Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Rewarding Experience With Marriott

Rewarding Experience at Marriott

In anticipation of a recent personal trip, I contacted some of the hotel loyalty programs I am a member of. After discovering how many points I had in each I decided to redeem points for a room at Marriott. I hadn't redeemed with Marriott for quite some time and I must say they really have made their program easy to work with. I pre-selected the location and hotel type, in this case Courtyard by Marriott. When I called into the program's member services they quickly checked inventory, confirmed availability and booked the room for me. They did all of the work and I didn't have to do anything. The member service representative spoke perfect English and was very friendly. The points were deducted electronically and within a few minutes of my phone call an email confirmed the room and reservation number, the number of points deducted and the number of points remaining in my account. As a business traveler who "earned" these Marriott points the hard way, I was VERY appreciative of how easy and painless they made the process when it came time to redeem my points. They truly made it a rewarding experience. I think some of the airlines could benefit by revisiting why they introduced their loyalty programs years ago--and consider making them as customer-friendly as the Marriott program is. Well done Marriott! Now I'm thinking of trading in my American Express/Delta credit card for Marriott's credit card. Airline miles may sound sexier than hotel points but what good are airline miles if you can't redeem them?

What are your experiences trying to redeem points/miles you have earned?

2 comments:

Sarah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sarah said...

Hi Stephen,

We are so glad your experience redeeming Marriott Rewards points for your trip was easy and enjoyable! We work hard to make our program as rewarding as possible for our loyal Marriott customers.

You mentioned that you are thinking about getting a Marriott Rewards credit card so I thought I would post some information for you about our different products.

With the Marriott Rewards Signature Card you will receive a Free Night Stay upon account opening and 10 Elite night credits every year. You will earn 3 points per $1 spent at Marriott locations and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else. You will also receive 20,000 bonus points after your first purchase using your new card. The annual fee is $30.

With the Marriott Rewards Premier Card you will receive an annual Free Night Stay, 15 Elite night credits every year and 20,000 bonus points upon account opening. You will earn 5 points per $1 spent at Marriott, 3 points per $1 on airline, dining and rental car purchases, and 1 point per $1 everywhere else. The annual fee is $65.

Since you own your own business, you may be interested in our Marriott Rewards Business Card. With our business card product you will receive all the same benefits of the Signature card and will be able to earn points on employee cards as well. The business card will also help you easily separate your personal and business expenses. The annual fee is $30.

More information about all our card products (including Ts & Cs) can be found on Marriott.com.

Hopefully one of our card products is right for you. Either way, we are thrilled that you had such a positive experience with the program and we thank you for your business.

Best,

Sarah
Manager, Marriott Rewards