Marriott Rewards: Introducing Points Bidding

From an email today:

New: Bid Points for Experiences
Want to redeem points for things like cruises and concerts? Now you can set your own price, by bidding auction-style on certain experiences. Here's how:

Find an experience, from sports events to culinary adventures.

Bid points to try and win – just like an auction.

Place the highest bid by the end of the auction – and the experience is yours

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Check out experiencesmarketplace.com.

Thanks for sharing. Interesting, but I'm not sure I would use my MRPs for these.

Mike

SueDonJ said:

From an email today:


Check out experiencesmarketplace.com.

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This is an interesting new option.
There seem to be limited options available just now, but perhaps it could be a useful option in future
http://loyaltylobby.com/2016/08/25/...s-marketplace-now-allows-bidding/?omhide=true

Doesn't it look like they are setting the min bids at or above market and then seeing who is willing to waste the most points? It might be useful for someone that earns tons of points through business spending but not so much for personally hard earned points.

Saintsfanfl said:

Doesn't it look like they are setting the min bids at or above market and then seeing who is willing to waste the most points? It might be useful for someone that earns tons of points through business spending but not so much for personally hard earned points.

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But, but, but, it's a great new option! :hysterical:

davidvel said:

But, but, but, it's a great new option! :hysterical:

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Why is it that everything new they introduce is automatically panned or ridiculed right out of the gate? For someone sitting on a boatload of MRP it may be exactly that, a great new option. I actually plan on watching one of them for the duration because if the bids don't get stupid I may be able to come away with something I need that's totally non-Marriott related and is going to cost me at least $2,000. If I think the MRP redemption is worth it, why rain on my parade?

But besides all that, I think it's interesting that the Loyalty Lobby link from bazzap mentions that SPG offered this Experience Marketplace thing before Marriott did (although it's not clear if SPG offers it in an auction format?) I think this is nothing more than MI working in advance of the Marriott/Starwood acquisition completion in order to integrate the two loyalty programs in stages. They began the process a few months ago when they introduced the "Fab Four" existing SPG benefits to MR members. IMO this introduction further reinforces the notion that they'll be doing more of this throughout the process until the programs are totally integrated sometime in 2018 (their announced timetable.) It makes sense for them to do so because it will alleviate somewhat the SPG Members' very vocal fears (whether you buy into them or not) that their existing program will be decimated under the MI umbrella.

I think this would be fun and interesting if I had excessive points to burn. I don't....but I'm sure many do.

For kicks and giggles (and it because it was easy to compare) I looked at the price of the RCCL New Years cruise. Directly with RCCL the cost would be $3,800.

Starting bid was 200,000 points. Current bid is 332,500 points. Granted there still is 19 days left on the auction, but I guess there is potential to get a possible deal.

SueDonJ said:

Why is it that everything new they introduce is automatically panned or ridiculed right out of the gate?
For someone sitting on a boatload of MRP it may be exactly that, a great new option. I actually plan on watching one of them for the duration because if the bids don't get stupid I may be able to come away with something I need that's totally non-Marriott related and is going to cost me at least $2,000. If I think the MRP redemption is worth it, why rain on my parade?
But besides all that, I think it's interesting that the Loyalty Lobby link from bazzap mentions that SPG offered this Experience Marketplace thing before Marriott did (although it's not clear if SPG offers it in an auction format?) I think this is nothing more than MI working in advance of the Marriott/Starwood acquisition completion in order to integrate the two loyalty programs in stages. They began the process a few months ago when they introduced the "Fab Four" existing SPG benefits to MR members. IMO this introduction further reinforces the notion that they'll be doing more of this throughout the process until the programs are totally integrated sometime in 2018 (their announced timetable.) It makes sense for them to do so because it will alleviate somewhat the SPG Members' very vocal fears (whether you buy into them or not) that their existing program will be decimated under the MI umbrella.

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Joked about, maybe. Panned and ridiculed, not so much.

My response was to the scenario presented by Saintsfanfl, that they were setting the minimum points at what others charge without an auction. Not sure f that's true or not, but that's what I got from his post.

And yes, I do fall in the camp that thinks Marriott's prime interest in everything they do is to separate folks from their money and give it to Marriott. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. Its the nature of our economic system.

davidvel said:

Joked about, maybe. Panned and ridiculed, not so much.

My response was to the scenario presented by Saintsfanfl, that they were setting the minimum points at what others charge without an auction. Not sure f that's true or not, but that's what I got from his post.

And yes, I do fall in the camp that thinks Marriott's prime interest in everything they do is to separate folks from their money and give it to Marriott. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that. Its the nature of our economic system.

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I completely agree, their motives are self-serving. But if they offer me something that can save me having to lay out cash, I'm going to take a long look at it. Are they price-fixing the auctions? Maybe. Could my MRP be used another way to get more value? Sure. But at a certain point anyone in a loyalty program could reach a point where they don't NEED to get the greatest value so why not then take that look? I'd just like to be able to do it once without TUGgers snickering about it.

davidvel said:

My response was to the scenario presented by Saintsfanfl, that they were setting the minimum points at what others charge without an auction. Not sure f that's true or not, but that's what I got from his post.

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I was definitely making that assumption. It is hard not to be skeptical when they try and sell a $300 Xbox for $1,250 in reward points. That might be a little off but the merchandise is along those lines.

If the auctions are deals at the min bids then that is great. I still think the ending prices will exceed market due to so many people having excessive points on company business travel and spending. I am not ridiculing it but more pointing out the reality. It gives another outlet for people with big points balances but I also think Marriott will get a decent deal on the points spent per dollar.

In either case it is a good business idea.

Starwood does already offer this, and has for years. It is called SPG Moments. They tend to be "experiences." Tasting menu with celebrity chef at his restaurant, golf with a PGA pro, box seats for a sporting event, backstage passes for a concert, etc

Sorry, is the bidding available on their website?

bizaro86 said:

Starwood does already offer this, and has for years. It is called SPG Moments. They tend to be "experiences." Tasting menu with celebrity chef at his restaurant, golf with a PGA pro, box seats for a sporting event, backstage passes for a concert, etc

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Maybe this is why Marriott is offering it now since they now own Starwood.

SueDonJ said:

I'd just like to be able to do it once without TUGgers snickering about it.

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Optimist!

Ken555 said:

Optimist!

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Always!

Saintsfanfl said:

Maybe this is why Marriott is offering it now since they now own Starwood.

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I said that up there, that it's likely being introduced to us because SPG already has it and because Marriott has already started integrating the SPG program into Marriott Rewards (in advance of the acquisition completion which should be finalized later this year, and in advance of the SPG/MR integration which they expect will happen in 2018.)

Saintsfanfl said:

Maybe this is why Marriott is offering it now since they now own Starwood.

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I think the merger can't close until they get some approvals in China. Cheers.

Where do you find the bidding?

Safti said:

Where do you find the bidding?

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Click the link in the first post and you'll get to the page showing all of the experiences. Click on the "Current Bids" or "Redeem" MRP amounts to get details of the experience, the starting bid requirement and time left in the auction. If you click the "Sign in to bid" button a "Confirm Your Identity" page comes up where they ask if you want a security code sent to your email, texted to your cell phone or called to a phone. (The email and phone number choices are imported from your Marriott profile.) Once you get and input the code the experience page will show how many bids have been placed and the current high bid, with directions to "Please bid in increments of ____ points." That's as far as I've gotten.

I want the complete closet makeover. You get your own personal closet expert.

It'll be interesting to see how it evolves over time.gotta agree it looks pricey, but so are Amex reward options, etc., and they've clearly been successful. Seems more geared to those with lots of business points, and for those looking for an unusual experience booked easily. What I did find curious, though, is while the Hamilton package, for ex., has some unusual extras thrown in ( like dinner with two cast members, although I'm sure not the stars), the tickets were for rear mezzanine.
Certainly not as nice as watching the show from the front row for $10 a seat for the lucky lottery winners