Firstly, let's talk about the Marriott Family of hotels and what to expect
Marriott rewards is a rewards program that encompasses 19 brands of hotels, we'll break them up into categories - Full Service Hotels,Luxury Hotels, Select Service Hotels, Extended Stay Hotels, Timeshare/Villa properties, and earning only hotels (which means you can't REDEEM points for a stay there)
Full Service
- JW Marriott - JW
- Marriott
- Rennaissance - Ren
- Autograph Collection
- Protea Fire & Ice
- Delta Hotels
Luxury Hotels
- Ritz Carlton - RC
- Edition - Edition
- Gaylord Hotels
- Protea - African Pride
Select Service Hotels
- Springhill Suites - SHS
- Fairfield Inn and Suites - FFI
- Courtyard - CY
- AC Hotels - AC
- Moxy - Moxy
- Protea
Extended Stay Hotels
- Residence Inn - RI
- Towneplace Suites - TPS
Timeshare/Villa Properties
- Marriott Vacation Club - MVC
Earning Only Hotels
- Marriott Executive Apartments - MEA
- ExecuStay - ES
I know there is more than 19 brands listed there, but 3 of them (Protea, African Pride, and Protea Fire and Ice) are all just different brands within the same family.
What do these classifications mean?
Full service hotels are exactly what they sound like. They offer more in the way of amenities. They may have a club level, one or more restauraunts, nicer toiletries, turndown service, and so on.
Luxury hotels are pretty self explanatory. These are going to be your (most likely) most expensive hotels here. JW Marriott could fall into this category, but it depends on the hotel, and your opinion. These are the hotels that are going to provide the best of the best in terms or service quality, amenity quality, (hopefully) room quality, but you will pay for this.
Select Service Hotels give you a room, they may or may not have a restaurant, this is going to be your standard hotel, with no real frills.
Extended stay hotels include a kitchen, and offer studio rooms, and one or two bedroom suites. These are meant for extended stays, and there's a downside to staying at them (which we'll get into later). Residence inn is a more upscale hotel, TownePlace Suites is more of a mid tier hotel, but they did just revamp their breakfast offerings.
Marriott Vacation Club resorts are timeshare properties, but you are able to book a stay there just like any other hotel. These will usually be 2 or 3 bedroom villas, with a full kitchen, and a LARGE resort property.
Marriott Executive Apartments and ExecuStay are EARNING ONLY partner hotels, you cannot redeem points here, and like the previous category they're usually used for extended stays, but for business travelers as opposed to families.
Marriott Rewards Program
Marriott rewards offers 6 membership levels, with different benefits, and you can choose to either earn marriott points, or airline miles (38 partner airline programs).
Basic Member
- Free Wifi at (almost) every marriott hotel
- 5th night free on all award stays
Silver Elite - 10 Qualifying Nights
- 20% bonus points
- Late Checkout
- Weekend Discounts
- Elite only Offers
Gold Elite - 50 Qualifying Nights
- Guaranteed lounge access/breakfast for members and one guest (excludes CY, resorts, and RC)
- Room Upgrades - (Excludes Suites and Club Level at RC)
- Free "Enhanced" Wifi
- Guaranteed Room Type
- Hertz #1 Gold Membership
- Free local phone calls and faxes, discounted long distance phone calls
- 25% bonus on points
Platinum Elite Status - 75 Qualifying Nights
- 48 hour guaranteed availability for hotel rooms
- Complimentary United MileagePlus Silver Status
- Platinum Arrival Gift
- 50% bonus on points
Platinum Premier Elite Status - ???? Nights/Spend
- Fancy Title
- Complimentary United MileagePlus Gold Status
Platinum 5-Star Status - Not Gonna Happen - VIP/Personal Friend of Marriott Family
- Everything you want
If you are gold/platinum and a hotel does not have a lounge, or the lounge is closed you will either be given bonus points, or free breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
PLATINUM ARRIVAL GIFT:
1000 points (or 500 miles) at
- RC
500 points (or a food/beverage amenity) at
- JW
- Autograph Collection
- Ren
- Marriott
- Gaylord
- MVC
- EDITION (or 250 miles)
400 points AND food and bev amenity) at
- AC (US & Canada)
- CY (US & Canada)
250 points or food and bev amenity at (international)
- AC
- CY
- Moxy
- Protea
200 points or food and bev amenity at
- SHS, RI, FFI, TPS
Elite Night Credits:
You will earn 1 elite night credit for all nights(including award stays) stayed at ALL hotels EXCEPT
- Marriott Executive Apartments and ExecuStay - Both will earn you 1 elite night credit for every THREE nights stayed.
If you fall short of qualifying for your next status level, your nights will rollover (one time, with one exception, See: Credit Cards)
IE:
You end 2015 with 45 elite qualifying nights. You only need 10 to qualify for silver, 35 nights will rollover and you will start 2016 with 35 nights. If you only stay 10 nights and end the year with 45 nights again, these nights will NOT rollover again. You will start 2016 with 0 nights (unless you have a marriott credit card)
ALL elite qualifying nights (nights stayed, credit card nights, rollover nights) count towards lifetime status
Now In marriott rewards you can choose to earn either points and miles, but earnings differ based on hotel brand.
You earn 10 base points, or 2 miles per dollar on ALL qualifying charges at (room service, hotel restaurant, spa services, and so on)
- JW
- Autograph Collection
- Marriott
- Rennaissance
- MVC
You earn 10 base points, or 2 miles per dollar on room rate ONLY at
- SHS
- FFI
- Protea
- CY
- Moxy
- AC
- Gaylord
- RC
You will earn 5 base points or 1 miles per dollar on room rate ONLY at
- RI
- TPS
You will earn 2.5 points or 1 mile per dollar on
- MEA (Room Rate Only)
- ES (All Qualifying Charges)
NOTICE:
- ELITE BONUSES COUNT FOR POINTS ONLY, YOU WILL NOT EARN ELITE BONUSES ON MILES
Spending Your Points
There are 9 categories, and 5 tiers of hotels, representing a point cost per night. ALL members get their 5th consecutive night (spent at the same hotel) for free. Most hotels use the "Category" system, ONLY RC, and Edition use the Tier system.
- Category 1 - 7,500
- Category 2 - 10,000
- Category 3 - 15,000
- Category 4 - 20,000
- Category 5 - 25,000
- Category 6 - 30,000
- Category 7 - 35,000
- Category 8 - 40,000
- Category 9 - 45,000
- Tier 1 - 30,000
- Tier 2 - 40,000
- Tier 3 - 50,000
- Tier 4 - 60,000
- Tier 5 - 70,000
Example of 5th night free:
Category 8 properties are 40,000 points/night
1 night = 40,000
2 nights = 80,000
3 nights = 120,000
4 nights = 160,000
5 nights = 160,000
This only works if you spend all 5 nights, in a row, at the same hotel.
That is the basics of the marriott rewards program...the ritz carlton rewards program is the SAME program, with a different name. You can only belong to one of them, and you can switch your "allegiance" at any time you choose by simply calling up customer service. The only difference is bonus opportunities.
Onto the Credit Cards
There are 4 credit cards associated with this rewards program
Marriott Rewards Credit Card
Marriott Rewards Premier
Marriott Rewards Business Premier
Ritz Carlton Rewards Card
The standard marriott rewards credit
- $49 AF, waived first year
- 10 elite qualifying nights (these are not FREE nights for you to stay, they are nights towards elite status - This will get you silver status)
- 3 points per dollar on marriott hotels
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
- 1 Elite night credit for every $3,000 spent on the card
Marriott Rewards Premier Card
- $85 annual fee, waived first year (Varies based on application link/offer used)
- 15 elite qualifying nights (10 for silver status, 5 extra to get you towards the next level)
- one free category 1-5 certificate on each cardmember anniversary
- 5 points per dollar spent at all marriott properties
- 2 points per dollar spent on airfare, rental cars, and restaurants
- 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere
- 1 elite night credit for every $3,000 in card spend
Marriott Rewards Premier Card (Business)
- $99 annual fee, waived first year (Varies based on application link/offer used)
- 15 elite qualifying nights (10 for silver status, 5 extra to get you towards the next level)
- one free category 1-5 certificate on each cardmember anniversary
- 5 points per dollar spent at all marriott properties
- 2 points per dollar spent on airfare, rental cars, and restaurants, office supply stores, internet service, cable service, phone service
- 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere
- 1 elite night credit for every $3,000 in card spend
Ritz Carlton Rewards Card
- $395/$450 annual fee
- Automatic Marriott Gold Elite Status for your first year (and maintained each year after that with $10,000 spent on the card)
- Ability to earn platinum elite status ($75,000 in card spend/yearly)
- $300 Airline Incidental Credit (airline lounge day pass, or towards a yearly lounge membership of your choice; airline seat upgrades; airline baggage fees; in-flight internet/entertainment; in-flight meals; Global Entry fees)
- $100 Hotel Credit on paid stays of 2+ nights (RC hotels ONLY, must use Z34 booking code (online) or book over the phone)
- 3 Certificates for upgrade to club level on a paid stay of up to 7 nights (RC hotels Only, must pay a certain rate (Z38 booking code), must be booked over the phone (though rates can be searched online) , INCLUDES $100 HOTEL CREDIT )
- $100 discount on select airline ticket purchases of 2-5 passengers
- Up to $100 global entry/TSA PreCheck credit (once every 4 years)
- Priority Pass Select Membership (free guests, not sure on limits)
- 5 points per dollar spent at marriott
- 2 points per dollar spent on airfare, rental cars and restaurants
- 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
- 10% yearly bonus on ALL points earned through card spend
The basic marriott card is pretty much useless in my opinion. For a few more bucks a year you get a free night every year.
The premier card (personal and business), to me, is a keeper for the free annual night. You'll rarely find a hotel for cheaper than $85, and silver status (though it doesn't give much) certainly helps with the 20% bonus points. This also allows you to take a gold elite status challenge (if you are a basic member you can only take a silver challenge) which will give you a fast track to gold status. Like all hotel cards that offer a free annual night (Marriott, Hyatt, IHG...) I think this card is a no brainer if you travel at all.
The Ritz Carlton card holds TREMENDOUS value for it's automatic gold status, and benefits at ritz carlton. Even if you NEVER step foot in a ritz carlton hotel, if you stay at marriott often (but not often enough to achieve gold status), the free breakfast alone can be worth up to $50/day, and lounge access can be invaluable. Free food almost all day long, some lounges have free alcohol all day long. The ritz carlton club level upgrades can easily be worth $1000 (or more) each if used correctly, and the $100 hotel credit is worth $100 
Though you may have trouble using the $300 airline credit for gift cards, it still has its' uses.
Edit: As of 9/6/16, despite policy stating otherwise, I have received 15 elite night credits from both the Marriott Premier Card, and the Marriott Business card, for a total of 30 elite night credits. This is not guaranteed, but it did happen.
I've left a lot out, I'll be editing this over time, but it's here if you need it 
Hope it helps some people a little bit, I know it's unorganized.
Feel free to reply with anything you think I missed or if you have any questions =]
