During a recent stay at a Residence Inn, I found a flyer offering bonus Marriott Rewards points for referring friends.
I’d initially assumed it was for referring them to the Chase Marriott Rewards credit card, but it was actually for referring them to the Marriott Rewards loyalty scheme itself.
It turns out that this offer’s been around a long time (Greg mentions it here). It doesn’t seem to be well publicized though, so here’s how the Marriott Rewards Reward A Friend scheme works.
Step 1 – Check The Offer
Visit the Marriott landing page for the friend referral offer. At the time of writing this post, the offer is:
- Refer up to five new members each calendar year.
- You’ll earn 2,000 Marriott Rewards points for every stay your friend makes, on up to five stays per referral. With up to five possible referrals each year, that means you can earn up to 50,000 points.
- Your friend will also earn 2,000 bonus points for each of their first five stays, so they’ll earn up to 10,000 points. Bonus points will be awarded for any stays in their first 365 days of membership.
It’s worth checking the offer first as it might change in the future. The flyer at the Residence Inn listed 1,000 bonus points per stay up to 25,000 per year, so the current offer is twice as generous. It looks like that flyer might’ve been sitting around since 2009 though, hence the difference.
Step 2 – Send An Email
There’s a blue button at the top of the landing page called ‘Send Invites’, or you can go directly to the page here.
Fill out all the required information, then send the invite to your friend.
Step 3 – Wait
Your friend will – eventually – receive an email from Marriott Rewards inviting them to join the scheme. When testing this out, it took more than 12 hours for the email to come through, so don’t expect it to be instant.
I did this test using a dummy email address, so I haven’t actually referred a friend. I’m therefore not sure how long it takes for either person to receive the bonus points after their first stay.
Important Note
One of the requirements given by Marriott is that new members must sign up through the Reward a Friend channels and provide their sponsor’s name and Marriott Rewards account number.
I think that’s only if they’re signing up over the phone though. If they register via the link in the email, there aren’t any sections for your name and account number. Instead, it will (or should) be tracked back to your account thanks to the specific referral link, similar to how cashback portals work.
Question
Have you ever earned bonus points through the Marriott Rewards Reward A Friend program, either as someone who referred a friend or by being the friend who was referred? If so, how long did the bonus points take to be awarded after your first stay? Let us know in the comments below.
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I have used this a number of times.
It is SLOW. 12 hours in your test was actually fast to receive the email.
But points posted without issue. If you work with a company that has frequent turnover in a role where kids are coming in out of College, you’d probably be surprised (I was) how few of them have Marriott accounts.
Thanks, that’s good to know about the points posting without any issue. It’s also great that you had a steady stream of new people to refer – that’s a pretty sweet deal!