With autumn's arrival, it's time for new hotel promotions. As usual, the major chains are offering incentives to lure you to their properties during your fall travels. None of these offers are particularly innovative but they can offer a solid return on your hotel spend. In a series of four posts, I will cover the promotions from Hilton, Starwood, Marriott and IHG. In today's third entry in the series, I discuss "MegaBonus" from Marriott Rewards.
Fall 2017 hotel promotions
- Hilton - "Double Points"
- Starwood Preferred Guest - "Explore More"
- Marriott Rewards - "MegaBonus"
- IHG Rewards Club - "Accelerate"
The Offer
"Mega Bonus" from Marriott Reward can be very rewarding to a customer who makes only a couple of stays...literally...this fall. You must register for the promotion here. If you complete two stays, you will earn a free hotel night. From the terms and conditions:
Marriott Rewards members who register for this promotion by November 30, 2017 will earn one (1) free night award at a category 1-5 hotel (value of standard free night award ranges from 7,500 points for Category 1 hotels to 25,000 points for Category 5 hotels) after two paid stays* made between September 12, 2017 and January 15, 2018, at participating Marriott® properties.
You must use the free night within six months after you earn it. After completing two stays, "an additional offer may be unlocked and become available in the [your] account." There is no detail as to what this offer might be, but, since the terms do state that only one free night can be earned, I suspect that it is some sort of point multiplier.
Return on Spend
Without knowing what the unlocked bonus is, it's hard to know how attractive it that part would be. However, two stays earning a free night is very lucrative, especially if your stays are one night each. Suppose you spend $150 per night for each of your one-night stays, your total outlay would be $300. A free night in a category 5 property would be worth 25,000 points. Marriott Rewards points are valued at $0.009 each, giving your free night a monetary value of $225. That is a return on your $300 up to 75%! That is beyond lucrative! Even at $200/night, your return would be 56%. Regardless of the specifics of the additional offer beyond the free night, I will absolutely try to stay with Marriott at least twice this fall. The six-month expiration limits the reward's usefulness slightly, but I have little doubt I would be able to put the free night to use.
Will you make a point to stay twice with Marriott this fall? Has anyone already unlocked a bonus offer? What was the offer? Leave a comment below and let us know.