Has Marriott Targeted You For Bonus Points Or Bonus Elite Nights?

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Reports are coming in to Flyertalk of Marriott sending out emails to select guests offering them a chance to earn bonus points or bonus elite nights over the next three to four months.

Don’t worry if you haven’t yet received an email inviting you to participate as, based on my experience, that may not mean very much – I have yet to hear from Marriott but I know I’ve been targeted for one of these deals.

Here are the deals that have been reported on FlyerTalk so far:

• Earn double elite nights on paid stays through 31 May 2019
• Earn double elite nights on paid stays through 30 April 2019
• Earn up to 10 bonus elite night credits after two paid stays through 31 May 2019
• Earn up to 9,000 bonus points: 1500/3000/4500 for 1/2/3 paid stays (no end date provided)
• Earn up to 12,000 bonus points: 4500/7500 for 1/2 paid stays (no end date provided)
• Earn up to 18,000 bonus points: 3000/6000/9000 for 1/2/3 paid stays through 31 May 2019
• Earn up to 22,500 bonus points: 6000/7500/9000 for 1/2/3 paid stays through 31 May 2019
• Earn up to 22,500 bonus points: 7500/15000 for 1/2 paid stays (no end date provided)
• Earn double points on paid stays of two or more nights through 31 May 2019

There may be other variants of these promotions out there too.

As I’ve already mentioned, I haven’t had an email from Marriott but I tried out this link (which Doctor of Credit posted) and I saw this:

5 elite night credits for one stay or a total of 10 elite night credits for a total of 2 stays (which may be just 2 nights) is a pretty good deal for most people….except that I already have Lifetime Platinum Premier status so I’m not totally invested in chasing more elite nights.

The headline terms and conditions for my promotion are as follows:

• Registration is required.
• Registered Members can earn five (5) Elite Night Credits after their first (1st) eligible paid stay and another five (5) Elite Night Credits after their second (2nd) eligible paid stay for a maximum of 10 Elite Night Credits during the promotion’s earning period (the “Promotion”).
• Earning period starts the day after members register through the end of the month, plus an additional three (3) months (the “Earning Period”).
• Bonus Elite Night Credits will be awarded to the member’s account within 3–5 business days after the qualifying nights post.
• Elite Night Credits will count only toward the status year in which they are posted.
• Registered Members electing to earn miles are not eligible for this promotion.
• A “stay” is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity.
• Nights stayed prior to enrollment are not eligible for this offer.
• Only one (1) room per hotel or resort is counted toward Registered Members’ stays.
• Credit toward this Promotion is given for nights consumed at participating Marriott hotels that occur within the Earning Period.
• ExecuStay, Marriott Executive Apartments and Marriott Vacation Club® owner-occupied weeks are not eligible for the Promotion, and nights spent while redeeming an award are not eligible for the Promotion.
• For a list of current participating hotels, visit www.marriott.com/loyalty/earn/hotels.mi.
• Rooms booked through most third-party online retailers and select travel agency bookings are ineligible to earn for this Promotion.

In a nutshell: Book direct through Marriott, award nights don’t count and I have through 31 May 2019 to earn the bonus elite nights.

Thoughts

I’m not really sure what Marriott’s thinking is behind these promotions as it must know that this is one of the least likely promotions (of the ones we know are on offer) to get me engaged – I had 98 nights with Marriott last year (I was thousands of dollars short of Ambassador status) and I have lifetime top-tier status so why try to tempt me with more elite night credits? I really don’t need them.

I’m not actually complaining here because at least I was targeted for something (a lot of people haven’t been…including Joanna)but the logic behind the targeting defies me.

Bottom Line

This appears to be a refresh/revamp of a traditional Starwood promotion that was often run around this time of year so it looks like Marriott is continuing to incorporate elements of SPG into its new loyalty program…and that’s no bad thing.

If you haven’t heard from Marriott then the link I used may be of help or, if that’s not good, you should check the “Promotion Central” page in your Marriott account to see if there’s a nice surprise waiting for you there.

Featured image: JW Suite at the JW Marriott LA Live courtesy of Marriott

Have you been targeted for one of these offers (or something not posted above?) Let me know in the comments and I’ll update the post