Marriott Rewards offers a PointSavers discount whereby the rate for a free night using points is reduced by one category level for participating hotels. UK hotels are heavily featured for 2009. The PointSavers participating hotels list is up-to-date.

The PointSavers advertisement is up to 33% savings. This is true if you book a Marriott Rewards category 3 hotel participating in PointSavers. The regular rate of 15,000 points per night for a free night at a Category 3 hotel will be reduced by 33% to 10,000 points per night. In effect you can redeem 3 nights at a Category 3 hotel for the normal price of 2 nights.

33% is the maximum savings using PointSavers.

The savings is reduced as you go higher in category level using PointSavers.

Here is a table to show the savings by hotel category level for Marriott Rewards PointSavers.

Marriott Rewards feature of “Redeem 4 nights and get the 5^th night free” is applicable for PointSaver redemptions.

Ritz-Carlton PointSavers

Ritz-Carlton Hotels are part of the Marriott Hotels chain. You can redeem your Marriott Rewards points for Ritz-Carlton hotel stays, however, you do not earn Marriott Rewards points for Ritz-Carlton stays.

A great feature of Marriott Rewards is the participation of Ritz-Carlton Hotels in PointSavers. In fact, the advantage of Ritz-Carlton PointSavers is the per night rate for multi-night stays still decreases for longer stays just as the old Marriott Rewards chart did for Marriott brand hotels.

A free night using Marriott Rewards points for a Tier 2 Ritz-Carlton Hotel for a 1-night stay will cost 70,000 points regularly. A 7-night hotel stay will cost just over 35,000 points per night. The per night cost using points decreases by almost 50%.

There are four main Marriott Hotels in San Francisco all at Category 6 or 30,000 points per night. The 5^th night free award saves 30,000 points. A Marriott Rewards guest will spend 180,000 points for 7 nights on a regular award at one of these San Francisco hotels. None of these hotels are currently participating in PointSavers for discount award nights.

PointSavers for 7-nights reduces the cost for a free night at a higher level Ritz-Carlton Hotel to just over 27,000 points per night for a hotel like the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco and Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, 35 miles south of San Francisco. A Marriott Rewards guest will spend 190,000 points for a 7-night PointSavers stay available through September 30, 2009. An additional 10,000 points will upgrade the guest from a Marriott or Renaissance to a Ritz-Carlton in the San Francisco area.

Ritz-Carlton PointSavers Table

Ritz-Carlton Hotel stays are a great value for Marriott Rewards points.

Here is the link to the Summer 2009 participating hotels through September 30, 2009.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/ritzCarltonPointSavers.mi#summer2009pointsaversrewards

Ritz-Carlton San Francisco

Hey Marriott! PointSavers webpage update is overdue.

Marriott Rewards has not updated the PointSavers FAQ page. The webpage describing PointSavers has been out-of-date for all of 2009 since the Marriott Rewards program changes in January 2009. The FAQ provides an incorrect example for the first question:

“What type of value does PointSavers provide?

The PointSavers value is exceptional. Members may receive up to a 33% savings on point redemptions depending on the hotel category and number of nights requested.

Locations participating in PointSavers are discounted by one category in Marriott Rewards point requirements.*

For example, members can stay in a Category 5 hotel while redeeming points for a Category 4 hotel. So, to stay at a Category 5 hotel for two nights at a standard redemption would require 46,000 Marriott Rewards points. The same stay with PointSavers would be 38,000 points or a 21% savings.”

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/marriottRewardsPointSaversFAQs.mi

Using the current Marriott Rewards free night redemption table the example should read:

“For example, members can stay in a Category 5 hotel while redeeming points for a Category 4 hotel. So, to stay at a Category 5 hotel for two nights at a standard redemption would require 50,000 Marriott Rewards points. The same stay with PointSavers would be 40,000 points or a 20% savings.”

Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California is on the current PointSavers list for discount award nights using points from March 1 through April 30, 2009.  That property caught my eye.

Marriott PointSavers are discount hotel stay awards where the limited time special offer is one redemption category reduction in the cost of points for a free night.    

Laguna Cliffs Marriott is a Marriott Rewards Category 6 and regularly 30,000 points per night.  For the upcoming two months the nightly PointSavers rate is the regular rate for a Category 5 hotel or 25,000 points per night.  Even Ritz Carlton hotels participate in PointSavers.

The new 2009 Marriott Rewards redemption chart has the feature of a 5^th night free.  The Rewards member only pays points for 4 nights on hotel stays of 5 nights.  Fifth night free also applies to PointSaver hotel rewards. 

Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort is only 100,000 points for 5 nights during the March-April PointSaver Reward period.  A Marriott Rewards Category 6 property for 20,000 points per night is even lower than the regular 2008 redemption rate.  

The 2008 rate would have been 110,000 points for a 5 night stay at the Category 6 Laguna Cliffs Marriott during regular redemption periods or 95,000 points during a PointSavers period.  The 2009 redemption changes are not bad for this particular example of a Category 6 hotel for five nights on a PointSaver rate.

Although for a reality check, consider a four night stay at a Category 6 hotel on a PointSavers will cost 100,000 points now and would have only been 80,000 points in 2008.  A 25% increase in points hurts.

Redemption Castles in the Sand

Last month Marriott Rewards introduced  its new redemption chart for free hotel nights using points.  The change eliminated, from a consumer viewpoint, the strong competitive advantage Marriott Rewards had over Hilton, IHG, and Starwood for discounted multi-night hotel stays at high end hotels. 

In 2008 the high Category 7 hotels were 35,000 points for one free night using points.  Discounts on multi-night stays using points reduced the rate for a 7 night stay to 150,000 points.  Marriott Rewards was the bastion of the great one week bargain vacation when you could get a hotel stay redemption for a top category hotel vacation at 150,000 points. 

The drawback to Rewards members’ dream getaways was capacity controls for hotel redemptions at the lower points rates and the possibility of needing double points for a StayAnytime Reward – a whopping 300,000 points for a 7 night stay at a Category 7 resort — was a real obstacle at times to getting your hotel reservation.

A Category 7 Marriott brand hotel at 35,000 points per night is now 140,000 points for 5 nights in 2009 and 210,000 points for a 7 night stay.  60,000 additional points, a 40% increase in the cost of a one week award at a Marriott Hotel, is a real hit in the account balance of Marriott Rewards members.

And if your dream getaway was one of the 14 hotels to move up to the newly established Category 8 level, then a 5 night stay will now be 160,000 points.  The Marriott Rewards member will pay 10,000 more points than required for a 7-night stay in 2008 for two fewer nights in 2009. 

That beach resort vacation may take several more thousands of dollars in hotel spending in 2009. The consumer takes another one on the chin in 2009.

The bright side for 2009 is beach resort rates are plummeting. This may be the year to concentrate points spending on the low tier properties which are holding average room rates much better than resorts. 

You might be surprised at some of the incredible room rate bargains in 2009 where spending a large amount of points on a high category hotel could provide a relatively low value.

Marriott Rewards says your consumer advantage for the 2009 changes is greater access to those hotel rooms in the Marriott system.  When so many hotels are at 50% occupancy I really wonder how much of a concession “No Blackouts” is in these economic times. 

Related link: Marriott Rewards Analysis of 2009 Program Changes 

This report has a modified chart showing both 2008 redemption points and 2009 redemption points.

Marriott Rewards Advantage is Free Nights Redemption Chart

Marriott Rewards competitive advantage over Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, IHG Priority Club, and Starwood Preferred Guest is their “Free Nights Redemption Chart” which offers a progressively increasing per night discount for multiple night hotel stays using points. The difference with the Marriott Rewards table is the points per night cost decreases for every extra night of a hotel stay using points beginning with 2-night stays.

 Marriott San Francisco 

Savings Example Using Marriott Rewards Points for a Multiple Night Stay:

Marriott Rewards Category 5 Hotels cost 25,000 points for one room night using points. 

2-night stay = 46,000 points.   Per night rate drops to 23,000 points for a free night when you book a two-night stay using points.  Spending 46,000 points for two nights is an 8% discount from 50,000 points.

Important Difference of Marriott Rewards — The other major hotel programs do not discount the per night cost for a two-night stay.

A Crowne Plaza stay at 25,000 points  for one night will cost 50,000 points for two nights using hotel points.

A 5-night stay at a Marriott Rewards Category 5 hotel using points costs 95,000 points.  The cost per night on a 5-night Marriott Rewards Category 5 hotel = 19,000 points per free night.  This is a 24% savings on the per night cost for a five night hotel stay.

The higher category Marriott Rewards hotels, Category 5, 6, and 7 hotels, for longer stays of five to seven nights provide a per night discount over 30% and some reward stays approach a 40% discount when using points.  This is one of the highest discounts in the hotel industry for upscale and luxury high-end hotel properties when using hotel points for free stays.

Starwood Preferred Guest has the 5th Night Free Award Stay which gives a 20% discount on the per night rate, but SPG does not have discounted point rates for stays less than five nights using hotel points.

Marriott Rewards Redemption Chart 

source: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/hotelrew.mi  

Marriott Rewards – Points per Night for a Multiple Night Stay 

Color codes show the relative per night discounts for longer stays. 

Percentages shown are per night discounts for an award stay based on per night cost for a 1-night award.  The larger percentages indicate more savings in points when booking a multi-night award using Marriott Rewards hotel points.

Marriott Rewards discounts the per night rate by 30% or more for cat 5, 6, and 7 hotels on 6-night and 7-night award reservations.

Marriott Rewards discounts are 20% to 27% on per night rates for Category 5, 6, and 7 hotels when booking 4-night or 5-night award stays using points.

Other Hotel chains are not as generous as Marriott Rewards for shorter hotel stays using points.

Hilton HHonors requires a minimum 6-night stay before any discount kicks in on the per night redemption rate using points.  VIP-only awards for 6-night or longer hotel stays are available to Hilton HHonors elite members.  Elite membership is a relatively small hurdle to qualify for Silver elite status and access to VIP-Only Reward stays.  Hilton HHonors Silver VIP requires just four Hilton-family hotel stays per year.

HHonors Category 6 hotel is 40,000 points per night.  A 6-night VIP award for a Category 6 hotel is 175,000 points, a 27% points discount.  Marriott’s comparable 6-night, Category 6 award is only 120,000 points and offers a 33% discount on the per night rate.  Hilton allows the member to earn 15 points per $1 hotel spending with Points&Points earning preference.  These awards will take about the same amount of hotel spending to earn the award.

HHonors Category 6 hotel is 40,000 points per night.  A 4-night award for a HHonors Category 6 hotel is 160,000 points, no discount on the per night points for a four-night HHonors stay.

Marriott Rewards Category 6 hotel for a four-night stay is 95,000 points.

The Marriott Rewards member is likely to earn a four night stay with less overall spending.  Hilton HHonors Diamond elites will have more equally matched earning power due to HHonors 50% elite bonus for Diamonds compared to only a 30% elite bonus for Marriott Rewards Platinum members.

Update Oct. 4, 2008:  HHonors American Express credit card HHonors 4-night AXON award discount.  An astute reader pointed out the option for Hilton HHonors members with a co-branded American Express HHonors credit card to redeem HHonors points for a 4-night AXON award at HHonors Category 5 or Category 6 hotels for 125,000 points. 

I overlooked the AXON hotel stay option in this analysis.  I have a post from May 15, 2008 about the HHonors American Express AXON awards.  The HHonors American Express card, along with SPG AmEx, also came out on top in earning potential in my analysis of hotel co-branded credit cards in this post “Comparison of Hotel Loyalty Program Affinity Credit Cards“.

Gary Leff wrote about the best bonus points offer he has seen from HHonors American Express on his “View from the Wing” blog in this October 4, 2008 post .

Hyatt Gold Passport

Marriott Rewards Fall Megabonus with VISA Card Payment

Registration required for promotion bonus. 

Promotional Period: September 15, 2008 – January 15, 2009

FrequentFlyerBonuses.com reports six variations of Marriott Rewards Fall Megabonus for 25,000 to 50,000 points depending on the specific offer targeted to your member account.

My offer was for 5,000 bonus points after every 3^rd stay, up to 25,000 bonus points.  Assuming one-night stays I could earn 25,000 points for 15 hotel nights.  I currently have no Marriott Rewards elite membership status and I haven’t stayed at a Marriott brand hotel in 2008.

The bonus is a nice addition to regular points earning for Marriott Rewards, but the offer is not enough of an enticement for me to deliberately steer hotel nights to Marriott when there are other options for my hotel loyalty. 

By the numbers:

Assume an $80 per night room rate at a Marriott hotel brand and one-night stays.

$240 in base spending (excluding hotel taxes) for 3 stays could earn 10 points per dollar for 2,400 points.  (Only 5 points per $1 earned with Residence Inn or TownePlace Suites brands.)

2,400 points + 5,000 bonus points = 7,400 points after first 3-stay bonus. 

I could have 22,200 points after 9 stays.  This would be sufficient for a 1-night Pointsavers hotel award for the New York JFK Airport Marriott Courtyard (20,000 points over November and December holidays).  I kind of favor this hotel option after spending 3 hours to commute to Newark, New Jersey for a reasonably priced hotel last year.  But 9 stays is quite a commitment to Marriott when there are so many hotel chains offering hotel stay incentives this fall.

A free hotel night systemwide with Kimpton Hotels is awarded after 7 stays.  Hyatt Gold Passport is rumored to be starting Faster Free Nights in September and this promotion awards a free hotel night in the Hyatt system after two stays.  Starwood Preferred Guest is launching their Fall 2008 promotion in September and details will be released September 16.  In the meantime, I can earn combined Starwood  bonuses using the Summer Stay 1,000 points bonus and the FlyerTalk 500 points bonus per night for stays through September 30.  And Hilton just seems out to lunch in trying to promote hotel activity through promotions.  I feel like I neglect Hilton HHonors, but honestly, I rarely see a competitive promotion from them and I feel they neglect me as a hotel consumer. 

Marriott Rewards is a great program for road warriors on the business circuit or for a leisure traveler just seeking a good quality hotel every once in a while.  The high threshold for elite status with Marriott Rewards keeps me staying with other chains where frequent guest loyalty is rewarded at a lower cost and free hotel nights are easier to obtain.

Other Variations of the Marriott Rewards Fall MegaBonus Targeted Offers:

·         50,000 points:  Earn 35,000 points after 20 nights paid with VISA and an additional 15,000 points after a total of 25 nights.

·         35,000 points after 20 nights paid with VISA.

·         25,000 points after 15 nights paid with VISA, and an additional 10,000 points after 20 nights.

·         25,000 points after 15 nights paid with VISA.

·         2,500 points after every VISA-paid stay, up to 25,000 points.  (This is the best option for the basic Marriott member in my opinion and the offer I would have preferred.  I do like my offer better than the ones which require the member to complete either 15 or 20 nights to receive any bonus points.)

An article appeared today in PR Newswire for Journalists, Economy Foreclosing on Spring Break?, based on a survey by AccessAmerica, a travel insurance company. “Access America survey finds half of American families scaling back spring break plans…or forgoing their vacations altogether”

The not-so-surprising conclusion of the data is poorer families are cutting back on vacation spending this March 2008. The website says the full report is available upon request.

My observation, as someone who has traveled nearly every Easter to Europe for the past ten years, is airfare to Europe is dirt cheap right now for long-haul travel this Spring 2008. The fares are comparable or lower than commonly available fares at Easter time since 2000. Airfare is probably near a record low right now for purchasing trans-Atlantic travel in just 14 days or so from today.

I have seen fares from Monterey, San Francisco, and Los Angeles hovering around $500 all-in to Frankfurt and London. The fare was $541 Monterey to Frankfurt last week, 21 days before Easter travel. I think that airfare has to be near the record low over the past five years for a ticket purchase from Monterey this close to Easter. There were flights costing less from Monterey to Europe than San Francisco to Europe. The flights route from Monterey to San Francisco and then on to Europe. $100/barrel oil doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on airfare prices.

I commented a couple of months ago that trans-Atlantic travel was down 2006 to 2007 year-over-year. American Airlines reports February passenger loads have increased to Europe. The low prices are getting people across the ocean, but are you prepared for the $7.00 Coca-Cola and $18 fishs & chips pub tab?

Hotel Tips from the Loyalty Traveler –
Planning a Spring Break European hotel stay?

Here are links to some of the best hotel opportunities for a lower-cost trip. I provide a hotel sample, but there are many choices of hotels and locations offering these reduced hotel stay awards. And there is good news for those of you not banking enough points at the moment for a free hotel stay this Spring trip. Hotel points can be purchased and there is a possibility you can save money by just purchasing the hotel points you need to book a free hotel stay.

Hilton Point Stretchers and London.

Hilton London Canary Wharf has PointStretcher dates from March 16-28 and May 1-7. This 40,000 HHonors point/night Category 6 hotel can be booked for 24,000/points/night with an HHonors Point Stretcher reservation.

HHonors members can buy 40,000 HHonors points in a calendar year. Purchases of 10,000 points reduce the price to $10/1,000 points.

Hilton London Canary Wharf can be booked for 24,000 points. If you don’t already have the points, you can buy 24,000 points for $240.

March 20, 2008 rate check of Hilton London Canary Wharf
The nightly rate ranges from $454 low to $500+ for most rooms. This would be a high value use of a PointStretcher night, if you could get a reservation. In contrast, the Friday night rate at the London Canary Wharf is under $175/night.
S
ample trip for a couple: Each person purchase 24,000 Hilton HHonors points and redeem for one free Point Stretcher night ($480 total cost). Pay for two weekend nights when rates drop to about $175/night from the $400 to $500 midweek rates. Friday and Saturday night will cost $350. Four nights at the Hilton Canary Wharf London for a little over $200/night.

Other HHonors Point Stretcher hotel opportunities

Marriott PointSavers
Marriott has several UK hotel properties available for Spring break trips at reduced points rates.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club PointBreaks

These awards are an unbeatable deal if you have a trip to a hotel location where IHG Priority Club is offering a PointBreaks award. The cost is only 5,000 points per night. Priority Club members can purchase 10,000 points for $100, up to 20,000 points per calendar year.

Sample Award night:
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Caserta, Italy (near Naples)
March 19-21, 2008 for 10,000 points (=$100 for 2-night stay)
Paid rate for a 2-night stay March 19-21, 2008 = 77EUR/night or $230 for 2-night stay.

Another incredible deal with IHG Priority Club is their Pay 2 Nights, Get 1 Free offer. Dozens of hotels in Europe are participating this Spring season. Check the link and search for a hotel.
Naples, Italy Holiday Inn for March 19-21 is only 45EUR/night. That is a budget saver.
If you are lucky you may save hundreds of dollars between this offer and a PointBreaks stay.