This piece focuses on room rate and reward rate survey for over 60 hotels along the I-15 and I-70 route from Las Vegas to Colorado. Most hotel reward analyses and surveys I have done focus on one city. In Utah there are so few hotels that this survey covers all the major brand hotels along the Interstate in five locations.

I will be traveling east and south of the Utah interstate I-15/I-70 route to Colorado as I travel to Utah’s National Parks over the next week. Hotels in the parks region will be covered in different posts as I travel.

This piece is a comparative look at seven major hotel chains with particular emphasis on Best Western, Choice and Wyndham brands which are the majority of hotel properties in southern Utah.

• Best Western Rewards
• Choice Privileges
• Club Carlson
• Hilton HHonors
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Rewards
• Wyndham Rewards

Utah is not like Disneyland.

Read More…

Oxnard is one of California’s cities that blows me away when I see the population listed as over 200,000 residents. This city has probably had one of the largest increases in population among California cities during my lifetime.

I do not know much about Oxnard except that it is where Highway 1, Pacific Coast Highway reappears as a separate route from Highway 101 following the coastline south along the Santa Monica Mountains and Malibu to Santa Monica.

And there are a large number of Mexican restaurants.

Oxnard is about 50 miles south of Santa Barbara. The hotels in Santa Barbara are expensive relative to Ventura and Oxnard. Ventura can be a cheap place to stay on weekdays, but weekend rates climb. The high rates on weekends in Ventura make Four Points Ventura Harbor one of my favorite places to stay when the cost is 3,000 Starpoints per night.

Traveling south from Oxnard is basically the Los Angeles metropolitan area either traveling 101 inland through the San Fernando Valley to LA or Highway 1 along the coast to Santa Monica and LA.

Residence Inn Oxnard River Ridge offered a convenient stop  last Tuesday at an affordable price ($109) with the benefit of earning a free night certificate with my second stay for Marriott Rewards MegaBonus (Feb 1-April 30, 2013 promotion).

My two free nights from last week’s stays already posted to my account. Read More…

Marriott Rewards has nearly the same MegaBonus promotion offer that ends tomorrow starting up again in two weeks for one free night after two stays from May 15 to September 2, 2013.

Marriott Rewards Unexpected Bonus promotion registration is required by July 31, 2013.

I called the summer promotion MegaBonus in the title, even though Marriott is calling the next promotion “Unexpected Bonus”. There is really nothing unexpected about this offer compared to all the other recurring free night offers from Marriott Rewards over the past few years.

My California Adventure Marriott road trip this past week apparently placed me in the upper tier of the free night offer since my offer is for one free category 1-5 reward certificate every two stays with a maximum two free nights.

This is the first time in years that my offer was not for a Category 1-4 free night certificate.

Keep in mind that over 50% of the current 700+ category 4 hotels are moving up to category 5 on May 16, 2013.

My Marriott Unexpected Bonus offer.

Marriott Rewards has targeted offers for this promotion. Here are five other different bonus offers mentioned in this FlyerTalk thread.

35,000 bonus points: Earn 25,000 points after 15 nights and another 10,000 bonus points after 20 nights May 15-Sep 2, 2013.

35,000 bonus points: Earn 25,000 points after 15 nights and another 2,000 points per night for up to 10 additional nights.

45,000 bonus points: Earn 35,000 points after 20 nights and another 10,000 bonus points after 25 nights May 15-Sep 2, 2013.

55,000 bonus points: Earn 35,000 points after 20 nights and another 2,000 points per night for up to 10 additional nights.

Up to 3 Free nights at Category 1-4 hotels: Earn one free night certificate for a category 1 to 4 hotel after every two stays. Maximum of 3 free nights.

Up to 2 Free nights at Category 1-5 hotels: Earn one free night certificate for a category 1 to 5 hotel after every two stays. Maximum of 2 free nights.

You can log into Marriott Rewards and find your target offer at Promotion Central. Many members report luck in changing their target offer to one of the others, although changing a Category 1-4 target offer to cat 1-5 offer may prove more problematic.

Marriott MegaBonus won the 2013 Freddies Award last night for best hotel loyalty promotion in the Americas.

Marriott Monterey, California

The past few nights I have been hotel hopping in southern California earning free night credits for the Marriott Rewards MegaBonus two stays = one free night at a Category 1-4 hotel. This promotion ends April 30, 2013. You had to register by March 15 so too late this round if you did not already sign up.

Don’t worry if you missed out on the current Marriott Rewards MegaBonus.This offer will likely be repeated in 2013.

My California road trip so far has placed me in a Courtyard, Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn. While the average price for Marriott brand hotels for the areas I search is probably in the $150 range, there have been good deals to be found for $100 per night or less. There is even a $69 rate at a Marriott full service hotel tonight.

My plan is to redeem the MegaBonus free night certificates  at Category 4 hotels before about 370 hotels in Marriott Rewards category 4 change to category 5 on May 16, 2013. That is almost 50% of the current Category 4 hotels changing to category 5 and becoming ineligible for the Cat 1-4 certificates I’ve earned from this Marriott Rewards MegaBonus.

Fairfield Inn Placentia, California.

Fairfield Inn was a comfortable bed and basic room. Residence Inn and Courtyard were upscale stays. All the hotels have been places I would return without hesitation.

This tour of Marriott brand hotels will be a valuable experience for comparison to the Choice Privileges 2 stays for 8,000 points promotion I will tackle on my road trip from Monterey to Colorado Springs for the BoardingArea blogger BAcon conference in two weeks.

Earning Marriott Rewards and Choice Privileges free nights should make my next trip to Europe a bargain vacation.

Marriott is celebrating 1,000,000 Facebook fans with a #MyMarriottMillion contest rewarding five members with 200,000 points.

To enter the contest simply submit a photo by April 29, 2013 of your favorite travel moment.

And then start campaigning for votes!

1. Send us a pic of your favorite travel moment to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #MyMarriottMillion for a chance win 1 of 5 incredible prizes.

2. Remember that time you told your friend “You owe me?” Time to cash in on that. Tell them to “vote” for your entry. The top 5 photos with the most votes will be dubbed the winners.

3. Get pumped and get posting!

Submission period ends April 29, 2013. Must be 21+.

Marriott Facebook

Prizes:

How will it work? Simply send us a photo of your favorite travel moment and your peers will vote on their favorites. Five (5) lucky winners will receive 200,000 Marriott Rewards points each PLUS a Goodie bag filled with our favorite new gadgets of 2013 that will help you to travel at your best. Pretty awesome!

One extremely lucky grand prize winner will receive all this PLUS a trip for 2 to Austin, Texas for SXSW 2014 staying with us at our Austin Marriott South location for 6 nights.

Goodie bag includes a FitBit® Flex, a myCharge™ portable charger, a TrakDot™, a MiFi Constant Wireless Access device, a $350 Sponsor-specified gift card for MiFi Constant Wireless Access and a Sponsor-specified mini tablet.

Good luck in the contest.

Effective immediately, Marriott Rewards members who designate Avios as their earning preference will receive:

Two (2) Avios per US$1 spent at:

• Marriott Hotels & Resorts®
• JW Marriott®
• Renaissance® Hotels
• Marriott Vacation Club®
• Autograph Collection® Hotels
• EDITION® (room rate only)
• The Ritz-Carlton® (room rate only)
• Gaylord Hotels® (room rate only)

Or one (1) Avios per US$1 spent (room rate only) at:

• AC Hotels by MarriottSM
• Courtyard by Marriott®
• Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott®
• SpringHill Suites by Marriott®
• Residence Inn by Marriott®
• TownePlace Suites by Marriott®
• Marriott Executive Apartments®

In addition, Marriott Rewards members can convert their Marriott Rewards points into Avios at the following exchange rates:

Marriott Rewards points convert to Avios points at exchange rates:

10,000 MR points = 2,000 Avios points
20,000 MR points = 5,000 Avios points
30,000 MR points = 10,000 Avios points
70,000 MR points = 25,000 Avios points
125,000 MR points = 50,000 Avios points

Marriott has 77 hotels in Spain, mostly the AC Hotels by Marriott brand.

Marriott International April 10, 2013 news release.

Marriott Rewards Airline partners:

1. Aeroflot
2. AeroMexico
3. Air Berlin
4. Air Canada (Aeroplan)
5. Air China
6. Air France/KLM
7. Alaska Airlines
8. Alitalia
9. ANA
10. Asiana
11. Avianca-TACA
12. Avios British Airways
13. Cathay Pacific
14. China Eastern
15. China Southern
16. Delta
17. Emirates
18. Frontier
19. Gol/Varig
20. Hawaiian
21. Iberia Plus Avios
22. Japan Airlines
23. Jet Airways
24. JetBlue
25. Kingfisher Airlines
26. LAN
27. Lufthansa Miles & More
28. Qantas
29. Qatar
30. Singapore Airlines
31. Southwest
32. TAP Portugal
33. United Airlines
34. US Airways
35. Virgin America
36. Virgin Atlantic

Related post:

Table of 69 airline partners for the Top 10 global hotel loyalty programs (Aug 22, 2012)

The effect of Marriott Rewards category changes  is clearly seen for a selection of San Francisco hotels. The value of Marriott Rewards points is dropping around the Bay Area on May 16, 2013 when the majority of hotels rise by one category level.

Hotel reward category reassignment for 2013 is a nearly across the board increase; 5,000 points per reward night at 16 of 21 hotels closest to San Francisco. A number of category 4 hotels currently at 20,000 points per night or 80,000 points for 5 nights are rising to category 5; a 25% increase in reward stay cost.  Read More…

April 2013 is a time of reassessment for many hotel loyalty program members. The sudden and dramatic changes to the structure of hotel rewards across five of the top ten global hotel loyalty programs in the first quarter of 2013 was an incredible amount of information to digest.

The changes in the opening months of 2013 comprise the biggest overall change in the hotel loyalty program industry over the past decade.  Read More…

Marriott has bonus points to give away for anyone interested in submitting a baseball-theme story of 50 to 1,000 words for their Marriott Rewards Insiders 42 Contest and Sweepstakes between March 18 – April 14, 2013.

Sweepstakes portion is 45 sets of movie tickets.

42 Contest

Submit a baseball-themed story of 50 words to 1,000 words around one of four topics and be entered for a chance to win.

Eligibility is limited to U.S. legal residents of 50 states and D.C., 18 years of age and Marriott Rewards member.

Grand prize = 60,000 Marriott Rewards points and two tickets to a 2013 professional game of the winner’s choice.

First Prize = 20,000 points and two professional baseball game tickets.

Ten Finalists = 7,000 points.

Free 1,000 points? Read More…

A mountain resort hotel in southern California has joined Marriott Autograph Collection properties. Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa is located at an elevation of 5,100 feet in the San Bernadino Mountains about 100 miles east of LAX. This area is a mountain getaway resort within two hours drive of the beaches of Santa Monica and Venice.

Lake Arrowhead Resort originally opened in 1923. Scenes from some Hollywood movies have been filmed at the hotel. The resort has undergone a $26 million restoration of 162 guest rooms, 11 suites and the Spa of the Pines. Dining includes BIN189 for lakeside fine dining and Mountain Aroma’s coffee bar and pastries.

LAResort.com homepage.

Lake Arrowhead Resort Marriott Autograph Collection homepage.

This property enters Marriott Rewards as a category 6 award night at 30,000 points per night or 120,000 points for a 5-night stay.

Marriott websites already allow reservations for Lake Arrowhead Resort. I checked a sample midweek (cheaper rates) Tuesday and Wednesday night stay for May 14-16, 2013.

King Lake view room + 1,000 Marriott Rewards bonus points = $178.00 per night. 2-night stay = $463.72 after tax and resort fee.

There is a $20 resort fee at Lake Arrowhead Resort that includes wifi and parking.

An even better rate for a King Bed, Lake View room is AAA rate including breakfast for $188.10. A 2-night stay after tax and resort fees = $485.33. Breakfast at the hotel for an additional $12 is a great added value.

If you are willing to forego the Lake View, then AAA will get you into the hotel with a mountain view room for as low as $153 per night. This works out to $205.11 per night after tax and resort fee = $410.22 all-in for two night stay.

Lake Arrowhead, California, Google Maps

The Autograph Collection Hotels of Marriott are unique independent hotels signing on with Marriott Rewards for marketing and brand identity. There are currently 42 Autograph Collection Hotels with 15 of these hotels located outside the USA.

Hotel Adagio (1929) near Union Square, San Francisco and The Hotel Blackhawk (1910) Davenport, Iowa are two other recent additions to Marriott Autograph Collection.