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Got your free Amex Plat £400 Marriott credit? Get an extra $100 and breakfast if you book with us

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As we covered yesterday, the first 2,000 holders of The Platinum Card from American Express to sign up will receive £400 to spend at selected Marriott International hotels.

To see if you are targetted, have a look at our previous article.

If you WERE targeted, there is some good news. If you book your stay via Emyr Thomas at Bon Vivant, the Head for Points official hotel booking partner, you will receive extra benefits on top.

The Langley

How does the £400 cashback deal work?

The offer launched on Monday morning. Only 2,000 people are able to register, after which it will disappear from the Amex website.

If you have The Platinum Card, I STRONGLY recommend that you look at your online offers page IMMEDIATELY. If you see this offer, click ‘save to card’.

If you checked yesterday, it is worth checking again. I didn’t have it at 7am when I wrote the original article, but it had appeared by 10am.

Do NOT just look on the Amex app. You will see a broader range of offers if you look on the Amex website instead.

If you do not see it, you are either not targeted or the cap of 2,000 people has been reached. This is possible as our article yesterday was read over 15,000 times.

American Express Amex Platinum card £400 free Marriott stays

Do I really get £400 of free stays?

Yes. Here are the terms:

Spend £400 and get £400 cashback

You must stay by 23rd November

How can I get an even better deal by booking via Bon Vivant?

Before I run through the deals, I should clarify three things:

The rules of the ‘spend £400, get £400 cashback’ offer say that you need to book via marriott.com. If you book via Bon Vivant, you won’t be doing this. However, because you are paying at check-out, there is virtually no chance that the ‘book via marriott.com’ rule could be applied. How is American Express meant to know how you booked? However, it is only fair that I highlight this to you.

Some of these hotels can also be booked via American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts. You would get similar added benefits. The key difference is that Bon Vivant will book you in at the Best Available Rate showing on marriott.com. Amex FHR uses a random rate which could be higher or lower than this.

Some hotels are offering online deals which are substantially cheaper than Best Available Rate. You need to factor in the $100 credit and free breakfast to decide what is best.

What are the ‘added value’ deals?

We have only looked at the UK hotels included in the American Express Platinum deal, given the current restrictions.

However, if you are thinking of booking any of the other hotels on the list, Emyr can also book those for you with similar benefits. The two German hotels can be visited without the need to quarantine on your return.

Trump Turnberry £400 American Express offer
Turnberry

Which hotels are included?

Here are the options for UK stays:

What deals can Bon Vivant offer?

The following ‘free night’ offers are available via Bon Vivant and stack with the £400 credit:

The London EDITION – pay for two nights, get a third night free

The Westbury – pay for two nights, get a third night free

JW Marriott Grosvenor House – either pay for three nights and get a fourth night free or pay for five nights and get a further two nights free

You receive the following benefits on all nine of the hotels listed above:

  • Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
  • Complimentary breakfast for two daily for duration of the stay
  • $100 USD equivalent hotel credit once per stay
  • Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability 
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi
  • Customised amenity

Note the ‘complimentary breakfast’ AND the $100 hotel credit. This means that you can actually spend around £480 without having to pay a penny, since your $100 credit will be deducted from your bill at check-out!

Do I still receive points and elite night credit in Marriott Bonvoy if I book via Bon Vivant or Amex FHR?

Yes, except for Bulgari. Bulgari does not participate in Marriott Bonvoy.

Do I still pay on departure if I book via Bon Vivant or Amex FHR?

Yes

How can I contact Bon Vivant?

Please send your booking enquiries via the form on this page of Head for Points.

Please be as precise as possible to allow us to deal with enquiries as efficiently as we can. Remember that pricing will match Best Available Rate showing on marriott.com.

A typical enquiry might be “I’m thinking of booking a standard room at The Westbury from 7th to 10th November. The Best Available Rate showing online is £281. Can you please confirm that you can book the 3-for-2 deal at this price and provide the other benefits on top?”.

As for my own trip …. as I live in London, I am tempted to book a one-night stay for as little money as I can and then have a good night in the hotel restaurant and bar until I’ve hit the £400 cap (plus $100 hotel credit!).

The form to contact Emyr is at the bottom of this page (click).

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.)

Category

American Express Platinum card, Marriott Bonvoy

Comments (179)

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

  • Mark W says:
    13 Oct13 October 10:16

    I *know* they’re gonna be super busy with all the enquiries but any idea of turnaround time to requests? Put one in yesterday and not sure when to chase up/just book to lock in price and dates.

    • Nick Burch says:
      13 Oct13 October 10:47

      I sent Emyr an email yesterday evening, no response yet, I guess he’s pretty swamped!

      Given how many of the Marriott rates are flexible until quite close, you could always book on the Marriott website and cancel if Emyr manages to come back with a better deal in time.

    • Emma S says:
      13 Oct13 October 11:41

      Emailed this morning and got a reply this morning.

      • Nick Burch says:
        13 Oct13 October 12:32

        Still nothing, maybe Emyr is doing today’s emails before yesterday’s!

        • Rob says:
          13 Oct13 October 13:14

          He is prioritising Langley requests because the availability during the 9 possible days you can book is swiftly disappearing. The one available Saturday is already full.

          I have seen 60 request forms this morning. I don’t see requests from people who have his details already, so let’s assume he’s had 120 emails so far today ….

          • Nick Burch says:
            13 Oct13 October 13:59

            Mine wasn’t the Langley, so that makes sense!

            Emyr has now been in touch, he can noticeably beat the best deal on the Marriott website for the hotel and dates we want, so worth the wait 🙂

          • Dace says:
            13 Oct13 October 15:14

            Good to hear Emyr has been able to benefit. Past seven months must’ve been tough.

          • Rob says:
            13 Oct13 October 15:54

            It wasn’t only the loss of cash, it was the time required to cancel all the bookings that people had made (including mine for half term).

  • SR says:
    13 Oct13 October 11:57

    I blew it all on 1 night at the Langley (plus breakfast, the $100 credit and champagne). Like everyone else, my wife and I have been stuck indoors WFH for the last 7 months. I intend to turn up very early and leave very late, maxing out the facilities as much as possible and leaving the spa looking like a full on prune. It’ll be worth if it for the cost of a fancy meal

    • Andreas says:
      13 Oct13 October 13:05

      That is exactly what I’m doing. It’s the only one with a spa, I’ve got all my annual leave left still, and the prospect of a longer international holiday during this leave period is dwindling rapidly. Plus I’ve only had my plat for a few weeks so I’m keen to use the benefits and see how FHR works!

      Are you going to use your credit on the meal or stick it towards spa treatment?

      • SR says:
        13 Oct13 October 14:25

        No spa treatments, I aim to make the freebies stretch as much as possible. Might even send a fax, just because i can 🙂

        I didn’t realise the hotel was even closed. If they delay the opening, I think the best idea I saw on here was to switch to the cheapest london hotel and make full use of the restaurant/bar (definitely the bar if it’s the W)

    • Magic Mike says:
      13 Oct13 October 13:35

      If the Langley even opens (I have a booking, but not counting on it), I suspect they will have a lot of folks with a similar idea on Thu/Fri/Sat. I would not be expecting early checkin or late checkout!

      If the Langley is actually open, Rob could pop over and spend his £400 at the bar meeting all the HfPers. 🙂 Who says there won’t be a HfP xmas party!

      • Andreas says:
        13 Oct13 October 13:53

        I’ve booked mid week since I’ve got lots of holiday to spend! I’m actually thinking of taking the entire week off and allowing myself time to relax before and after the Langley visit

        • Crafty says:
          14 Oct14 October 11:25

          Really don’t think there’s much prospect the spa will be open, not without restricted time slots anyway.

  • Anna says:
    13 Oct13 October 13:15

    I’m really glad I made my booking with Emyr last week!

  • Paul says:
    13 Oct13 October 13:59

    Wow I can’t think of anything more damaging to my loyalty to Amex than to hear about this fantastic offer and then to see that it’s not been offered to me for some unknown reason. Like every other member, I have seen my benefits become almost worthless over the last six months. Unlike my other memberships, I have seen nothing offered by Amex to compensate, and knowing that a few of us got this offer and others didn’t seems like a pretty tone-deaf move on Amex’s part.

    • Rob says:
      13 Oct13 October 14:11

      You’ve had £200 of free Waitrose food!

      To be honest, I’m not sure how Amex should have played this. It is costing Marriott £800,000 – presumably they don’t want to spend more. Let’s assume there are 50,000 Plats – they either ask Marriott to pay £20 MILLION so everyone gets it, or they have to ration it. And, of course, there aren’t even 50,000 rooms to offer up.

      HfP is the problem. If we hadn’t written about it, you’d never have known about it. Amex needs to learn how to adapt to a world where deals are widely shared.

      • Andrew says:
        13 Oct13 October 14:50

        Yes I told Amex that yesterday when I rang for a rant. A quiet free coffee from the manager a Pret to surprise and delight now and again isn’t done with a gong saying “everyone, attention please, I’m giving Andrew a free coffee today because I like him but the rest of you will have to pay as normal”. So a lesson for Amex – the power of social media which is their friend most of the time, can work against them with things like this and create FOMO resentment towards them.

      • JohnG says:
        13 Oct13 October 20:50

        HFP isn’t the problem so much as people who would rather no one get’s something nice than someone else gets something nice while they don’t…

        It does strike me as an odd offer. I have to assume the financials are more complex than Marriott just absorbing all the cost. I can see a lot of the use being people spending only the free amount. Even if it was £300 off £450 or similar they could spread it more widely and it would still be a fantastic deal, while discouraging people just using the deal because they can but have little motivation.

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Oct13 October 15:33

      Plus you should call & threaten to leave, you’ve obviously got a reason to use. If you’re of any value you’ll get 40-50k MR’s which is another £200+ even used for straight statement credit. That’s £400 of your £595 fee back straight away.

  • Confused Traveler says:
    13 Oct13 October 14:01

    Can anyone explain what the Member Rate Welcome Back on Marriot’s website is? Can that be booked and basically can any pre-paid rate be booked as they are the cheapest. I’m waiting for Emyr’s reply but only for a certain amount as already some dates have gone for my chosen hotel.

    • Rob says:
      13 Oct13 October 14:08

      Emyr can only book at the standard Best Available Rate – the one that shows under the ‘Standard’ tab. He can’t book anything under the ‘Deals’ tab.

      Nothing booked by Emyr is pre-paid.

      • Confused Traveler says:
        13 Oct13 October 14:20

        Sorry, I didn’t mean amount as in money; I meant I will wait for a certain amount of time as otherwise the dates I want will be gone.

  • Jett says:
    13 Oct13 October 14:35

    Hi All, I have both a UK Amex Plat and a US one. The US Amex site always shows FHR hotels (and all others) at considerably cheaper prices than on the UK Amex FHR site. If i book using the US platform am I able to pay with my UK card (which has the Marriot offer already saved on it) thus triggering the £400 discount ?

    • Harry T says:
      13 Oct13 October 15:18

      In the US, there are prepaid and pay at checkout rates for FHR – UK is pay at checkout only. You will not earn points or elite night credits with Marriott for US FHR prepaid rates as it goes through Expedia. It will not count as being billed by the hotel, as you will be charged by Expedia/Amex instead – your offer will only work if you use your UK Plat at checkout, at the hotel (or maybe book a prepaid rate through Marriott directly).

    • TGLoyalty says:
      13 Oct13 October 15:39

      US websites don’t legally have to show you rates inclusive of all taxes and charges either!

      • Anna says:
        13 Oct13 October 16:31

        Nope – always assume the headline rate can be up to double the amount by the time you get to the payment page! This really surprises me given the fuss Americans make about value for money, suing hotels over resort fees etc.

  • dragonfly says:
    13 Oct13 October 15:21

    If I book in my name for a room one night for me and a friend (say), but I don’t intend to sleep in the room with my friend. Will I get into trouble with the hotel if I let my friend & their partner stay in the room instead? I would like to have dinner with them in the hotel (to be charged to the room), go home to sleep, and turn up at the hotel the next morning to pay with my card. Can anyone see any problem with this?

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Oct13 October 15:37

      Just tell them your plan at check in. They’re all high end hotels so will be accommodating I’m sure.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      13 Oct13 October 15:57

      Do not let the hotel know!

      The have no idea who is staying in the room just check in and then let them stay and walk out in the morning leaving their keys in the room. you can then checkout in app.

      • Anna says:
        13 Oct13 October 16:33

        +1 – if you slip away discreetly at the end of the evening nobody will notice. Even if they say anything when you show up the next morning you could have been out for a run or to get a newspaper.

        • dragonfly says:
          13 Oct13 October 17:50

          Thanks for your replies. Will do what you have suggested. Just want to treat a couple (friends) a nice stay.

  • Rhys says:
    13 Oct13 October 16:07

    Shouldn’t be an issue, I doubt the hotel cares.

    • Roselin says:
      13 Oct13 October 16:15

      Thanks, will try this if we manage to get a booking, marriot and FHR web page crashing for the past hour…

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