Hotel Loyalty 2011-Q4 promotion Marriott Hotels Marriott Rewards (replaced by Marriott Bonvoy)

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus free nights is my primary backup promotion

Marriott Rewards Megabonus from September 15, 2011 – January 15, 2012 offers most “low stay activity” members the opportunity to earn one free night after two Marriott brand stays paid with VISA for a maximum of two earned free nights at Category 1-4 hotels for redemption from September 15, 2011 – May 31, 2012.

Paid with VISA means any VISA card is acceptable. You do not need to use a cobranded Marriott Rewards Visa card.

MegaBonus promotion registration is required by October 31, 2011.

Why I like Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for my primary backup promotion.

Not all Marriott Rewards members receive the targeted two stays earns one free night offer. Infrequent guests with Marriott typically get the free night as a default offer. More active Marriott Rewards members may have a targetted points version for meeting a nights threshold.

This Loyalty Traveler post is written for people like me who rarely stay at Marriott Hotels. Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is a high value rebate for the infrequent Marriott Rewards guest.

This is the third Marriott Rewards MegaBonus promotion for 2011. Marriott Rewards does not seem to put a whole lot of effort in designing clever promotions since MegaBonus has basically been the same deal all year for the infrequent guest with two stays earns one free night at a category 1 to category 4 hotel for a maximum of two free nights during the promotion.

Marriott Rewards is my primary backup hotel plan.

This is the third time this promotion has run in 2011 providing an opportunity to earn 6 free nights with just 12 paid nights at Marriott brand hotels. The redemption restriction of category 1 to 4 hotels in the Marriott Rewards system prevents using the free nights in many major cities where most hotels are category 5 or 6 and the top of line resorts and luxury hotels at category 7 and 8. But there are plenty of $200 per night hotel redemption opportunities in the category 4 hotels and it is quite easy to earn a free night with Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for less than $200 with two one-night sub-$100 rates.

Marriott MegaBonus 2011 #1 – Earn February 1-April 30, 2011. Redeem free nights by September 30, 2011. Register by March 31, 2011.

Marriott MegaBonus 2011 #2 – Earn June 1-August 31, 2011. Redeem free nights by December 31, 2011. Register by June 30, 2011.

Despite Marriott Rewards being two-time Hotel Program of the Year in the Americas winner at the Frequent Traveler Awards 2010 and 2011, my stays at Marriott brand hotels are rather infrequent. I like the Marriott brand hotels I visit and I have seen plenty of new build Fairfield Inn properties alongside the new Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn hotels dotting the American landscape.

I only have need for so many hotel nights in a year and Marriott takes 50 nights to reach mid-tier Gold elite. Most hotel loyalty programs offer routes to top elite level with high value benefits for far fewer hotel nights in a year. That makes Marriott Rewards a backup program for me. Free nights are a valuable asset to have in reserve and Marriott Rewards free nights are easily earned with MegaBonus. Marriott currently has more than 3,000 hotels in the USA and over 500 international hotels with plenty of choices for paid and free nights.

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is a recurring promotion for infrequent Marriott Rewards guests to earn one free night after two hotel stays.

Other targetted variations of MegaBonus promotion offer bonus points with VISA payment. Here are some other offers posted on FlyerTalk.

  • 5,000 bonus points every second stay, up to 20,000 bonus points (8 stays) - Marriott Rewards Platinum member.
  • 25,000 bonus points after 15 paid nights + additional 15,000 bonus points after 20 nights – Marriott Rewards Platinum member.
  • 35,000 bonus points after 20 paid nights + additional 15,000 bonus points after 25 nights – Marriott Rewards Platinum member.

Finding the Fall MegaBonus promotion:

Register online or call 1-888-627-7468 and register by phone through October 31, 2011. You must have your account earning preference set to “points” to see the Fall MegaBonus promotion offer. When I did not see this offer last week I checked my account and saw it was set to miles. Once I changed my account earning preference to points the Fall MegaBonus offer for one free night after two stays paid with VISA showed up immediately in “Promotion Central” under “My Account”.

Loyalty Traveler Promotion Rating = 4 keys out of 5. This is my primary backup promotion for a high value rebate when I can’t find higher value in any other hotel program. Over the course of 2011 it has been possible to stay 12 nights and earn six free nights. Marriott Silver elite requires only 10 nights in Marriott Rewards and earns 20% bonus points for hotel stays.

 

a screenshot of a hotel
Marriott Rewards MegaBonus Fall 2011 - Earn one free night after two stays.

 

 

 

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