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Marriott is currently running a promotion giving 3,500 bonus points on stays of 2+ nights. There is a catch though – you have to use promo code M41 which means that it’s not necessarily going to be your best booking option.
The Deal
- Earn 3,500 bonus points when booking Marriott stays of 2+ nights & using promo code M41.
- Direct link to offer.
Key Terms
- Valid on stays through August 18, 2024.
- There are a limited number of rooms available for this promotion.
- Guest must book reservation using promotional code M41 in order to receive bonus points.
- Offer applies to one regular room per stay, per member on dates listed.
- A “hotel stay” or “stay” means all consecutive nights spent with Marriott by a registered Marriott Bonvoy member.
- Offer not available during special events; tax is additional; special offers cannot be combined; blackout dates may exist; advance reservations are required.
- Offer does not apply to groups of 10 or more rooms.
- Members electing to earn miles are not eligible for this promotion.
Quick Thoughts
This isn’t one of Marriott’s global promotions where you earn the bonus points regardless of which rate you book. Instead, you have to use promo code M41 and book using the Special Rate that specifically mentions the 3,500 bonus points.
As you can see from the screenshot above though, this isn’t necessarily going to be your best option. For the hotel above, the M41 promo code generated a rate of $209 per night. However, the standard member rate was available for $195 per night, while a non-refundable rate was bookable for $183 per night. That’s a difference of $14 and $26 respectively, so whether it’s better to earn 3,500 bonus points will depend on how you value Marriott points.
It’s also worth checking the Deals and Packages pricing options too. For example, the $207 rate shown in the screenshot above included complimentary parking. If that was the case for somewhere with very expensive parking, choosing that rate could be better than selecting the rate with 3,500 bonus points. In this case, parking was $15 per night, so 3,500 bonus points would be the better option for many people.
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Yeah, this “promotion” is really only good for biz travelers where someone else is footing the bill. Nobody else need apply. You’re essentially just buying Marriot points at a rate of .4 – .7 cpp, which is about all they’re worth now for most redemptions. Unless you regularly redeem for significantly more than the average value of Marriott points, then you’re either just barely breaking even or you’re loosing money.
I ended up booking a property right at that low end of that range (this promotion rate is $14 more than the cheapest AAA rate which works out to buying points at 0.4 cpp). You need to do the math on if it’s worth it for you – I tend to cherry pick Marriott award bookings to get closer to 1 cpp redemptions and this is considerably cheaper than Marriott ever sells their points for directly, but very much YMMV.