Using Marriott card to get Gold Elite Status?

[nitrov]

That's a bummer. I guess I really am spoiled by my IHG card. People don't say the greatest things about IHG but I get insane returns on investment for my AF for that card and absolutely love it. Hilton may be a better backup for me than Marriott...I don't know. I'll have to do more research on that ritz card as well

[taxi818]

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@red259 wrote:

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@taxi818 wrote:
Well just booked my first rooms on the Marriott card using points. Completely painless. And can't believe for 15k points I got a $250 room.

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A category 3 charging $250 where?

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You wanted to know where.  I just saw your question. In Hong Kong. Thats where. hehehe. Its the JW marriott of Shenzen bao'an District. actually a new hotel, High rise. But it is 20 plus miles from the airport. Im guessing thats why its a cat 3. but for sure if you try and book at the place and pay cash. You will get no less than $150-260 a night. Look it up. Anything close to the airport was Cat 6-7. No way am i paying those prices. Im sure this is exception as Hong Kong is over priced as it is. But what can you do. Pay or sleep on the bench.

[jsucool76]

There's some hidden gem low cat properties around the world, but they take some looking to find.

I know the JW Houston Galleria is newly cat 5. Great deal since its a full service JW. =]

[red259]

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@taxi818 wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

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@taxi818 wrote:
Well just booked my first rooms on the Marriott card using points. Completely painless. And can't believe for 15k points I got a $250 room.

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A category 3 charging $250 where?

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You wanted to know where.  I just saw your question. In Hong Kong. Thats where. hehehe. Its the JW marriott of Shenzen bao'an District. actually a new hotel, High rise. But it is 20 plus miles from the airport. Im guessing thats why its a cat 3. but for sure if you try and book at the place and pay cash. You will get no less than $150-260 a night. Look it up. Anything close to the airport was Cat 6-7. No way am i paying those prices. Im sure this is exception as Hong Kong is over priced as it is. But what can you do. Pay or sleep on the bench.

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Weird I just checked and see nights for $109.Maybe you are going during some peak holiday period or something? Shenzen is not Hong Kong though. Its like anywhere from an hour and a half to two hour bus ride between the two. Gotta cross the border from mainland china as well which can take time. Looks like a nice property though. 

[taxi818]

No way to know if peek. But no border crossing. its only 27 kilometers and its part of hong kong. As it is broke into disticts. like Kowloon and so on. Its not 2 hours unless you are on something like a grey hound. taxi ride 30 mins. Ferry maybe 45mins as there is water everwhere. I checked the direct bus is about 45 mins and it cost about $20 ride to and from airport. But im staying for free so i don't mind paying the transportation cost. for sure looks like nice property. I looked at the ratings and reviews all are mostly 5 star.

[taxi818]

@red. You got me worried this is the mainland. So I just canceled my reservation. I hope I get my points back . Anyway. A few things changed in the last day. Will have to consult my travel agent and see what she can do Monday.

[red259]

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@taxi818 wrote:
@Anonymous. You got me worried this is the mainland. So I just canceled my reservation. I hope I get my points back . Anyway. A few things changed in the last day. Will have to consult my travel agent and see what she can do Monday.

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With other chains when I cancelled award stays I would get the points back so I would suspect marriott is the same as long as you do not wait till last minute to cancel. Mainland china is very interesting but if you are american you need a chinese visa for it, but you don't need a visa for hong kong. 

[taxi818]

That's what I was looking at. If I needed s visa for that hotel. I could not get response. And the price for expedited visa is $239. So to hell with that. I got my points back just that fast. Looked my reward points just a second ago. They are back. Now I want to cancel the portion of my ticket to Hong Kong altogether. And just go to Japan and the Philippines.

[red259]

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@taxi818 wrote:
That's what I was looking at. If I needed s visa for that hotel. I could not get response. And the price for expedited visa is $239. So to hell with that. I got my points back just that fast. Looked my reward points just a second ago. They are back. Now I want to cancel the portion of my ticket to Hong Kong altogether. And just go to Japan and the Philippines.

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Hong Kong is a cool city worth visiting for a cuple of days, but it is expensive. How long are you going to be travelling for? 

[taxi818]

6 weeks. I see. It's very expensive. But still cheaper than New York or San Francisco.