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Amex Platinum £400 Marriott credit extended to 31st December

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As we have covered a few times in recent weeks, some holders of The Platinum Card from American Express have received £400 to spend at selected Marriott International hotels.

If you have this offer, there is some good news. It has been extended to 31st December.

This is actually the second extension. The original deadline was 23rd November and then 19th December.

The Langley

Even if you live in London, it is arguably worth booking a stay and having a few drinks or a meal to get to exactly £400 purely to earn the Marriott Bonvoy points.

A base level member would earn (£400 – 5% VAT x $1.32 x 10 points per $1) 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, whilst an elite member would receive a status bonus on top.

Bulgari Hotel does not take part in Marriott Bonvoy, so don’t book that one if you want the points! In any event, base rooms at the Bulgari tend to start at £600.

Which hotels are taking part?

Here is the list of participating hotels. Given that travel into Europe won’t get a lot easier this side of New Year, you should probably focus on the UK hotels.

Having exchanged emails with many readers about this offer in recent weeks, there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding amongst some of them.

This is NOT ‘get a refund of your charges, capped at £400’. It is ‘spend £400+ and get a £400 statement credit back’.

If you spend £399.99 you will get NOTHING back from American Express.

American Express Amex Platinum card £400 free Marriott stays

You may want to book your stay via our hotel partner for extra benefits

Before I remind you of the deals that our hotel booking partner Bon Vivant offers, 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.

(Many readers have already booked this offer via Bon Vivant and received the cashback.)

Secondly, some hotels are offering online deals which are cheaper than the rate Emyr can access. You need to factor in the $100 credit, upgrade and free breakfast to decide what is best. Links to the direct hotel websites are below.

Trump Turnberry £400 American Express offer
Turnberry

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.

Here are your options for UK stays:

Note that The Westbury, Mayfair is now closed for refurbishment.

What deals can Bon Vivant offer?

You receive the following benefits on all eight 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!

If you want to stay for multiple nights, 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

JW Marriott Grosvenor House – pay for two nights, get a third night free

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 JW Marriott Grosvenor House from 7th to 10th December. The Best Available Rate showing online is £281. Can you please confirm that you can book at this price – with ‘3rd night free’ – and provide the other benefits on top?”.

As for my own trip …. as I live in London, I will book a ‘work from hotel’ package at the Grosvenor House. This gives me 6am check-in on Day 1 and 6pm check-out on Day 2, so I get somewhere smart to work. This will leave around £130 for a trip to the hotel restaurant and bar in the evening, before I nip home.

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

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 (73)

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

  • Kevin C says:
    20 Nov20 November 08:55

    As this now goes into the holidays, worth mentioning that also available is the family offer of 50% off a second room plus free breakfast and late check out. You can get this at The W, Grosvenor House and The Park Tower. You can book direct or Emyr can do it (you won’t also get the $100).

  • R says:
    20 Nov20 November 09:07

    I’m Marriott gold via AMEX and went to turnberry with the offer, booked via Emyr.
    Was a nice stay and got an upgraded room too.

    Hotel didn’t honour $100 credit and said they were offering either tea or a round of golf.
    I had thought that the tea/golf was because of the Gold, and would be getting $100 credit on top of that but didn’t argue it.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Nov20 November 10:00

      Every hotel has a different offer (the $100 isn’t universal) but if it was confirmed as $100 they couldn’t just decide they weren’t going to offer it.

      • Rob says:
        20 Nov20 November 10:47

        Gleneagles also offered a free round of golf instead of $100 credit when we went a couple of years ago (we knew this in advance). Great for some people but we let it lapse.

      • Lady London says:
        20 Nov20 November 12:42

        +1.
        I’d have wanted the $100 credit as booked – and in fact not used all of it but been happy abput that

        • Rob says:
          20 Nov20 November 13:13

          He didn’t expect to get $100. He’s saying that MOST hotels offer a $100 credit but this one chooses to do something and offer golf instead. Gleneagles does the same. You know at booking what you’re getting though.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 Nov20 November 15:37

            OP didn’t actually Rob

            “Hotel didn’t honour $100 credit and said they were offering either tea or a round of golf.”

            That sounds like OP expected $100 credit but hotel said afternoon tea or golf.

            However, from what I’ve seen the hotel doesn’t offer $100 they do say it’s golf/tea so they didn’t decline a benefit.

  • babyg says:
    20 Nov20 November 09:15

    Well i would say Marriot got their money back on free advertising on this site at least… I feel a new site coming just for this one subject… “HFFTMftw” (head for free to the Marriott (for the lucky few)).. ps yes i am envois I’m wasn’t one of the lucky few.

    • Rhys says:
      20 Nov20 November 09:17

      Marriott is the only one of the three big hotel chains to actually bother to push anything in the last six months. Hilton and IHG are both dead in the water – our contacts on furlough, the affiliate schemes suspended….Marriott Bonvoy took the initiative and has done well for itself!

      • Rob says:
        20 Nov20 November 09:27

        If anything, we are over-promoting Hilton and IHG at the moment in proportion to the contact we have with them and the (lack of) money they are spending.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Nov20 November 10:01

        No Q4 promotion yet though where Hyatt is giving everyone 4x back in points for example

  • n_g says:
    20 Nov20 November 09:58

    Was the Grosvenor House, operating an Executive Lounge before lockdown? I’ve been to the hotel numerous times for functions but have never stayed or even frequented the main bar/restaurant.

    Tempted to fit a night in the weekend before Christmas.

    • jc says:
      20 Nov20 November 10:02

      Yes

    • John says:
      21 Nov21 November 15:53

      The lounge is open, but there wasn’t much on offer in there, we nipped in for a coffee and water, and tried the evening canapes. If you can bag the side room it’s a bit cosier in there.

      We were there immediately pre-lockdown, great meal in the JW Steakhouse – we followed hotel advice and booked for dinner, in the evening it filled up with people mostly rom outside. Other restaurants in the area were also booked up, this seemed to be driven by the looming lockdown.

      Breakfast is in the Park Room, good choice but on both mornings the food was just lukewarm by the time it reached us.

      The Red Bar was closed due to the pandemic.

      Staff were all great, we enjoyed ourselves.

  • Jack says:
    20 Nov20 November 10:10

    Is it worth looking at upgrading to the Platinum Amex simply for this offer do you think?

    • Rhys says:
      20 Nov20 November 10:18

      No guarantee that you would get the offer as a new card holder unfortunately. Existing cardholders got the offer in early October.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Nov20 November 11:39

        Its pretty much guaranteed that you wont get any of the offer if you apply after they are rolled out. Only exception is small shop which you can asked to be enrolled on as its open to all

    • Rob says:
      20 Nov20 November 10:45

      No. It was capped at 2,000 people.

    • Amber Lynn says:
      20 Nov20 November 14:16

      no chance

  • memesweeper says:
    20 Nov20 November 13:26

    Extension also applies to Spend £200 or more, get £50 back on my Gold card

  • Nick says:
    20 Nov20 November 14:43

    Has anyone successfully had this trigger after booking using FHR? I know it should… just good to get confirmation!

    • Harry T says:
      20 Nov20 November 15:11

      If you are paying at checkout, you will be charged by the hotel… on Amex FHR in the UK, you cannot book a prepaid stay.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Nov20 November 15:39

      It will trigger booked via any route which allows you to pay at hotel as they will use the same card machine for every channel.

    • Ikaz says:
      20 Nov20 November 16:18

      I have yes

  • Pthy887 says:
    20 Nov20 November 15:26

    Data point for those of you considering cashing in on this offer, as I took some time off and went for it during the lockdown.

    1) Do not worry at all about the “lockdown” and “work purposes” stipulations. Checked in with my spouse and the receptionist just politely reminded us that it could only be for work purposes, and I didn’t disagree. That’s about it – no validation, etc. and we clearly weren’t there for work.

    2) Restaurants/bars will be closed, but room service operates with a limited menu. Breakfast is still pretty decent.

    3) Occupancy as you’d expect is extremely low, but service doesn’t feel impacted at all. The staff are still very thoughtful and responsive.

    4) Check Marriott’s website directly as there are some extremely good packages for members which may be better than Emyr’s.

    In a nutshell, if you have the offer go for it. We enjoyed it thoroughly, and life is too short to be worrying about all these made up rules by a hollow government (unless clearly you’re at risk, or interact with people at risk). As a Londoner it’s good to see the city feeling very much alive.

    On a side note, glad I stuck with the Plat this year. I was about to cancel but between the £400 off marriott, plus 2 x £100 off (main + supp) waitrose etc., plus another £100 off john lewis etc. later in the year, plus the £100 Harrods offer I’d say it has been a good year! That and another card had a Marriott offer as well, so definitely recouped the outlay.

    (I intentionally left the hotel’s name out of the comment as I know how the mob get, but am certain it is applicable to all hotels. Wouldn’t want the acrimonious folk calling in and ruining the fun for everyone, as I’m sure there are plenty on this site :))

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Nov20 November 15:42

      The hotel hasn’t broken any rules. It’s not up to them to challenge people on “work” stats. Tbh there’s a long list other than work reasons too.

      • james says:
        20 Nov20 November 16:59

        Yeh you’re supposed to be not so stupid as break the law yourself and go spreading disease all over the place when you don’t have to.
        What a muppet.

        • Lady London says:
          20 Nov20 November 17:40

          @Pthy887 thank you for confessing but I’m disgusted with you. Whatever you think about this government or think you know about any health measures you should comply. Otherwise you’re making everyone else that does comply out to be fools.
          I think it’s silly too but I play my part not to spread this regardless of what I think or know.

          • Pthy887 says:
            20 Nov20 November 21:48

            The day I worry about whether anonymous opinionated keyboard warriors on some hobby forum (who ironically are missing the whole point of the forum) are disgusted with me or not is the day insanity finally caught up with me.

            I agree compliance is important, but there has to be some critical analysis done on the individual’s part as well. You need to choose between your own thoughts and “guidance” as dictated by a group of people who: are clearly out of their depth, have only their self-interests at heart and have somehow evaded any accountability for their repeated and predictably lethal incompetence because of the sad state of instant gratification and jingoisms the world lives in.

            Don’t misunderstand me – I’m not one of those anti-mask, anti-vaccine, “the illuminati” are the sources of all evil and 5G is the devil’s spawn-type people, but I do draw the line at some point.

            I also find your reaction is likely a consequence of your being part of a minority of zealots who have followed the “guidance” to a tee, foregoing semblance of a social life or travel this year.

            I can only selfishly advise you take the risk that makes sense for you, if you do not have any underlying conditions, and live a little. It’ll help you take the edge off a bit.

    • LB says:
      20 Nov20 November 19:02

      The arrogance displayed here amazes me.

      • Pthy887 says:
        20 Nov20 November 21:49

        Please refer to the comment above.

        • meta says:
          20 Nov20 November 22:48

          Hello @shoestring! 😂

          • Stu N says:
            20 Nov20 November 23:30

            While I wouldn’t break the rules in such a way, I do see where Pthy887 is coming from.

            If his/ her personal risk of having COVID is entirely de minimus – say a situation where there are no kids in school, the entire household working from home and has no human contact beyond a twice weekly trip to Waitrose and a couple of courier deliveries a week then why not live a little?

            You are not creating risk to others – you’re very much doing something you want to do while accepting that there is a risk from other people you’ll meet when doing it.

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