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Marriott has a quarterly promotion for stays known as MegaBonus. This time around, Marriott MegaBonus lets you can earn a free night after just two stays. I don’t write much about Marriott because my preferred hotel chains are Hyatt and Fairmont. Their entire loyalty program could use a lot of improvement as well. However, this promotion is quite compelling.
Marriott MegaBonus (2017W)
First, you must register for the promotion here. To complete the promotion and earn the free night, you need to have two qualifying paid stays between September 12, 2017 to January 15, 2018. Points redemptions do not count, but Ritz-Carlton stays do. Most reservations not booked directly at marriott.com are likely also non-qualifying.This promotion is only valid once per account so you can’t earn more than one free night. You will get the free night certificate 2-3 days after you complete all the requirements.
The free night certificate is valid for Category 1-5 hotels, which covers roughly half of their properties. This is exactly the same as the Chase Marriott Visa Anniversary certificate, and when you redeem for the lowest level Marriott Hotel and Air package (except that’s for seven nights). Keep in mind you also earn 2 SPG points on your Marriott stay with the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express until November 15th, which currently has an increased bonus of 25,000 points.
Additional Reading: SPG American Express Review
This promotion isn’t too exciting, but is very practical for many travellers. You can easily complete the MegaBonus in just one trip even if you don’t have much travel planned.
PointsU and Marriott MegaBonus
For example, take the weekend of PointsU Calgary, Nov 3-5. PointsU will be held at the Marriott Calgary Airport Hotel, but you can easily split your two nights into two separate stays with the Marriott and Delta hotels both attached to the airport. The Marriott on the PointsU Conference rate is 144 CAD.
The Delta hotel is 151 CAD.
By staying one night at the Marriott, and one night at the Delta, this gets you two separate stays. The logistics don’t work to let you get one of the nights free, since it takes time to deposit the certificate in your account. Still, you’re essentially getting a 50% rebate if you only book two nights to get one night free. Or, if you’ve already gotten your free night certificate, you can use it here as both hotels are Category 5 properties.
If you haven’t already booked your hotels for PointsU, I would strongly suggest splitting your stays to hit two birds with one stone! Purchase your PointsU tickets here, and use code CDNKMS to get $20 off when purchasing your tickets. Haven’t gotten a ticket? See why you should.
Register for the Marriott MegaBonus promotion here by November 30, 2017.
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Love to know details re: Fairmont stays? I’m a member of Prez Club but that’s it.
Surprising I don’t have a post on it. I’ll put it on my list. The easiest way to Fairmont top-tier is through AMEX Plat, only requiring 5 nights a year. I talked about it briefly a few posts back.
*A ‘stay’ is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity.
This condition is confusing. Does it mean you must spend at least 2 nights at a location to qualify that as a ‘stay’?
No. Basically it means even if you have two separate reservations consecutive (I.e today and tomorrow) and do separate check ins and check outs for both, it’s still only counted as one stay.
I been trying to register for this promotion buy keep getting the error message – any idea – any ideas? I am a points member so that’s not the problem?
I think some people have had trouble lately – i would wait a few days and try again
Promo fine print says: “Stay at any of our participating hotels and resorts worldwide between September 12 and January 15, 2018.” How can you confirm what hotels are participating, any idea? I’d hate to shell out for the two nights and not get the free night.
I have tried to register with no avail so I ended up phoning the rewards center as I stayed at a Marriott this weekend and didn’t want to miss out on the first stay. They said that many people have been having trouble and that some people will receive a perk after the first stay.