I recently booked a couple 5 day air / hotel getaways through Marriot Vacations (much needed!). I used my Marriott AMEX to pay for the trip and realized later that while I will get the standard Marriott Bonvoy points for the hotel stay, I will only be getting 2x points from AMEX on the hotel portion since it will be coded as "travel other" through Expedia instead of a straight Marriott hotel charge (6x).
I found excellent deals that popped up that saved $600 - $1k on each trip but I could have maximized the "travel points" by using another card to pay. I guess my Platinum would have given me 4x MR points on the total amount on top of the Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar (12.5 per $1 having Gold Elite status plus welcome gift of points). This seems to be the case anyway.
The way this Marriott vacations work is that the flight and hotel portion are actually billed and coded differently. The Hotel portion goes through Expedia while the Air portion is an actual airfare charge. (American Airlines in this case, we will get miles of course).
Since this Marriott Vacations, air and hotel program seems to randomly offer deals, if you are flexible anyway, we may use this program on an ongoing basis. Having a strategy to max the points return would be nice. What else would work aside from the AMEX Platinum? An Expedia card? Some other high point reward travel card?
Congrats on your rebuilding progress, and congrats on your upcoming vacations. Enjoy!
Regarding the points, however, the 2 points in the Marriott program I only count as equal to 1 MR point. So I agree careful selection of the card is important. The Platinum would be the choice for the airline, 5 MR if paying the airline. If through Expedia, then you usually need another card, like the AMEX Green or CSP/CSR and each of those options require an annual fee. They do have "general travel" points earning, so I use them for that.
@NRB525 wrote:Congrats on your rebuilding progress, and congrats on your upcoming vacations. Enjoy!
Regarding the points, however, the 2 points in the Marriott program I only count as equal to 1 MR point. So I agree careful selection of the card is important. The Platinum would be the choice for the airline, 5 MR if paying the airline. If through Expedia, then you usually need another card, like the AMEX Green or CSP/CSR and each of those options require an annual fee. They do have "general travel" points earning, so I use them for that.
Thank you. To use the Marriott Vacations when booking air and travel the total is paid up front. It doe slpit the airfare from the hotel when it appears on the statement. The hotel charge (the largest part of the bill) is an Expedia charge when using this service. That is who Marriott uses for these "packages" apparently. It can be a great deal though as we saved 50% on each hotel portion over anywhere I looked for comparison purposes. These "deals" pop up almost randomly for some Marriott hotels for certain dates.
What cards code Expedia as "travel" or award more than the equivalent of 1 MR point for that code?
Thanks for the congrats. I spent 6+ years working 360+ days a year in rebuilding our business, income and also our credit. We are in a good spot all the way around now, insulated and we will not be ruined again!
PS: Looked at your sig, nice job as well! Must be a good feeling.
I suppose my NFCU Flagship would likely provide 3% CB as a decent option.
@cashorcharge wrote:I have never booked a "vacation" through them (air, hotel, transort etc) and instead book the hotels directly to get the most points. I see your point though of getting the deal on the rate by using their "agreement" with Expedia for booking the package. Thanks for the education on that piece of it as I would have assumed it was considered "Marriott" since their booking you at their property.
That being said, not sure if you have any status with Marriott/Bonvoy...if so, you may want to call their reservations line to see what "offers and deals" they may have available for the property you're planning on staying at. Typically my travel is work related, corp rates and no deals outside of that. BUT, when I've traveled for vacation to non-work related places (think Maui versus Dallas/Chicago etc) you can call to see what member offers are available over the phone that may not display on line. Admittedly, it's been a while since I got one of these deals...but I think it wouldn't hurt to call and ask. The number I use is 800-399-4229
Thanks for the suggestion. I am Gold Elite at the moment. At some point next year, I may hit Platinum.
As for the points, I am getting all of the Marriott points via the room itself, 10 per $1 plus the 25% bonus for Gold Elite but am missing out on the extra 4 points per that come with using the Marriott card.
For the discount, since these were mostly personal trips, I was date flexible and was changing arrival and departure days very slightly and noticed the discounted totals popping up. They were significant for a 5 day and then the 2nd 4 day stay. (Both in Miami Beach for Nov and Feb). Both included weekends and did pop up as "sale price" deals. I am sure it was on the rooms since flights from O'Hare to Miami are pretty cheap these days.