q. Do Marriott Rewards or Marriott Miles members receive points or miles for Marriott Gift Certificate purchases?

A. Points and miles are awarded to the card holder upon redemption of Marriott GiftCards . Points can also be earned if the GiftCards and Dinner for Two certificate is purchased using a Marriott Visa card. Marriott Miles and Marriott Rewards points are not awarded upon redemption of Dinner for Two certificates. Rewards points can be earned if Dinner For Two Gift Certificates are purchased with a Marriott Rewards Visa Card


I just bought a $100.00 gift card using my MR Premier Visa and will use it on my next stay. If all the points post correctly, I'll be coming back to the well for more.

The 12 point/dollar promo states a maximum of 25,000 bonus points so the maximum amount of gift card value that can be purchased is $2083.00.

Technically, it is not a triple play but a 120% play on stay points as the points for staying and paying with a MR Visa are the same - only the gift card promo is the "play".

Definitely an easy 25,000 points - thanks OP for the find and the post :)

Points are not awarded on gift card stays
 

I called Marriott to ask about whether points are awarded on stays that are paid for with a gift card. They've indicated that points will not be awarded in these circumstances. Therefore, more points can be earned without purchasing a gift card (even with this new promotion).

Well, this is contrary to what the first line of the T & C states

A. Points and miles are awarded to the card holder upon redemption of Marriott GiftCards

Hopefully the CR you spoke with is mistaken.

This is a perfect example of what should be a caution for folks who contact customer service; Marriott's or anybody else's. Maybe you don't earn points as one cs person told you, or maybe you do earn points and the cs person who you spoke to is wrong. But one customer service rep who tells you something, especially if he/she cites no source for the information, is not necessarily a reliable source in my opinion. I just called Marriott plat premier and the rep told me you do earn points on stays where you pay with a gift card. She cited the following language from the gift card's terms and conditions: "To earn points, you simply add your Marriott Rewards number at check-out." https://gifts.marriott.com/promo_terms.aspx

Sounds like the rule covers it, but who knows.

Edited to add: Upon further thought, it would appear that the cs rep the poster spoke to apparently, and mistakenly, thought the poster was asking about reward certificates, which clearly do not earn points when turned in for a stay.

Check-Out Definition
 

When the T & C indicates that points will be awarded upon check-out, I believe it's referring to check-out from the website. While the 12 points/dollar are awarded for the gift card purchase, I don't believe they're awarded again when the gift card is redeemed at the hotel. I've called Marriott Rewards 3 times already (spoke to 3 CSRs) and received the same information. This seems to make sense as points are awarded when money changes hands. Your thoughts are welcomed.

That is totally false information.I have used gift certs and cards on almost every stay at a Marriott property-and have always earned the full value in MR points.

Great info

Good deal.

All three cs reps you spoke to are ill-informed. You should ask them on what basis they say you don't receive points for a room when you use a gift card to pay. Ask them what they rely on to tell you this. There is absolutely nothing in the Marriott rules which says that. The rules do say however, that you don't receive points for the PURCHASE of gift cards. The current offer is clearly an offer of a bonus, that is an exception to the normal rule. The offer does not take away something you normally receive.

The points you receive when you pay for the gift card are bonus points for purchasing the card during the special offer. They are not points for the payment of a room, which you receive when you use the gift card, or whatever, to pay for the room.

In addition, you can access the Marriott site through eBates and earn a small (1%) rebate.

I've always rec'd full points when paying for my stay with a gift card - - it's just like using cash.

I have many times used gift cards for a mattiott stay and gotten points for the stay. It shows up on the bill when paid as a Visa.

This leads to my question. Since it shows up as a Visa will the nights stay count towards the MegaBonus.