Marriott changes rewards program

[disneysteve]

Just a heads up to any of you who are Marriott Rewards members. They just announced some significant changes to their rewards program. They are eliminating blackout dates. They are also doing 5th redemption night free.

Of course, it isn't that easy. They are also changing from the tiered points needed for each additional night to a flat rate for each night. So instead of 10,000 for night one, 9,000 for night two, 8,000 for night three and so on, it will now be 10,000/night with the 5th night free. That's just fine if you are taking a long trip, but if you aren't staying at least 5 nites, you will now need more points than before which is lousy. Not that it will help, but I will definitely be sending them a letter expressing displeasure with the new plan.

[sweeps]

Thanks for posting. I skimmed the email and saw 5th night free, but didn't catch the part about removing the tiered point usage.

[disneysteve]

Thanks for posting. I skimmed the email and saw 5th night free, but didn't catch the part about removing the tiered point usage.

They didn't say that in the e-mail. You have to go to the site and read the details to discover that little tidbit.

We occasionally do a weekend get-away. Only once or maybe twice a year do we do a trip of 5 or more days. So we'll be going through more points from now on. Even rewards programs suffer from inflation.

[kork13]

They didn't say that in the e-mail. You have to go to the site and read the details to discover that little tidbit.

that's hilarious!

Email: "Here, let us tell you some great news about your rewards program!*"
Small print on email: "* See website for more details."
Website: "There's actuall some bad news... in kind of a big way."

lol

Whether for better or worse, I somehow think it may be a while before I need to worry about a Marriott rewards program for myself.... Don't think I could really afford enough stays in their hotels to rack up the points for it anyway! haha

[disneysteve]

Whether for better or worse, I somehow think it may be a while before I need to worry about a Marriott rewards program for myself.... Don't think I could really afford enough stays in their hotels to rack up the points for it anyway! haha

We use a Marriott Rewards Visa. Our annual charges run about $30,000. Restaurants earn double points. Charges at Marriott properties earn 5X points. So we rack up well over 30,000 points/year from using the card.

Our pattern has been a free week-long vacation every other year on points as well as some short stays in between.