Hotel Loyalty 2014-Q1 hotel promotions Marriott Hotels Marriott Rewards (replaced by Marriott Bonvoy)

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus Feb 1-April 30, 2014

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus starts up again today. This recurring promotion offers one of the best promotional values for a hotel traveler.

Stay two times and earn one free night certificate for a category 1-4 hotel. You can earn this bonus twice during the promotion.

Before you register, try calling Marriott Rewards and see if they will bump your offer up to Category 1-5 hotel certificates. I made the call after I registered for the category 1-4 offer and my account was noted to be changed to category 1-5 certificates by calling Marriott Rewards again in early May after the promotion ends. The customer service agent told me she could have switched the offer to category 5 certificates prior to my MegaBonus registration, but now I have to wait until after the promotion ends to get upgraded certificates.

In 2013 Marriott reassigned over 50% of the hotels in category 4 to category 5. This change moved hundreds of hotels to category 5 and greatly reduced the opportunities available with a category 4 reward night.

Still, there are good finds in category 4. My stay in January 2013 at The Henry in Dearborn, Michigan was a great value category 4 hotel where I burned two category 1-4 free night certificates from the winter/spring 2013 MegaBonus.

There are 70 full-service Marriott hotels in the USA in category 4, Renaissance has 13 hotels and there are nearly 650 hotels in category 4 in other Marriott brands around the USA.

Marriott Rewards category-4 has 786 hotels around the world that can be searched with this link.

Marriott USA cat 4

Marriott Category 5 hotels has 554 hotels around the world. At this level, the number of Marriott and Renaissance hotels increases significantly with 95 full-service Marriott hotels and 25 Renaissance hotels. There is even JW Marriott Houston in category 5 rewards.

In Europe, the number of hotels rises from 13 hotels in category 4, mostly Courtyard brand to 60 hotels in category 5 with 36 Marriott hotels, 13 Renaissance and one Autograph Collection property with AC Palacio De Santa Paula in Granada, Spain.

My stays with Marriott are motivated by MegaBonus reward certificates. I find these reward certificates are worth about the same as it costs me to earn the free nights on single night low-cost Marriott brand hotel stays.

Marriott MegaBonus is one of the highest value offers currently among the hotel loyalty promotions for stays over the next three months. The only easier to earn deals are Club Carlson 38,000 points if you plan a 3-night stay by April 13 or Hyatt Gold Passport free category 1-4 hotel night if you have a 5-night stay. Marriott MegaBonus free night certificate can be earned with two one-night stays.

I will certainly look to complete four stays by April 30, 2014 and add to my collection of category 5 reward night certificates. These certificates have an expiration date one year from date of issue.

Marriott MegaBonus Registration required by March 31, 2014.

https://www.marriott.com/rewards/promotion.mi?promotion=MS14 

Marriott MegaBonus 2014

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Ric Garrido of Monterey, California is writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler.

Loyalty Traveler shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests.

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11 Comments

  • @avidtravelr February 1, 2014

    Thanks for posting! I have a 1-4 cert that I need to use.

  • Points with a Crew February 1, 2014

    I assume Marriott BRG rates would not be eligible for the Megabonus promotion?

    Any other tips for how to get your 2 nights in on the cheap?

  • DJP February 1, 2014

    Therre is another promotion circulating now….

    unsure how targetted it is.

    If you have Southwest Rapid Rewards and Marriott rewards you can do 2 separate stays and get 5,000 marriott points.

    this is not stackable. Those that registered for the free CAT 1-4/1-5 stay can’t stack this on.

    Under the rules when you register you need to have your account set up as preferred rewards being Rapid Reward points in the Marriott system.

    If you registered for the free cert, you can not register for this. The system will not let you.

  • Ric Garrido February 1, 2014

    @Points with a Crew – Marriott Look No Further rates qualify for MegaBonus. Nearly all my Marriott stays in 2013 were discounted Best Rate Guarantee claims where the lower rate I found on another online travel agency site was discounted another 25%.

    http://www.marriott.com/hotel-prices/travel.mi

  • Carl P February 1, 2014

    I’m half way through the 10 stays/nights I need for the IHG Big Win. Taking a break and getting 3 Club Carlson one night stays and 2 or 4 Marriott one night stays.

    I am on the fence with IHG BW still needing a flex rate/breakfast, 4th brand and two Saturday nights for me to finish. I’ll get CC and Marriott first and then see about IHG.

  • […] a free night at a category 1-4 hotels. You can register for it here. Per Loyalty Traveler in this post: “Before you register, try calling Marriott Rewards and see if they will bump your offer up […]

  • Dave March 6, 2014

    In my view Marriott needs to give this type of promotion a rest and go onto something to target travelers who want something a little nicer than a Category 4 (or 5) hotel. Honestly, I have about 5 Category 5 certificates that I have not been able to use. After the last devaluation of points, there are almost no decent Category 5 hotels left! Seriously … most hotels in cities like Boston, Miami, Los Angeles (unless you want to stay 20 minutes outside anything fun next to the airport), etc. are Category 6. And I am not even talking about luxurious properties. I understand some people might like these who are taking their family on vacation and don’t mind driving 15 minutes each morning and night to Disneyland … or driving 20 minutes each way to the beach. But give me an option where I can stay 5 nights and get 1 night at a decent cat. 6 beach hotel or city hotel vs. staying 4 nights and getting 2 certificates I can only use at some Fairfield Inn in the middle of Iowa or next to the airport in a run down area of LA. It’s not like I am asking for a Ritz Carlton certificate or even at Cat. 7 or 8 hotel right on the beach in Miami. Just give me something where I don’t have to drive 20 minutes to do anything cool.

  • Ric Garrido March 8, 2014

    There is a discussion on Marriott Rewards Insiders about the value of category 5 certificates for very frequent guests. I think Platinum members should have the option for points instead of certificates.

    For less frequent travelers, I think Marriott MegaBonus is one of the best offers available. For me, I get close to the value in free nights with the MegaBonus certificates for the nights I pay to earn them.

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  • Nick April 13, 2014

    There are already mega bonus options for points, but you need to stay a lot more nights, so diminishing returns.

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