Marriott Rewards offers 2,500 points when you stay 2 or more nights from Friday to Sunday only at 16 hotels in North Carolina and South Carolina between March 1 and April 30, 2012.

This Carolina Marriott Rewards bonus points offer does not require promotion registration.

Participating Hotels

North Carolina

Cary

• Residence Inn Raleigh Cary
• Courtyard Raleigh Cary

Charlotte

• Courtyard Charlotte University Research Park
• SpringHill Suites Charlotte University Research Park
• Courtyard Charlotte SouthPark
• Courtyard Charlotte Arrowood

Durham

• SpringHill Suites Raleigh-Durham Airport/Research Triangle Park
• Residence Inn Durham Research Triangle Park
• Courtyard Durham Research Triangle Park

Morrisville

• Residence Inn Raleigh-Durham Airport
• Courtyard Raleigh-Durham Airport

Raleigh

• Courtyard Raleigh Midtown

South Carolina

Greenville

• Courtyard Greenville Haywood Mall

Myrtle Beach

• Courtyard Myrtle Beach Broadway

North Charleston

• Courtyard Charleston North/Coliseum

Spartanburg

• Courtyard Spartanburg

Hotels for Heroes is a program launching this year to allow Americans of frequent guest programs to donate their hotel points to assist the families of wounded veterans who need lodging while staying near the hospital. Marriott International, Wyndham Hotels Group and AmericInn Hotels & Suites are the initial three hotel companies to sign on as participants.

Hotels for Heroes was created with legislation introduced by Maryland Congressionman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Senator Ben Cardin (both D-MD) in November 2011 and passed with bipartisan support in the “National Defense Authorization Act” December 2011.

“Hotels for Heroes” will be an expansion of the national “Hero Miles” program that provides free round-trip airfare to wounded warriors recovering at military or VA medical centers as well as to friends and family visiting them. Flights under the “Hero Miles” program, which was created by Congressman Ruppersberger in 2003, are made possible through frequent flyer mile donations made by individual airline passengers. The “Hero Miles” program is administered by the Fisher House, a non-profit organization that opens its homes to military families visiting their injured loved ones at hospitals across the country. Fisher House recently announced its 25,000th ticket issued through the program.

http://dutch.house.gov/2011/12/hotels-for-heroes-program-passes-congress.shtml

Hotels for Heroes launched this week with the announcement that Marriott, Wyndham and AmericInn have signed on to the program. Other hotel loyalty programs are asked to join the effort and agree to participate by Memorial Day when organizers hope to be ready to accept donations of hotel points.

The Fisher House Foundation which runs Hero Miles will also oversee the Hotels for Heroes program.

Best Western, Choice, Hyatt, La Quinta, Starwood, Carlson, Hilton and IHG… I hope that most or all of these hotel chains sign on to the program in the next two months.

Marriott Rewards allows members to earn Gold elite through a challenge requiring 12 nights in 90 days or earn Platinum after 18 nights in 90 days. You can register for an Elite Challenge with a phone call 801-468-4000.

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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.

Marriott PointSavers dates offer reward nights at the price of one category lower. A Marriott Rewards category 6 hotel normally 30,000 points is only 25,000 points per night during PointSavers dates. 5th night free rewards also apply, so a 5-night stay at a category 6 hotel on PointSavers dates is only 100,000 points (4 x 25,000 points).

Most of the hotels listed last week had no PointSavers dates past February 29. The new list is primarily March-only dates at 13 hotels in the USA and UK. Some of the other countries offer PointSavers dates later in the year.

And if your travel plans take you to Bogota, Colombia, then the Marriott Bogota and JW Marriott Bogota have the entire 2012 year on PointSavers. PointSavers rate at either Bogota hotel = 15,000 points/night or 60,000 points for 5 nights for these two category 4 hotels. Now that is one inexpensive hotel stay on points considering paid rates run around $200 per night for JW Marriott Bogota. But you had better book your stay soon for JW Marriott Bogota as that hotel is rising to category 5 on March 15 and will be 20,000 points per night on PointSavers.

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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.

Here is the list of Marriott brand hotels moving up one category to Category 6, 7 and 8 on March 15, 2012 and organized geographically. The basic trend is easy to see with major international cities around the globe rising one category level for high-end Marriott brand hotels. In the USA the major cities and resort locations see rises.

Florida, Hawaii, Boston, Chicago and New Orleans are locations that stand with numerous properties rising. London, Amsterdam and Paris have multiple hotels rising.

The fact that 132 hotels rise to be in category 6-8 leaves the majority of upward changes in Marriott Rewards, nearly 400 hotels, rising one level from their current category 1-4 level. I will post those changes by geographic location in separate posts.

[click on image to see full size version]

Related Posts:

Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes March 15, 2012

Marriott Rewards Hotels with Category Drop on March 15, 2012 (table showing list geographically)

Marriott Rewards posted its hotel category reassignments for 2012. While my primary complaint about reward nights hotel category transparency for consumers has been addressed with a complete list of hotels going up and down being posted, my other pet peeve is posting a list by hotel brand rather than geographic location.

Here is a geographic quiz to illustrate the issue with no city, state and country being used to organize the Marriott brand hotels for the reward category changes. The answers are at the end of this post.

1. What state has the Courtyard Tyler?

2. What state has the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe?

3. Where will you fly to stay at the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino?

4. Is Courtyard Panama City Metro Mall within a day’s drive of Atlanta?

5. Where will I find the Denia Marriott La Sella Golf Resort & Spa?

Here is a table of the Marriott properties going down in category organized by geographic location. There are five times as many hotels going up than down. The other list will take a little longer for me to organize.

There do not seem to be many patterns or trends to point out except that the Caribbean appears to be dropping. The most overpriced hotel region of the world five years ago seems to be suffering some travel reward drops. The four Aruba hotels are currently already listed at the lower reward category level. These hotels were the same ones that rose to category 8 in March 2011. That level did not last too long.

There are no other hotels in the top four categories dropping a level.

Japan and Egypt are probably a symptom of disaster and revolution that keeps many people from wanting to redeem points for travel in those countries over the past year.

Answers to Marriott Rewards geoquiz:

1. What state has the Courtyard Tyler?  Texas.

2. What state has the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe? New Jersey.

3. Where will you fly to stay at the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino? Dominican Republic.

4. Is Courtyard Panama City Metro Mall within a day’s drive of Atlanta? Panama City in Panama is longer than a day’s drive and you will might want a vehicle with a winch. That Darien Gap is a tough haul if you want to go past Panama on the Pan-American Highway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap

5. Where will I find the Denia Marriott La Sella Golf Resort & Spa? Spain.

Marriott Rewards this morning released the full list of hotel category reassignments effective Thursday, March 15, 2012.

• 100 hotels are decreasing by one category (3% of Marriott brand hotels globally).
• 526 hotels are increasing by one category (15% of Marriott brand hotels globally).

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.

The Autograph Collection of Marriott is one of the most exciting concepts to come out of a major hotel loyalty program. In the past two years since the launch of this Marriott brand to market independent luxury and boutique hotels, the collection has grown to 32 hotels with the recent addition of two Miami South Beach properties: Winter Haven and Blue Moon. These properties have decent reviews on TripAdvisor. The cost of Miami Beach hotels is astronomical and the ability to use Marriott Rewards points is one way to save on room expenses for this hot spot for hotels.

Winter Haven and Blue Moon are both Marriott Rewards category 7 hotels at 35,000 points per night and 5th night free on award stays.

I have to say that I am not thrilled about the functionality of the Autograph Hotels website. I simply wanted to see what reward category the two Miami Beach hotels are assigned to and I couldn’t easily get from the Autograph Collection home page to the hotel page. It was far easier to just Google the hotel name and go directly to the website.

The Saint Hotel New Orleans is also a new addition to Autograph Collection and is a category 6 hotel reward at 30,000 points per night.

Marriott anticipates having 60 hotels in Autograph Collection by the end of 2012.

Here is the Marriott press release with more details about the three Autograph Collection hotels mentioned here.