Marriott Hotels Marriott International Marriott Rewards (replaced by Marriott Bonvoy)

Marriott MegaBonus 2017 hardly a promotion effort

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Marriott MegaBonus 2017 runs January 16 to April 15, 2017, but I kind of wonder why they even bother to make it a three month period. Many members will max out this offer in the next two weeks of January.

Double points on your first three stays is certainly not the kind of offer I expected to see after the Starwood Hotels merger. Looks like Marriott is already cutting corners on their outstanding debt by minimizing the points members will earn in 2017 on their hotel stays.

Double points means 20 points per dollar for your first three hotel stays, unless you happen to be staying at Residence Inn or TownePlace Suites, where double points means only 10 points per $1.

Registration by March 15, 2017 required.

Marriott has 4,400+ hotels in 17 brands:

1. Marriott Hotels

2. Renaissance

3. Ritz-Carlton

4. JW Marriott

5. Autograph Collection

6. Marriott Vacation Club

7. Edition

8. AC Hotels

9. Gaylord Resorts

10. Delta Hotels

11. Courtyard

12. Residence Inn

13. Springhill Suites

14. TownePlace Suites

15. Fairfield Inn

16. Moxy

17. Protea Hotels

Starwood Hotels brands are not eligible for this promotion. For now, the two hotel chains still operate separate hotel loyalty programs with Marriott Rewards/Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest.

Register now to earn double points on your first three stays.

See Details

  • Register by March 15, 2017
  • Stay at any of our participating hotels and resorts worldwide between January 16 and April 15, 2017
  • Earn double points on your first three eligible stays
    Explore and earn at 4,400+ hotels and resorts worldwide. When you’re ready, redeem points for free nights, flights, exclusive experiences and so much more.
    Remember to book directly at Marriott.com.

Marriott Megabonus 2017

Loyalty Traveler analysis

My budget stay pattern makes this promotion basically useless for me. Three hotel stays at $80 per night with $240 in base spend earns about 4,800 points all-in at Courtyard Hotels with the MegaBonus 2,400 bonus points  That is about a $25 value at the generous redemption end or less than $15 redemption value for most hotel rewards.

In contrast, three hotel nights for me with IHG Rewards Club earns 40,000 points with my IHG Accelerate 2017 offer. I will complete that promotion with $200 in hotel spend and earn 40,000 bonus points. Those points will buy me at least 2 hotel reward nights.

I also plan to complete 8 hotel nights with Club Carlson by March 31 to earn 50,000 bonus points. In Europe, I can complete those 8 nights on 4-for-2 rates paying an average $40 per night for my hotel stays. $320 earns 50,000 bonus points + nearly 10,000 earned points, sufficient for 2 to 4 hotel nights at a category 2 reward hotels for 15,000 points or category 3 hotels for 28,000 points.

Marriott does not offer much promotion incentive to push any of my hotel stays their way during MegaBonus 2017.

Note: There are targeted opportunities for some Marriott Rewards members to earn additional bonus points after first three stays.

Marriott Rewards Targeted Bonus Promotion Version 1

  • Earn double (2x) points on their first three (3) paid stays* made between January 16, 2017 and April 15, 2017
  • At the conclusion of three paid stays, the member will earn 15,000 bonus points after 10 paid nights plus an additional 1,500 bonus points for every additional paid night up to 15,000 bonus points. Maximum of 30,000 bonus points.

Marriott Rewards Targeted Bonus Promotion Version 2

  • Earn double (2x) points on their first three (3) paid stays* made between January 16, 2017 and April 15, 2017
  • At the conclusion of three paid stays, the member will earn 30,000 bonus points after 20 paid nights plus an additional 1,500 bonus points for every additional paid night up to 15,000 bonus points. Maximum of 45,000 bonus points.

Loyalty Traveler Hotel Promotions Guide January 2017.

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7 Comments

  • Nick Summy January 17, 2017

    Actually SPG brands are eligible as SPG is running the same exact promotion, with the exception that theirs is better:

    UNLOCK MORE OFFERS. STARTING ON YOUR FOURTH STAY, EARN UP TO 10,000 BONUS STARPOINTS.

    STAY 10 NIGHTS AND EARN 5,000 BONUS STARPOINTS.

    EARN 500 BONUS STARPOINTS FOR EACH NIGHT.**

    ** UP TO 5,000 BONUS STARPOINTS

  • Alex January 17, 2017

    This post is sooo wrong it hurts just to think that some people may think it is accurate.

    The reason why you’re not able to unlock the full potential of the promotion is because you do not have top-tier status with either SPG or Marriott.

    1- (as Nick mentionned) SPG and Marriott are running the same promotion with the exact same number of points when taking into account the 3:1 conversion. Your ability to earn more points after your first 3 stays depends on the program you earned your status with.

    2- You do need the full 3 months if you want to have a shot at earning the full bonus

  • April Howard January 17, 2017

    I work for a major airline. Unfortunately just like we changed our program after we bought NW. They ,just as you will see in hotels, are making it better for the people who are most loyal. I can tell you from 24yrs experience , it’s always going to benefit the company. My husband is a lifetime platinum with Marriott and I’m glad. We stayed at a Westin in Hawaii, I paid over $800 for 2 nights and only got 9k points. But when I transferred those from SPG account to Marriott we got 21k… so us Marriott peeps will not like the changes but SPG may get the better deal.
    I was shocked it was like $1 for 1
    Sorry for the bad news
    APRIL, in FLA

  • Ric Garrido January 18, 2017

    @Alex – what is wrong about the article?

    Starwood Hotel stays do not count for Marriott Rewards MegaBonus and most Marriott Rewards members only received an offer for 2x points on 3 stays with no additional bonus points component.

    If I had received an additional bonus offer, after 13 paid nights I might earn 17,000 bonus points, enough for a low tier free reward night.

    Poor promotions and high room rates are reasons I gave up seeking elite status with Marriott and Starwood.

  • Starwood Preferred Guest Double Take Jan 16–April 15, 2017 - Loyalty Traveler January 18, 2017

    […] Traveler – Marriott MegaBonus 2017 hardly a promotion effort (Jan 17, […]

  • Joseph N. January 18, 2017

    Ric, what is wrong with this posting is the redemption values you use to justify your conclusions. Don’t get me wrong. It is your blog and you can use whatever values you see fit. Every blogger’s are different. However, for you to write that you only get $15 value out of 4800 MR points, then praise Carlson for 15000 point hotels is silly. I am a loyalist in both those programs too, and I am quite certain there are a LOT more Marriott hotels with redemption values above $35/10000 points than there are 15000 point Carlsons.

  • Ric Garrido January 19, 2017

    @Joseph N. – I see where the valuation seems low for Marriott points. I was referring only to 2,400 bonus points earned from promotion as being worth $15 to $25 compared to 15,000 bonus points with Club Carlson.

    15,000 Club Carlson points can be used for a hotel reward night. 2,400 Marriott points are not too useful.

    Marriott points are useful if I earn many thousands of points, but in this article I am talking about $300 hotel spend. I can earn free nights with IHG and Club Carlson on $300 hotel spend over the next two months. I can’t earn a free night with Marriott Rewards MegaBonus on that low amount of spend.

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