As I have written another article today about a new indirect benefit of having the American Express Platinum charge card (ie Star Alliance Silver status), I thought it was worth flagging up another key benefit. I wrote last week about the status match that has […]
Marriott Rewards and Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Marriott Rewards is the loyalty scheme for Marriott, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, AC and Courtyard hotels amongst others. You earn points which can be used for free nights or transferred into frequent flyer miles including Avios points. Ritz-Carlton Rewards is the same scheme but with a different membership card and different branding on its website!
I published an extensive two-part review of Marriott Rewards which can be found here and here. The latest promotions can be found on our 'Hotel Promos' page.
Amex Platinum now gets you Marriott Rewards Gold status and earns Marriott points
28 September 2016 By 16 Comments
Why Marriott Travel Packages are exceptional for Avios if you have lots of SPG points
25 September 2016 By 41 Comments
In my discussion of the implications of Marriott’s decision to transfer Starwood Preferred Guest points into Marriott Rewards at the ratio of 1:3, I said that Marriott Travel Packages looked a very good deal. Today I want to go into this in more detail. Marriott […]
Available NOW – instant status match from Marriott to Starwood or vice versa
23 September 2016 By 86 Comments
The merger of the Marriott and Starwood hotel groups completed this morning. It creates the largest hotel company in the world with a – frankly crazy – rota of 30 brands and 5,700 properties. Some details of how the merger of Marriott Rewards and Starwood […]
Has the Starwood to Marriott conversion ratio been leaked?
22 September 2016 By 25 Comments
I thought I’d drop this in during the afternoon as something to think about …. This morning a Mandarin-speaking reader, who I know fairly well via previous emails, sent me a document which has been doing the rounds on Chinese frequent flyer sites today. It appears […]
Bits: new SPG Moments O2 tickets available, Marriott & Starwood merger completes, 1000 free Air Canada miles
22 September 2016 By 38 Comments
News in brief: New Starwood SPG Moments concerts at the O2 now bookable Starwood Preferred Guest released a new batch of O2 concerts yesterday. The list, it is fair to say, has something for everyone. You can catch: Justin Bieber (25,000 points for two) Rod […]
My review of the new JW Marriott resort, Venice (Part 2)
15 September 2016 By 12 Comments
This is Part 2 of my review of the new JW Marriott hotel and resort in Venice. Part 1 can be found here. As I said yesterday, we spent three days at the JW Marriott resort in Venice over the August Bank Holiday. Our Junior Suite […]
My review of the new JW Marriott resort, Venice (Part 1)
14 September 2016 By 17 Comments
This is my review of the JW Marriott hotel and resort in Venice. Part 1 runs today and the second part runs tomorrow. This was the second year that we have ended up in this hotel over the August Bank Holiday. I was planning to […]
REGISTER NOW for the new Marriott Megabonus promotion
5 September 2016 By
Marriott Rewards has unveiled its promotion for the Autumn. It is called Marriott Megabonus, which gives the impression that it is a repeat of the offer of that name which has run on a regular basis in recent years. As it happens, the deal has […]
How holding a 1-hour 1-person meeting at Marriott can get you elite status
28 August 2016 By
I have always struggled to get excited about Marriott Rewards. It is probably truer to say that I have struggled to get excited about Marriott hotel brands (although, ironically, I will be in one tonight) and therefore the rewards programme has never done much for […]
Does Marriott regret buying Starwood and is hoping the Chinese kill the deal?
21 August 2016 By
The acquisition of the Starwood hotel group – owner of W, Westin, Sheraton, St Regis, The Luxury Collection, aloft etc – by Marriott is running late. The cause is Chinese competition clearance, with the Chinese authorities recently stating that they require another two months to […]
VERY interesting – Accor/Hertz status match AND 1000 Marriott or IHG points for everyone!
29 July 2016 By
A couple of weeks after a non-functioning website went up, a new partnership between Hertz and Le Club AccorHotels has been officially launched. Accor has previously only worked with Europcar. Adding Hertz is a positive move and broadens your options for crediting Hertz car rentals […]
Holiday Tips 4 – earning Avios and other airline miles from car rentals
24 July 2016 By
This is the final part of our ‘Holiday Tips’ series which I have updated and re-run this week in preparation for the Summer season. Earlier articles looked at the best credit card to use abroad, the best way to earn miles when ordering foreign currency […]
Which is the most generous hotel programme for earning Avios points?
16 July 2016 By
The general view of hotel loyalty programmes is that Starwood Preferred Guest is the only scheme where it is is worthwhile trading your points for airline miles. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that – since the conversion rate for […]
Bits: Starwood / Marriott vs Hilton for luxury, Good To Go – insurance for 65+ and ill travellers
16 July 2016 By
News in brief: Why the combined Starwood and Marriott should be a focus for upmarket travellers My main article today draws on a huge analysis of the major hotel loyalty schemes from Travel Expert. One other interesting nugget from this research work sprang out. Starwood has 750 […]
25% bonus on point transfers into Etihad Guest – but with a catch this year
3 July 2016 By
Etihad Guest has brought back its offer of a 25% bonus on points you transfer into their scheme. It is 14 months since we last saw this offer. You can find full details of this offer on the Etihad website here. The closing date is 31st July. […]
Bits: free Marriott breakfast with Visa, triple Nectar points with Expedia, HFP in the Express
27 June 2016 By
News in brief: Free breakfast at Marriott properties when you pay with Visa Marriott has launched a new promotion with Visa offering free breakfast at 250 hotels across Europe, including the new JW Marriott Venice below. Many Marriott-owned brands are covered as well as Marriott […]
Is it worth buying hotel points to transfer to Avios for the 35% bonus?
22 June 2016 By
Until 5th July, British Airways is offering a 35% bonus if you transfer hotel points from seven major loyalty schemes into Avios – click for my article from yesterday. Since most of the hotel programmes allow you to buy points – and some currently have special offers – […]
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