Good Deal: Marriott Selling Gift Cards For 15% Off (Targeted)

I received a 20% off offer.

I received the offer - and like you, I remember the last time Marriott did this was during the pandemic (I took advantage of the offer and used it for a Hawaii trip two years later). At that time, one of the reasons Marriott said they did it was to raise money while no one was traveling. The travel and economic situation today is not as dire as it was back then, but I think this kind of sale is an interesting indicator.

Hah, I didn't even check my percentage until I saw your comment - my offer is 20% as well.

Is this really a good deal? Gift cards can't be used on prepaid reservations or bookings via third parties. You also lose the flexibility of using a potentially better earning credit card at the hotel.

you are literally getting those points at the time that you buy the card - same thing you'd get at the hotel. Example - this codes as 3x on Chase Reserve or 5x (or more, depending on your marriott credit card) when buying the card, so get the spend points now or get them later...it's the same.

also, whenever possible, don't book through a 3rd party site anyway, always through the hotel chain to get hotel points, nights, member benefits, etc.

This is a no brainer - i give them 850 dollars and they give me back 1000.

Yes. i give them 850, they give me 1000. What's not to like?

Use the same card you'd spend at the hotel and get the same number of points at time of GC purchase rather than time of check out.

Also, always book through the hotel and not a 3rd party to get elite benefits, nights, points. no thanks on earnings with 3rd parties, go direct through the hotel. this is a good deal no matter how you look at it.

Would this purchase be eligible for Pay yourself Back on the Marriott Bold card?

You sure this is coded as hotel stays?

It isn't that simple in the real world (at least in my world). I may prefer to book via one of those luxury collections that offer additional benefits, or prepay to save some money when my itinerary is certain (if not, I may book with points first, then cancel the points booking and prepay when the nonrefundable rate is low and my itinerary is firmed up). I can't use the MB gift cards under such circumstances.

Secondly, for hotel stays, I can often generate 5 transferrable points that I may not be able to generate when purchasing MB gift cards, whether purchasing gift cards is coded correctly or not (it depends).

Last but not least, if I don't get to use the gift card because I choose to pay for hotels by other means, or I choose to stay at non-MB hotels (or a few MB hotels that don't accept MB gift cards) for an extended period of time, I lose roughly 5% interest per annum by buying the gift card.

Also, with the proliferation of hotel stay credits offered various credit cards, my priority is to use up such credits, rather than trying to save a few % that may or may not be real.

The difference with this promotion is that it caps you on a one time purchase of up to 1000. In the last promotion like this they did you could sent multiple orders and the system recognized your membership. I would have thought that allowing multiple orders would make more sense. Then people would have to spend the money at Marriott properties. I wonder the deal or relationship with the hotel and corporate about this. Some properties tried to deny me being able to use the gift cards.

The difference this time is that it caps you on a one time purchase of up to 1000. In the last promotion like this they did you could sent multiple orders and the system recognized your membership. I would have thought that allowing multiple orders would make more sense. Then people would have to spend the money at Marriott properties. I wonder the deal or relationship with the hotel and corporate about this. Some properties tried to deny me being able to use the gift cards.

It was last time (and the article suggests that it likely is as well), but even if not, we're talking about 1000 dollars in spend. Even if you use a card that only gets 1.5pts per dollar, you get 1500. if you end up losing out on, say, 5K points by paying for the 1000 at a hotel, you still save 150 on the gift card and 150 is a better savings than earning 5K points.