Marriott Gift Cards

I searched, and am a little surprised not to find a thread here on this subject...

For those who collect Marriott points, Marriott is offering a gift card promotion. Gift cards can be purchased in denominations starting at $50. You earn 10 points for each dollar spent. (And I assume you could try to charge the purchase on your Marriott Rewards credit card - I don't know if they'd catch you double-dipping for points or not.)

The promo is slated to end on December 1.

If you're interested, go to https://gifts.marriott.com

I just saw these for the first time in Stater Bros. market. What a great idea!
Thanks for the tip on earning points.

applegirl said:

I just saw these for the first time in Stater Bros. market. What a great idea!
Thanks for the tip on earning points.

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Visit the website and read the info there first. I think the points bonus is only for online purchase.

I bought them last year during the promotion and was able to use the card to pay for my Marriott lodging & other marriott expenses and earned points. A good promotion IMO if you are collecting points and need to spend some money at Marriott.

I bought them during last year's "triple play" promotion and earned 29 points per dollar, counting points bonus for purchasing, points for using the Marriott Premier Visa to make the purchase and points for staying at Marriotts and using the gift cards to pay for the stays.

Another deal is to get a 10% discount off of the price of Marriott gift cards. The offer is to all Delta SkyMiles members and requires a minimum purchase of a $1,000 card. One SkyMile earned per $1,000 card purchased. Valid through December 31.

Since I stay at Marriotts many nights each year, I purchased several.

https://deltapromo.netlinkrg.com/

Great idea! Do the gift cards have an expiration date?

No expiration date. From the T&C:

Card value does not expire.

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After seeing this post, made me think. We are going to Maui in January, so my thoughts were to buy cards for the expenses and earn the points. I called guest services to talk about the Old Lahaina Luau, and they have a promo (or maybe it is the regular) if I make the reservations thorugh them and charge it to my room, I get 10 MP for every dollar I spend. He then said if I put it on my Marriott Visa, I can gain the 3 MP for every dollar. End result I get 13 marriott points for every dollar spent. But Dave's post made me think even further. I know I am going to spend $500 on the Luau, so if I buy a gift card for $500 using my visa, I can earn 6500, plus when I get to Maui, I will put my reservation on my room, so I will gain the 5000 MP for that and use the gift card. So all in all for the $500 I spend I can get 11500 points :whoopie: . Am I thinking this correctly????

That should be correct. The same calculation applies to your Marriott room and other dining charges, assuming you buy enough gift card $$$ for the additional amounts.

You might consider converting to the Premier Marriott Visa, which gets you five (not three) points per dollar for Marriott charges and two points for air, dining and rental car charges. Also, you get a certificate on each anniversary of holding the card valid for a one-night Marriott stay (categories 1-4).

Do these gift cards have to be purchased online?

The terms & conditions say the 10 points per dollar apply for gift cards purchased online at marriott.com and Marriott reservations. I called the number for the gift cards and the agent I spoke with didn't know anything about the promotion.

I guess if I want the points it's better to purchase them online.

I just bought (3) $150 cards and two dining for two cards using my Marriott Visa. I know the dining for two do not get a promo but I loved the idea of a prix fix meal at the new Marriott in Princeton

Oh I forgot to thank the OP for the heads up on this. So thanks GetawaysRus!!

LAX Mom said:

Do these gift cards have to be purchased online?

The terms & conditions say the 10 points per dollar apply for gift cards purchased online at marriott.com and Marriott reservations. I called the number for the gift cards and the agent I spoke with didn't know anything about the promotion.

I guess if I want the points it's better to purchase them online.

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I just read the Terms and Conditions and you must purchase on line and you must purchase from Marriott and not a third party vendor.

I bought a pile of them when the last promo came out last year ... IMO a big mistake. Marriott hadn't trained their front desk people on how to use the cards and you had to watch them like a hawk to ensure that you got credit for all the dollars not yet spent.

I can remember checking out of the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta and my unused card didn't work ... so I gave them another card and it didn't work either. The pile of people behind me in a rush to check out thought all my credit cards were bouncing so I just gave my Amex and paid the bill -- only to find out later by calling Marriott that the cards were OK but put on 'hold' as the clerk did something wrong in using the two cards.

To maximize the points I only used them when staying in a Marriott, but certainly won't be buying any more of them.

Brian

pwrshift said:

I bought a pile of them when the last promo came out last year ... IMO a big mistake. Marriott hadn't trained their front desk people on how to use the cards and you had to watch them like a hawk to ensure that you got credit for all the dollars not yet spent.

I can remember checking out of the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta and my unused card didn't work ... so I gave them another card and it didn't work either. The pile of people behind me in a rush to check out thought all my credit cards were bouncing so I just gave my Amex and paid the bill -- only to find out later by calling Marriott that the cards were OK but put on 'hold' as the clerk did something wrong in using the two cards.

To maximize the points I only used them when staying in a Marriott, but certainly won't be buying any more of them.

Brian

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That's too bad that had to happen. Unfortunately my impression with the desk staff - at least the ones I've talked to - is they have no clue what's going on. Marriott could devote more attention to training IMHO

Dave

How do I check on the Permier card? Also, are you sure there are no problems using the gift cards in Maui? Who should I check with on this? I would hate to buy a bunch of gift cards, to have them not work. Like the person who posted above.

--Shanna

Dave M said:

That should be correct. The same calculation applies to your Marriott room and other dining charges, assuming you buy enough gift card $$$ for the additional amounts.

You might consider converting to the Premier Marriott Visa, which gets you five (not three) points per dollar for Marriott charges and two points for air, dining and rental car charges. Also, you get a certificate on each anniversary of holding the card valid for a one-night Marriott stay (categories 1-4).

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Message to NYGiants about the Old Lahaina Luau

I do agree that you would get points by reserving the Old Lahaina luau with Marriott by charging to your hotel room.

However, I am not sure that you should wait until you are at the hotel to make reserv at the luau. This is because the luau is very popular and all the good seats are booked very much ahead of time - about at the six to eight months mark.

Judy

Judy

Thanks for the advise. I did make my reservations yesterday.

nygiants11991 said:

I would hate to buy a bunch of gift cards, to have them not work. Like the person who posted above.

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The cards work fine. You make reservations using a normal credit card and then use one or more of these gift cards when you check out.

I give the card to the clerk when checking out. If they get a funny "What's this?" look, I simply say, "Please swipe it exactly like you would for a Visa credit card. Swipe the card and enter the amount." I have never had a problem after saying that. In fact, it prints out on your final bill as being a Visa charge!

On this past Sunday, when checking out of the San Francisco Marriott, I gave the gift card to the clerk and said, "Please use $xxx from this card and charge the remaining $yyy on my Marriott Visa." (I need part of the charge to be on a Visa to qualify the stay for Marriott's current multi-stay MegaBonus promotion.)

Save a copy of my post for when you use a gift card and you should never have a problem.

Dave M said:

I need part of the charge to be on a Visa to qualify the stay for Marriott's current multi-stay MegaBonus promotion.)

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Dave, what do you mean by the Megabonus promotion? Thanks

This isn't quite the deal as last year, as it was 12 points per dollar for the cards then, but still very good in my estimation. I think I'll have to take the plunge for $1000, as I'm going to Disney in March and staying at a Residence Inn. I already have a$450 card to use, but I need another $800, so its a no brainer.

As for the dining certs. I had gotten a free one from a sales rep, but even at $109, they are a good deal, IMHO. I used it in Maui, at what is now Longboards, or something like that, and it was an outstanding meal. The total tab was $175-$200, and includes tax and tip. I had a 4 course meal of seafood app, caesar salad, surf and turf and banana foster dessert with unlimited soda.

Best regards.
Joe

nygiants11991 said:

Dave

How do I check on the Permier card? Also, are you sure there are no problems using the gift cards in Maui? Who should I check with on this? I would hate to buy a bunch of gift cards, to have them not work. Like the person who posted above.

--Shanna

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I used the few that I bought last year in Maui this past Feb, and they worked fine. I would also recommend a dinner for 2 cert, if you like filet mignon and lobster tail, I can almost guarantee you will enjoy it there.

Regards.
Joe

Has anyone used (US purchased) gift cards at European Marriotts? Any problems? Thanks

Can you use the dining cert. in Europe?

If you pay with the gift cards how does Marriott credit your account for Marriott Rewards.Are the two kinds of rewards different;I mean the rewards you get for stays and the rewards you get for using your Marriott Visa card? I am mixed up on this. I bought $450 worth of cards and if I stay at a Marriott property how do I get maximum reward points?

Responding to four questions....

The current MegaBonus promotion offers bonus Marriott Rewards points for paid stays at most Marriott properties between September 23, 2007 and January 18, 2008. Each stay must be paid for - at least in part - with a Visa card. There are many different versions of the offer. Mine offers an extra 5,000 points for every three stays during that period. To see your offer and to register, log on to your account at Marriott.com and click on "View Promotions". If you register now, any stays since the promotion started will be retroactively credited.

Yes, both the dining and regular GiftCards can be used in Europe. You can see the T&C and FAQs by going to this link and clicking on one of the red links near the bottom of the page. There are no geographical exclusions. Note that the GiftCards are treated by Marriott's computers exactly like a Visa card, which is acceptable at Marriotts in any country. Also note that when using a Dining certificate in a country other than where purchased, you'll get whatever exchange rate Marriott is using at the time, often a rate that can vary (unfavorably) by as much as 10% from bank exchange rates. Important: Note that purchasing Dinner for Two gift certificates does not earn the 10 points per dollar that purchasing GiftCards does!

For icydog, here is how the 2007 triple play works:

1) Buy GiftCards at the link in the OP and get 10 points per dollar (last year it was 12 points) spent in purchasing the card. Here are the T&C for the promotion:

Offer valid on purchases of GiftCards and Certificates made online at gifts.marriott.com from November 1 - December 1, 2007. Offer not valid on Marriott GiftCards and/or Certificates purchased via other channels (IE: cards purchased at a hotel or via 1-800-813-GIFT). Marriott Rewards members earn 10 point per dollar for each GiftCard and/or Certificate purchase made online at gifts.marriott.com. Points are earned on card and certificate value only and not on shipping or packaging. A maximum of 25,000 Marriott Rewards Points may be earned per member. Points will be posted to your Marriott Rewards account within six weeks after the promotion ends on December 1, 2007. For all other terms and conditions of Marriott Rewards membership, visit marriottrewards.com.

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2) Earn your usual points for paid stays at Marriotts (e.g., a basic 10 points per $ or more if you have Silver or higher elite Marriott Rewards status). Using a GiftCard to pay for your stay is treated the same as if you used a Visa. However, I always pay a small portion of my bill with my regular Visa to ensure I qualify the stay for the MegaBonus promotion (see my above comment on this).

3) If you purchase the GiftCards with a Marriott Visa, you'll earn 5 points or 3 points for each dollar of purchase, depending on which Visa version you have.

Thus, the total earned can easily be 27 points per dollar - 10 points for the GiftCard purchase, 12 points (Silver status enjoyed by all MVCI owners) for the hotel charges paid with the GiftCard and 5 points for purchasing with the Marriott Premier Visa.