(EXPIRED) Marriott Promo: Earn Up To 4k Points Per Stay, But Only If You Stay 2+ Times (now live)

Marriott’s Fall promotion starts today, September 21, and runs through mid-December. At first glance it looked like a decent promotion because you can earn up to 4,000 bonus points per stay, but it’s not quite as good as it initially seems.

The Deal

• Marriott is offering the following new promotion:
  • Earn 2,000 bonus points per stay starting from your second stay
  • Earn an additional 2,000 bonus points per stay starting from your second stay per different hotel brand if you’re a Marriott Bonvoy credit card holder.
• Direct link to registration.

Key Terms

• A “stay” is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/checkout activity on any points-eligible rate (“Qualifying Rate”).
• Registration of your Marriott Bonvoy® account is required. Marriott Bonvoy members who register for this promotion by December 1, 2022, will earn 2,000 bonus points per eligible paid stay*, starting with the second stay during the promotion earning period. In addition, Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card holders will earn an additional 2,000 bonus points per eligible paid stay at a Marriott Bonvoy participating hotel brand, starting with the second brand at which the Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card holder stays during the promotion earning period.
• For a list of current participating Marriott Bonvoy brands and properties, visit www.marriott.com/loyalty/earn/hotels.mi.
• All Marriott Bonvoy terms and conditions apply.
• Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card holders will earn the additional 2,000 bonus points only once per participating Marriott Bonvoy hotel brand during the promotion earning period.
• The promotion earning period is for eligible paid stays completed between September 21, 2022, and December 15, 2022, at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties.
• Only stays completed after registration will qualify toward the promotion. A “stay” is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/checkout activity on any points-eligible rate (“Qualifying Rate”).
• Award redemption stays where points are redeemed for each night of the entire stay are not eligible for the promotion.
• Rates available through most third-party online retailers and select travel agency rates do not qualify for this promotion (“Non-Qualifying Rate”).
• Stays at Homes & Villas by Marriott International, Marriott Executive Apartments, and owner-occupied weeks at Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott Grand Residence Club, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club, St. Regis Residence Club and Luxury Collection Residence Club, are not eligible for bonus points for this promotion.
• Only one room per property is counted toward a member’s stay for the promotion.
• Bonuses of 2,000 points per eligible paid stay, starting with the second stay, will be awarded to the member’s account within 7 business days after checkout and will post with the stay.
• Additional bonus of 2,000 points per brand for Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card holders for stays at Marriott Bonvoy participating hotel brands, starting with the second brand, will be awarded to the member’s account up to 6 weeks after the promotion ends.
• A member who elects to earn miles is not eligible for this promotion.
• Registration of your Marriott Bonvoy account is required.
• To be eligible for the additional 2,000 bonus points per brand, starting with the second brand, you must be the primary account holder and have an active (i) Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card, (ii) legacy Starwood Preferred Guest-branded or legacy Marriott Rewards-branded credit card issued in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Canada, China and the United Kingdom, or (iii) Ritz-Carlton-branded credit card issued in the United States (collectively “Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards”), which must be issued at the time of your stay to be eligible for this offer.
• Your Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card account must not be cancelled or in default at the time of bonus fulfillment.
• When you register for this promotion between September 7, 2022, and December 1, 2022, you can earn 2,000 bonus points per eligible paid stay at a Marriott Bonvoy participating hotel brand, starting with the second brand at which you stay during the promotion earning period.
• Bonuses will be issued for your first stay at each participating hotel brand during the promotion earning period, starting with the second brand.
• The 2,000 bonus points per brand is in addition to 2,000 bonus points per stay, starting with the second stay, for Marriott Bonvoy members.
• Award redemption stays where points or Free Night Awards are redeemed for each night of the entire stay are not eligible for the promotion.

Quick Thoughts

I think whoever designs Best Western promotions has designed this latest Marriott promotion because they’ve made it needlessly complicated to earn bonus points.

The first part of the promotion is somewhat straightforward in that you earn 2,000 bonus points per stay, but you only earn those points from your second stay. If you stay twice with Marriott from September 21 to December 15, that means you’ll only earn an average of 1,000 bonus points per stay which is far from generous.

It’s the second part of the promotion that gets even more complicated. First off, you have to be a Marriott cardholder to be eligible for earning the 2,000 bonus points per stay. Next, you only earn bonus points from your second stay, similar to the first part of the promotion. However, there’s a third stipulation they’ve made that seems designed to make it harder to earn the bonus points (or, in corporate speak “We want to encourage you to enjoy the pleasure of our 4,587 unique hotel brands”) by only awarding the extra 2,000 bonus points for each different brand you stay at starting from the second brand. Stay twice at a Fairfield Inn? No soup extra bonus points for you for being a cardholder.

All this is reliant on you being able to register for the promotion in the first place. This promotion is apparently meant to be open for all Bonvoy members, but successful customer promotion registration isn’t a core competency for Marriott’s website designers and so you may or may not be able to register. My wife’s account was successful but mine wasn’t so far. In the past it’s sometimes been possible to send Marriott Bonvoy Assist a DM on Twitter and get them to register you for promotions, so that’s worth a try if you get the following error message when trying to register:

We’re sorry, but there was an error in directing you to this promotion.

The reason for this error could be:

• You’re trying to access a miles promotion and are a points-earner, or vice versa
• You are not eligible for this promotion
• This promotion has expired

h/t OMAAT

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.