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Marriott brings back MegaBonus for Spring 2015

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

Marriott Bonvoy is offering 1,000 bonus points per night and double elite night credits on stays between 13th February and 29th April. Click here to read more and click here to register.

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Marriott Rewards has launched its major promotion for Spring, which will be (yet) another outing for MegaBonus. This promotion is active across all Marriott brands, including Renaissance, Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton, Autograph, AC Hotels, Edition, JW Marriott, Gaylord and the various US ‘extended stay’ chains.

This promotion will run from February 1st to April 30th 2015.

However, I’m getting ahead of myself ….

Marriott MegaBonus

Full details of the promotion can be found here.

Marriott targets different offers to different members based on your stay pattern (or lack of a stay pattern). To see what you have been given, you need to log in to your account.

I very rarely stay at a Marriott group property and if I log into my Marriott Rewards account and click on ‘Promotion Central’, I am offered what appears to the mainstream version:

Earn 2,500 bonus points per stay, starting with my second stay during the period, up to a maximum of 25,000 points

I tend to value Marriott Rewards points at 0.5p each so you are effectively getting £12.50 of value per stay from your bonus points.  This is certainly not terrible but neither is it a major reason to go out of your way.

Other versions of this offer include 3,000 points per stay (capped at 24,000 points) or a one-off bonus for hitting 15 or 20 nights.

The version which was most common in the past – offering a free night in a Category 1-4 hotel in return for two stays – seems to have disappeared.  This is not necessarily a disaster as Category 1-4 hotels were becoming quite rare.

Anyone whose Marriott account is set up to give airline miles instead of points will receive a different miles promotion instead.

Note that you need to register by 31st March so it is worth registering even if you are not planning any Marriott stays at present – it would be a shame to be faced with a couple of Marriott nights in April only to find that you can no longer sign up for the MegaBonus.

Whether the MegaBonus promotion works well for you will depend on your stay pattern – if you were staying in a cheap provincial Marriott for one night a week then the bonus is a decent rebate. 

If you are a ‘free agent’ with your bookings, though, I would certainly compare the new IHG Rewards Club promotion first (see my other article today) which should be more generous.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (4)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Steven du Preez says:

    Hi there

    I have and love the Accor programme, being new to Marriott (for work purposes) I noticed they offer the Marriott rewards or alternatively I could allocate the rewards to my executive club account, at 2 avios per USD. Could you please let me know which you recommend in terms of average value and conversion of the 10 points per USD marriot and the 2 avios per USD?

    Cheers

    • Rob says:

      Points are more valuable. I value an Avios at 0.75p-1p and a Marriott point at 0.5p. This means 1.5-2p per $1 for Avios or 5p per $1 for Marriott points.

      However, those Marriott points only have value if you earn enough for a decent redemption. If you don’t think you will do enough stays, taking the Avios is ‘cleaner’.

      Note, though, that this promo is VERY generous if you take airline miles and a lot less generous if you take Marriott points. See http://loyaltylobby.com/2014/12/22/marriott-rewards-megamiles-2500-bonus-air-miles-per-stay-february-1-april-30-2015/ – I will do a separate piece on this in the New Year.

      • Steven du Preez says:

        Fantastic, thank you for the information. I’ll have 13 nights at an average of USD 145 per night mid January and then I’m unlikely to stay again for another 6 months and will unfortunately miss out on the MegaMiles promotion which I agree is quite generous.

        Taking the advice, I might keep it on the Marriott rewards for now and assume there will be a free night in there for me somewhere!

        Cheers
        Steven

  • Rob says:

    That sounds more like it, equals up the value proposition

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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