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Apr
Marriott TravelCards are on sale beginning at 1pm eastern in today’s Wednesday 4/18 Daily Getaways Week 2 offer sponsored by the US Travel Association and American Express. Marriott TravelCards are available in five denominations from $50 to $1,000 at 11% to 20% discounts. Read More…
Wednesday, March 14 is the last day to book Marriott Rewards hotel nights at the lower hotel category level before 526 hotels increase by 5,000 points per night tomorrow, Thursday, March 15, 2012. The list of hotels with a reward category changes are on this Marriott Hotels issued PDF. The Marriott Rewards list of hotels is organized by hotel reward category and hotel brand. 3% of hotels are decreasing by one category (100 hotels) and 15% are increasing by one category (526 hotels).
Marriott Concierge message posted on FlyerTalk February 27, 2012 states hotel reservations must be booked before Thursday March 15 to get the lower category rate before the increases. Members who have reservations for hotel stays dropping in category on March 15 can receive a points rebate.
We have the list of new hotel categories for 2012 for you, which are effective for all reservations made after March 15, 2012.
Based upon your feedback in years past, we are releasing the full list of changes for 2012 (categories 1-8). You’ll find each hotel moving downward or upward by one category level within this PDF. To give you a sense of the impact of these changes with respect to the overall portfolio of brands and properties, 3% of hotels are decreasing by one category (100 hotels) and 15% are increasing by one category (526 hotels).
Again, these changes will go in to effect starting Thursday, March 15, 2012 so any reservations made prior to March 15 will be honored at the current category. If you have an existing redemption reservation at a hotel that is decreasing in category, you may call Marriott Rewards® Customer Support at 801-468-4000 to adjust the reservation after March 15.
Thanks and safe travels!
Andy & the Marriott Rewards team
I published tables of the Marriott Rewards hotel list of category changes organized by geographic location in a series of posts on the 2012 Marriott Rewards hotel category shifts for category 4 to 8. A large part of the increases are actually in Category 2 and 3 going up and I didn’t get around to organizing those changes by location.
Burn Marriott MegaBonus Free Nights before 96 hotels rise to Category 5 on March 15 (February 29, 2012).
Marriott Rewards – 138 Category 5-8 hotels moving up on March 15, 2012. (February 27, 2012).
Marriott Rewards hotels dropping category on March 15, 2012 (February 27, 2012).
Marriott Rewards Category Changes March 15, 2012 (February 27, 2012)
Rewards booked March 14 still qualify for lower category rate.
This may be a good time to redeem free night certificates and points.
Marriott Rewards – MegaBonus 2012 February 1 – April 30, 2012. Earn one free night every two stays valid for Category 1-4 hotels; maximum two free nights. Select Marriott Rewards members received targeted offers for three free night maximum and 25,000 to 50,000 points after 15 to 25 nights. LT post Jan 7, 2012.
The most significant issue affecting Marriott Rewards members when the hotel reward category reassignments happen on March 15, 2012 is the set of hotels moving from Category 4 to Category 5 that will no longer be available for reward nights with the free night certificates earned in the past two Marriott MegaBonus promotions.
The free night certificates received for MegaBonus and the enrollment free night certificate for Marriott Visa cardmembers are limited to category 1-4 hotels. Nearly 100 hotels are rising from category 4 to category 5 and will not be available for reward nights using these certificates after March 15.
Marriott Rewards members sitting on reward night certificates may want to closely examine the list of hotels in this post rising from category 4 to category 5 on March 15, 2012 and decide to redeem certificates for hotel stays prior to March 15. You can book a stay using the certificate for dates past March 15 as long as you make the reservation before the hotel rises to category 5.
Marriott Visa Premier cardmembers receive a certificate good for category 5 hotels with renewal membership. Check out this list of category 5 hotels moving to category 6 to see if there may be a current category 5 property to book your reward night before the hotel rises to category 6 on March 15.
Marriott Rewards this morning released the full list of hotel category reassignments effective Thursday, March 15, 2012.
Reservations can be made using the current reward category rates until March 14, 2012. Reward reservations you already have at a hotel that will be dropping in category can be adjusted downward after March 15 to the lower rate by calling Marriott Rewards Customer Support at 801-468-4000.
The full list of hotel category changes with explanations and a category distribution graphic is available through the link in this FlyerTalk post. The hotel reward category distribution shows a competitive edge for Marriott Rewards with the high proportion of hotels in the lower four of eight reward categories.
On a personal note:
The past three years I have mounted social media attacks primarily on Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors each February and March when the announcement was made that hotel reward categories were being changed, yet these programs refused to release the full list of hotels changing categories prior to the changes taking effect.
Big thumbs up to Marriott Rewards for changing to a fully transparent announcement. Many of us using hotel loyalty programs take our loyalty as a serious investment in our travel budgeting for hotel stays. This is a consumer friendly move by Marriott Rewards. Thank you.
I will follow up this post in the next day or two with a detailed analysis of the Marriott Rewards hotel category reassignment changes.
Over the next few weeks I will compare aspects of different hotel loyalty programs. While it is easy to look at the different websites and compare member benefits, the proportion of hotel brands and their market segment as a proportion of hotels participating in a hotel loyalty program tends not to be as well known.
Hotel Chain Scales are used by hotel industry analysts at STR.com to segment hotel brands into luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy categories.
The largest hotel loyalty programs for the US are Hilton, Marriott and IHG in terms of the size and broad range of hotels in different market segments. Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges and Best Western Rewards are comparable megachain hotels, but there are far fewer hotels in the upscale to luxury segments in these three brands. Starwood (1,100 hotels) and Hyatt (500 hotels) have a high proportion of upscale to luxury hotel brands in their portfolios, however, the number of hotels are far fewer in these chains and not as useful for travelers needing wide geographic coverage.
Hotel Brands and Market Segments
What is a luxury hotel or an upper-upscale hotel?
Price is generally the defining line between hotel market segments. I do not work in the hotel industry and I am an amateur analyst interpreting numbers from hotel industry data. STRGlobal.com provides industry data reports and I gather statistical data about the hotel industry regularly from the free data provided online.
STR has a list of hotel brands in different chain scale segments based on the average room rate data for thousands of hotels worldwide.
This post uses the 2011 STR US Chain Scales along with the latest hotel properties data for each brand from the hotel chain’s websites to compare market segments for hotel brands of Hilton, IHG and Marriott.
Basically I want to see how the hotels in Hilton, IHG and Marriott segment out in each chain and compare to each other when looking at the number of luxury, upscale and midscale hotels in each hotel loyalty program.
Hilton Worldwide Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels
Marriott International Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels
InterContinental Hotels Group
I have some issue with the broad segmentation of Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree as Upscale rather than Upper Upscale for some locations and Holiday Inn as Upper Midscale for some locations where the Holiday Inn is more upscale. Keep in mind in the real world of travel there will be some Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree hotels that will be just as nice or better than the nearby Marriott, Hilton or Embassy Suites.
How the hotel chains stack up when brands are compared by market segment.
Luxury market segment
Upper Upscale market segment
Upscale market segment
Upper Midscale market segment
Midscale market segment
The key point here is to consider what market segment you desire for your travels. IHG Priority Club will tend to be lower room rates, but Priority Club does not offer frequent guest elite members the level of defined benefits provided by Hilton HHonors or Marriott Rewards to their md-tier and top-tier elite members.
Another point to add is the practice of placing branded hotels in the same chain adjacent to each other. This is really common with Marriott where Courtyard and Residence Inn are literally adjacent hotels in many places. I have seen three Marriott properties in the same location in places. Geographic coverage is not as extensive as you might think when all the locations with multiple properties are considered. On the other hand, the placement of hotels in the same chain next to each other makes hotel hopping for loyalty promotion stay credit an easy task when you want to earn free Marriott MegaBonus nights.
Comparison of hotel loyalty program benefits across these hotel brands will be discussed in future posts.
Marriott Hotels has several promotion offers for gift cards now through January 8, 2012. Gift card shipping is $1 for U.S. addresses.
10% Bonus on Marriott Gift Card Value
Amtrak promotion code AMT or Marriott Associate Friends & Family promotion code MMT both offer 10% added value to a Marriott Gift Card. You can purchase any gift card amount from $25 and up. The 10% added value means the actual value on the card will be $1,100 when you pay $1,000 for a gift card.
Earn 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar for buying Gift Cards - up to 25,000 bonus points.
Another gift card promotion offers 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar in gift card value purchased, up to 25,000 bonus points. This could be a better than 10% value depending on how you use points. There are Ritz-Carlton Hotels for 30,000 points per night that are more than $300 per night.
Hertz Rental Car Marriott Gift Card Offer
Get $50 Hertz rental car voucher with $250 Marriott Gift Card purchase. Promotion code = Hertz.
Save 10% on Marriott VacationCards and earn up to 10,000 Delta Skymiles bonus miles.
A Marriott VacationCard promotion with Delta Airlines gives a 10% discount in the cost of a $1,000 or $2,000 VacationCard and 1,000 Delta Skymiles bonus miles for each $1,000 in VacationCard value, up to 10,000 bonus miles. This offer is only available through January 1, 2012.
What is the difference between Marriott Gift Card and Marriott VacationCard?
See this FlyerTalk thread where Counsellor posted the difference between Marriott Gift Cards and VacationCards.
This is a reminder that October 31, 2011 is the last day you can register for Marriott Rewards MegaBonus offer. The main offer is one free night at a category 1-4 hotel after two hotel stays paid with VISA (any VISA credit card) between September 15 and January 15, 2012.
This offer is one of the highest value hotel promotions currently available, especially if you just need two one-night hotel stays over the next 11 weeks. Hotel rates during the Thanksgiving week, Christmas/New Year’s week and the second week of January are typically among the lowest hotel rates of the year in many locations, particularly where hotels are business traveler oriented like many urban centers.
I think of this offer as the opportunity to spend $100 at two hotels and get a free certificate that might be a $200 value at some other Marriott hotel. The certificate received after two hotel stays is valid only for the lowest four hotel reward categories, but Marriott is bottom heavy meaning a large percentage of the 3,400+ hotels in Marriott are in these four lowest reward categories in Marriott Rewards eight categories of hotel rewards.
Register online or call 1-888-627-7468 and register by phone through October 31, 2011. You must have your account earning preference set to “points” to see the Fall MegaBonus promotion offer.
Here is my Loyalty Traveler post on the MegaBonus promotion from August 16.
Marriott Rewards More Stays, More Miles
For guests who do not use Visa, there is also the Marriott Rewards “More Stays, More Miles” offer. This offer does not require a Visa payment. There is also no registration deadline for Marriott’s Miles promotion.
Earn up to 30,000 bonus miles starting with 1,000 miles on your second stay, 1,500 miles on 3rd and 4th stays and 2,000 bonus miles on additional stays through December 31, 2011. Here is my Loyalty traveler August 31 write-up on Marriott’s miles offer.
Marriott Rewards members choosing miles instead of points have the option to earn up to 30,000 bonus miles for hotel stays from September 1-December 31, 2011. Unlike MegaBonus, this promotion does not require VISA payment. There are six participating airlines and members must select one of these partners when registering for this bonus miles promotion:
Bonus miles earning begins with the second stay after September 1 based on the following earning chart.
Loyalty Traveler Analysis:
This “More Stays, More Miles” offer is an alternative promotion to the Marriott Megabonus for Fall 2011 running Sep 15, 2011 to Jan 15, 2012 for members who choose to earn miles. This miles promotion does not require VISA card payment. Your Marriott Rewards account earning preference must be set to miles rather than points to view this offer.
New members must enroll in Marriott Rewards and existing members must register for this promotion either online at www.MarriottRewards.com/MoreStays-MoreMiles or via the Marriott Rewards service center in the U.S. and Canada at 800-859-0686.
The primary points offer for Marriott’s MegaBonus is a possibility of one free night at a category 1 to 4 hotel after two stays, with a maximum bonus of two free nights after four stays when payment is VISA. You must register for MegaBonus by October 31.
MegaBonus is a targeted offer and Marriott Rewards frequent guests are likely to have a points based offer for 15 to 25 nights. There is also a version awarding 5,000 points every two stays. Here is my August 16 Loyalty Traveler post on Marriott MegaBonus.
Since Marriott Rewards members must choose between earning either points or miles and members have the ability to switch earning preference between stays, there may be potential to earn both MegaBonus and More Stays, More Miles bonuses by switching earning preference from miles to points during the overlapping promotion period of Sep 15-Dec 31 for these two offers.
I’d love to hear Marriott Rewards member input about the feasibility of earning miles for some stays, switching to points and earning MegaBonus credit for some stays, and switching back to miles again for other stays. Does it work to switch earning preference and alternate between a miles promotion and points promotion with Marriott Rewards for different stays?
Marriott Rewards More Stays, More Miles for up to 30,000 miles Sep 1-Dec 31, 2011
Marriott Rewards Megabonus from September 15, 2011 - January 15, 2012 offers most “low stay activity” members the opportunity to earn one free night after two Marriott brand stays paid with VISA for a maximum of two earned free nights at Category 1-4 hotels for redemption from September 15, 2011 – May 31, 2012.
Paid with VISA means any VISA card is acceptable. You do not need to use a cobranded Marriott Rewards Visa card.
MegaBonus promotion registration is required by October 31, 2011.
Why I like Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for my primary backup promotion.
Not all Marriott Rewards members receive the targeted two stays earns one free night offer. Infrequent guests with Marriott typically get the free night as a default offer. More active Marriott Rewards members may have a targetted points version for meeting a nights threshold.
This Loyalty Traveler post is written for people like me who rarely stay at Marriott Hotels. Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is a high value rebate for the infrequent Marriott Rewards guest.
This is the third Marriott Rewards MegaBonus promotion for 2011. Marriott Rewards does not seem to put a whole lot of effort in designing clever promotions since MegaBonus has basically been the same deal all year for the infrequent guest with two stays earns one free night at a category 1 to category 4 hotel for a maximum of two free nights during the promotion.
Marriott Rewards is my primary backup hotel plan.
This is the third time this promotion has run in 2011 providing an opportunity to earn 6 free nights with just 12 paid nights at Marriott brand hotels. The redemption restriction of category 1 to 4 hotels in the Marriott Rewards system prevents using the free nights in many major cities where most hotels are category 5 or 6 and the top of line resorts and luxury hotels at category 7 and 8. But there are plenty of $200 per night hotel redemption opportunities in the category 4 hotels and it is quite easy to earn a free night with Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for less than $200 with two one-night sub-$100 rates.
Marriott MegaBonus 2011 #1 – Earn February 1-April 30, 2011. Redeem free nights by September 30, 2011. Register by March 31, 2011.
Marriott MegaBonus 2011 #2 – Earn June 1-August 31, 2011. Redeem free nights by December 31, 2011. Register by June 30, 2011.
Despite Marriott Rewards being two-time Hotel Program of the Year in the Americas winner at the Frequent Traveler Awards 2010 and 2011, my stays at Marriott brand hotels are rather infrequent. I like the Marriott brand hotels I visit and I have seen plenty of new build Fairfield Inn properties alongside the new Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn hotels dotting the American landscape.
I only have need for so many hotel nights in a year and Marriott takes 50 nights to reach mid-tier Gold elite. Most hotel loyalty programs offer routes to top elite level with high value benefits for far fewer hotel nights in a year. That makes Marriott Rewards a backup program for me. Free nights are a valuable asset to have in reserve and Marriott Rewards free nights are easily earned with MegaBonus. Marriott currently has more than 3,000 hotels in the USA and over 500 international hotels with plenty of choices for paid and free nights.
Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is a recurring promotion for infrequent Marriott Rewards guests to earn one free night after two hotel stays.
Other targetted variations of MegaBonus promotion offer bonus points with VISA payment. Here are some other offers posted on FlyerTalk.
Finding the Fall MegaBonus promotion:
Register online or call 1-888-627-7468 and register by phone through October 31, 2011. You must have your account earning preference set to “points” to see the Fall MegaBonus promotion offer. When I did not see this offer last week I checked my account and saw it was set to miles. Once I changed my account earning preference to points the Fall MegaBonus offer for one free night after two stays paid with VISA showed up immediately in “Promotion Central” under “My Account”.
Loyalty Traveler Promotion Rating = 4 keys out of 5. This is my primary backup promotion for a high value rebate when I can’t find higher value in any other hotel program. Over the course of 2011 it has been possible to stay 12 nights and earn six free nights. Marriott Silver elite requires only 10 nights in Marriott Rewards and earns 20% bonus points for hotel stays.
Marriott Rewards MegaBonus Fall 2011 - Earn one free night after two stays.
Marriott Resorts offers an “Endless Summer” value package at 30 properties that might be a good value package for hotel stays from August 1 through September 16, 2011. Endless Summer packages are promotional code rate ZXO available at 30 select hotels for bookings made by September 11. The package includes:
Participating Hotels:
Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa
Scottsdale
JW Marriott Camelback Inn® Scottsdale Resort & Spa
Tucson
JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa
California
Coronado
Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa
Indian Wells
Renaissance Esmeralda Indian Wells Resort & Spa
Los Angeles
JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE
Palm Desert
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
Sonoma
The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa
Colorado
Vail
Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa
Florida
Fort Lauderdale
Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Fort Myers
Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa
Key Largo
Key Largo Bay Marriott Beach Resort
Marco Island
Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa
Miami
Doral Golf Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort
Miami Beach
Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach
Orlando
JW MarriottOrlando Grande Lakes®
Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld®
Panama City Beach
Bay Point Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
Ponte Vedra Beach
Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
Singer Island Riviera Beach
Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa
Stuart
Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina
Hawaii
Honolulu – Oahu
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Kapolei – Oahu
JW Marriott Ihilani Ko Olina Resort & Spa
Lihue – Kauai
Waikoloa
Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Wailea – Maui
Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Nevada
Las Vegas
JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa
Texas
Horseshoe Bay
San Antonio
JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa
Loyalty Traveler Rate Analysis
Hotel revenue managers have a variety of strategies for getting more money out of the customer at less cost to the hotel. One of the strategies commonly used is to combine value-added components to package rates. Marriott frequently uses the value-added package rates strategy.
Some of these package deals can be good value rates for the guest and save money if you plan to use some of the hotel services during your stay. Often these rates are not very good deals. The revenue managers know many guests will not take sufficient time to compare all the available rates. Package rates tend to improve hotel revenue more than guest savings.
Marriott’s Endless Summer package rates might be a good deal as long as you have two adults for breakfast and you will use your $50 daily credit.
Analysis of Endless Summer ZXO rate for JW Marriott Camelback Inn, Scottsdale, Arizona
Monday, August 1 – Thursday, August 4, 2011
Endless Summer Package Rate = $169/night (includes free breakfast and $50 daily resort credit and potential upgrade).
Marriott Rewards member exclusive offer = $118/night (includes $25 daily resort credit). This offer is better for an elite guest who already receives complimentary breakfast benefit or for a single guest who won’t benefit from complimentary breakfast for two adults and two young children.
JW Marriott Camelback Inn has 14 other rate packages available during these dates offering complimentary golf for one to four persons, spa services, free breakfast for kids, free appetizers at restaurants, dinner packages, and all sorts of options that may better fit your specific needs. The golf packages look like they could be big savings.
Endless Summer rate Aug 1-4 JW Marriott Camelback Inn, Scottsdale, AZ
Conclusion: Marriott’s Endless Summer rate might be a good value for your stay, but be sure to check out the variety of package rates available at Marriott Resorts to see if there is a better package rate suited for your hotel activities and interests.
Marriott Rewards offers members 4x miles from June 1 through August 31, 2011 beginning with your second hotel stay during the promotion period. The design of Marriott Rewards site requires your member account be set to earn miles rather than points to enable the 4x miles promotion page to load. Promotion registration begins June 1.
Marriott Rewards members on FlyerTalk state the miles promotion and points promotions can both be earned if you switch your earning preference and register for both promotions. This makes it possible to toggle between earning points for the MegaBonus offer of one free night at a category 1 to 4 hotel after two stays which is great for one night hotel stays and then earn miles for longer, more expensive stays when the bonus miles will add up quickly. You just need to manage your earning preference by switching between miles or points to maximize the best earning option for each hotel stay.
Earn 8 miles per $1 for most charges at these hotel brands:
Earn 4 miles per $1 on room rate only at these hotel brands:
Participating Airlines for 4x Miles:
Southwest Airlines normally earns 600 points per stay for any Marriott hotel brand, so quadruple points = 2,400 points per stay at any hotel brand.
JetBlue with this promotion earns 4 points per $1 at upper tier brands (Marriott, Renaissance) and 2 points per $1 at the lower tier hotel brands (Courtyard, Residence Inn) shown above.
Marriott Rewards 4x Miles Promotion link (registration begins June 1).
4x Miles Promotion Terms & Conditions.
Please note: You must have your Marriott Rewards member account earning preference set to earn miles in order to load the webpages in these links. They will not load if your account is set for earning points.
Related Loyalty Traveler post: Marriott Rewards MegaBonus June 1-August 31, 2011 (May 16)
Marriott Rewards Quadruple Miles
