I am a Marriott Rewards member...but have no points (since I am not a frequent hotel-stayer). I have checked numerous places on FlyerTalk for ideas on getting deals at Marriotts. I tried the codes listed on a different thread. I don't seem to qualify for any.

Will stay in NYC several nights in August. In my case are the best deals I can hope to get the ones that are on Marriott's webpage? That seems to be the case. I have gotten an overload of information checking online and on FlyerTalk in recent days and have ended up overwhelmed. Any advice you could offer would be appreciated.

Take a deep breath and step away from your situation if you're overwhelmed.

What is your main purpose.... gain points on your account, grab silver status (given after 10 nights w/ Marriott) or just the best deal possible ?

As an fairly infrequent Marriott guest myself (under 5 nights usually every year) I essentially ignore the program in favor of the booking best deal at Marriott or elsewhere. I don't qualify anymore for silver, not that it had really any perks anyway, so don't sweat the points chase. Status and points really only come in to their own when you stay often at hotels so if you don't MHO is to relax and focus on the price and not get distracted by the other stuff.

This is an excellent point. Given that most here tend to travel a bit more than the average bear, we sometimes get focused on points/status to the exclusion of everything else.

But with that said, there are ways to accumulate points in various programs even without a lot of traveling. I suspect there is more than one or two persons on FT whose main points earning vehicle are CCs instead of actual travel. So it is still possible to earn not only points but status as well by judicious CC use. Silver is possible with only CC use for Marriotts, but mid-tier Gold is possible with the SPG and top tier is possible in HH with CC use alone.

For NYC travel specifically, if you are looking for your best deal possible, you might be better off making a reservation with something like Priceline and just not worry about the few points you might be missing out with that trip.

The reality here is that the likes of priceline will, over 95% of the time, do a better deal on the cash rates. Points become relevant if you stay a lot, because at the upper echelons of membership you are awarded more per $ AND you get free bennies.

The problem for the leisure traveller is that the program is designed principally for the weekday business traveller, with lounges mostly only fully open on weekdays and with 72 hour override mostly "needed" to cover weekday events. The bennies make it easier for the traveller on the corporate $ to have an easier stay, and get what is in effect a backhander (points) for future travel. This works out valuable to us road warriors, with the higher rates paid by our companies on weekdays and with the bonuses etc its quite possible to earn 7000+ points per night, which over a mere 3 nights (cat 3 or 4) or 4 or 5 nights (cat 5+) will get you a free night stay. With the 5 nights award for the price of 4 its possible to get a 5 night stay at one of Marriotts best hotels (cat 7 or 8) for 15-20 nights of business stays.

Not that its cheap to those who pay the bill, to do a top hotel for 5 nights would require 160,000 points. Assuming our member is a PLT and 40,000 points came from megabonuses, the remaining 120,000 over 20 nights would be 6000 points per night, meaning a spend by our employers of $400 per night, $8,000 overall. And remember to get the 40,000 megabonus you have to do the 20 nights in 3 months, so it really only works for the regulars spending other peoples money.

To reverse this around, assuming no status and that your stays were only 4 or 5 nights per year, at weekends, on rooms averaging �100 ($150) per night it would take you about 20-25 YEARS to stay the 106 nights to get that 5 night (160,000 points) break (remember, our PLT can manage that in just 3 months!). Against that with Priceline you should get a weekend 4* room for about �70 night ($100) thus saving yourself the price of a free night once every 2 or 3 nights.

Having said all that it is fair to point out that you'll not find Marriotts best 5 star hotels lurking around on priceline, yes, I think you'll find the majority of Marriotts inventory there, but its unlikely the likes of Londons Grosvenor House and New Yorks Marquis will ever make its way there, so the only way to stay at Marriotts very top establishments is to "pay". Cash or Points. I can vouch that a lot of us do use our points for the very best of Marriotts inventory, thus squeezing a bit more value out of the scheme, but the simple fact remains that it just isn't worthwhile unless you're a regular...

Thanks to all of you who offered advice.

You might want to check on coupon connection whether anyone is trading a multi-night stay voucher for anything that you might have that might be of less value to you than the cash it would take to book the stay.

You can redeem marriot points for "travel packages" which give you miles and e-coupons or paper coupons for multi-night stays. Some people do an exchange when they need the miles, even if they don't have an immediate need for the hotel vouchers.

I'm not certain whether such vouchers actually are transferrable or what the terms and conditions are, but I do see them on coupon connection from time to time, so it's worth taking a look.

In NYC you will usually find that the points required for a stay do not offer a great value. I live about an hour out of Manhattan and visit about three times a year to see shows, museums or just sightsee. Although I have close to a million MRP's in my account I pay the cash rate on most visits. I can usually get a rate of around $200-$250 a night. In a CAT 8 hotel like the Marquis or the REN Times Square that equates to about .006 cents per point. I'd rather save the points for overseas trips where the room rates are closer to $500 a night and you get a better value for your points.

You might want to check out some of the non-chain hotels like the Hudson Hotel on 58th. They are running a special for $239 in August and it is a truly unique NYC hotel.

It is really tough to get a deal in NYC. And points don't provide good value, either.

Bruce

I would also recommend checking the discount online sites such as priceline to see what deal you can get with them.

You can also get 10% off gift cards and airline miles on either Delta or USAirways. This would require that you purchase at least $1000 so you would need to be able to use that amount to be worth the entire 10% off. But anything charged to the room could be paid by the gift card. The links are below. Using a Marriott credit card for the purchase would also get you 5pts/$.

https://www.marriottvacationcardoffer.com/delta

https://www.marriottvacationcardoffer.com/usairways