using marriott free nights and or points

[mom4graceandlogan]

My husband is doing a ton of traveling and in the last 6 weeks alone has earned 4 free night certificates from promotions and has about25,000 points which will continue to grow. Anyone that uses the marriott rewards program have any advice on where to use the points/ free nights to get the most bang for you points so to speak. Looking for family oriented places to stay and places that you are able to use certificates and points without too much difficulty( I know there are always black out times). Orlando disney area of course or any other family freindly city. Would be a great way to check out somewhere we have never been.

 

[lila]

The key thing to maximize MR points is to look at the category options of each property in the destination you are looking for. You can often go to the same location but save thousands of points by staying at a category 4 vs category 6. Of course you have to weigh the tradeoffs of each property as well.

There has never been a destination I have tried to book at on points where I have been unable to get a room.

 

[Evi]

I always use my points on either the cape during peak summer months or NYC times square late fall for some Christmas shopping ok not really Christmas shopping but some me shopping lol. I would check out a few places you want to visit and see if they have a Marriott hotel then you can figure out which one offers you the most points conversion. Recently a friend of mine used her points for a week in the Maldives so you never know those points add up. If I could get Disney and Marriott to pair up for a resort lol then I'd be good.

 

[VAfamily1998]

We are frequent travelers and have used Marriott points to fund/supplement many vacations!

We've used them twice at Disney--once we stayed at the Residence Inn Sea World, and another we stayed at the Sabal Palms (time share type 2 bedroom condo).

We've also used our points to stay for a few shorter trips to Philadelphia and Kentucky (we live in Virginia)

 

[swilshire]

Probably not the BEST way to use points, but we use most of ours on long drives to book stop over nights. We always prefer a Residence Inn or Homewood Suites and they can be a bit costly in some locations.

If we aren't sure where we want to stop for the night, sometimes I'll be on the computer in the car booking them in late afternoon for that night. It sure beats trying to find a decent cash rate.

Sheila

 

[dsilva51]

I personally like to save my points to go places that I normally would not be able to afford such as Maui, etc.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

DH has been staying at Marriott's for work for over 10 years. He probably has somewhere in the ballpark of 1200 to 1500 lifetime nights.

I like to try and stick with the Residence Inns since we had DD. We just did 6 free nights in North Conway, NH and it was awesome! Last year we stayed a few nights in Langhorne, PA (Sesame Place and Philly) and again a great experience. Free breakfast, tons of space and a full kitchen. Last week in NH we didn't buy lunch out once since there was a grocery store right up the street.

There are 5 or so locations in Caribbean/Mexico that have an all-inclusive you can book with points. We had booked the Marriott Casa Magna in Cancun for last Christmas, but had to cancel due to me needing back surgery ASAP. It included the kids club for free which is normally $40 a day. DH ended up converting the points to cruise certificates (each certificate is $1000 off) and booked the Disney Dream for next year (totally worth having a herninated disc and surgery... lol.)

We also saved up points and used it for a week at the Ritz Carlton in Maui for our honeymoon. We also stay at a lot of Marriott Vacation Club locations in Orlando, but book that through timeshare exchanges with Interval International. Right now our favorite is Marriott Harbour Lake since their pools are geared towards families.

 

[summerrluvv]

Love Marriott points!! We stay a lot using a family member's points. We just recently spent 5 nights in Lancaster, PA and went to Dutch Wonderland, Hershey, etc. I was also able to cash in some points to get a $100 Marriott GC, which I used for our Hershey Tickets (charged to room, then paid room bill with GC).

The best stay was at the Marriott Harbour Lakes property in Orlando. AWESOME pools, rooms, activities, etc. It's right across from Seaworld. We have stayed in a studio and a 2 bedroom there. LOVE that place!!

 

[maggiew]

There are Marriotts in Marriott Village which is right by DTD. There is a Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn and a Courtyard. The Springhill suites and Fairfield Inn include breakfast. Not sure about the Courtyard.

We have used our points for the long drive from Chicago to Disney. But we have flown lately. So we saved up our points and used them in Paris last year. I found a nice Category 3 hotel near the train to maximize my points.

I have been saving points since then to use in London next year.

Maggie

 

[Green Tea]

When you get a lot, the best use probably is the vacation packages, including the airline points and hotels. I've got close to 300K points and still trying to figure out the best use. I am thinking a couple weeks in Hawaii in vacation clubs maybe.

 

[punkin712]

We use our Marriott Rewards Visa for EVERYTHING! We've used points for vacations (including week-long stays in Rome, London and at the Ritz-Carlton in Maui) and also for shorter-stay trips (Orlando, Philly, Ritz-Carlton in DC)

I recommend looking at the PointSaver promotions to see if there are any places in that list you might want to visit. You'll use fewer points and, possibly, end up going somewhere you might not have originally considered. Even if the airfare ends up costing a bit more, you still got a free hotel stay!

This discussion really makes me want to plan an exotic vacation...

 

[i_heart_the_mouse]

My favorite use of Marriott Points was at a villa at the Marriott Manor Club at Ford's Colony. It's near Williamsburg, VA and it's beautiful!

When we visited we bought a bounce pass from the Busch Gardens,VA website which gave us 7 days unlimited admission to BG, Water Country USA and Colonial Williamsburg. It is a STEAL! The tix were $98 for adults and FREE for kids under 6 and includes free parking. You have to buy the pass for all 3 or the the others only offer free under 3 and no free parking (which would have ended up being way more expensive for us as our kids were 3, 4 and 5 when we went.)

Anyway, between the cheap tix, using the points for the resort and utilizing the kitchen in the villa to prepare a lot of meals the whole week only cost s like $500! And it was fantastic! Second only to WDW of course

One thing I just thought of though is I think you may only be able to use the "free night" certificates for Cat 4 or less hotels and the Manor Club and other Marriott Vacation Club Resorts are Cat 6 (I think?)

When I have to use Cat 4 or less I use them for Springhill Suites as I have found them to be the nicest Marriotts in that Category (plus the free breakfast never hurts)

Sorry to go so OT, but hope this helps

Enjoy the points! It's the only reason I've learned to love hubby's travel schedule

 

[DiznyDi]

When you get a lot, the best use probably is the vacation packages, including the airline points and hotels. I've got close to 300K points and still trying to figure out the best use. I am thinking a couple weeks in Hawaii in vacation clubs maybe.

We've just returned from a 10 day stay at Marriotts Ko Olina Beach Club resort on Oahu. In a word, Fabulous! Trying to figure out how soon I can go back!

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

These are all great so far. Thanks

 

[crmom7054]

I use my Marriott points usually for a night here or there instead of all together for one trip. But I usually use them for a stopover hotel on the way to and from Disney since we drive.

It really depends on if you want to indulge in a hotel you normally wouldn't get to go to (like the Category 6 vacation clubs) or if you want to make your points last longer and stay at lower categories (2 or 3) like Fairfield Inns or SpringHill Suites. We usually go with the latter. I've not stayed in a Marriott hotel that wasn't very nice and clean -- even at these lower categories. And these usually include breakfast and parking, etc. that some of the higher categories do not.

Good luck making a choice -- and either way, have fun for FREE!

 

[dispor]

I don't have any specific advice for you - dh doesn't earn many free nights any longer. However, this site is GREAT for all information regarding hotel rewards programs...

http://www.flyertalk.com

Click on "Miles & Points" forum, then scroll down to "Hotel Programs."

HTH

 

[Traveliz]

Probably not the BEST way to use points, but we use most of ours on long drives to book stop over nights. We always prefer a Residence Inn or Homewood Suites and they can be a bit costly in some locations.

If we aren't sure where we want to stop for the night, sometimes I'll be on the computer in the car booking them in late afternoon for that night. It sure beats trying to find a decent cash rate.

Sheila

This is what we do with them too - use them for our stops to Disney or other locations. If we aren't at Disney we are most likely staying at another Marriott to accumulate more points.

Liz

 

[maddiesmommie]

We are platinum marriott...our last points trip we booked the Marriott Newport Coast Villas and went to DLR from there. Ocean view, granite counter tops and close to Laguna beach. It was wonderful!!! A very memorable trip.

 

[AZMermaid]

We used our Marriott points for a week in Aruba! You can also trade points for dining credits. If I remember right, you get a certificate for 2 appetizers, entrees, deserts, non alcoholic beverages tax and tip. They are they same ones you can buy for, I believe, $100. We got two of these for Aruba as well.

My husband stays at Hiltons more, so this pretty well depleted his Marriott points. We had enough left for a couple of nights near Disneyland. He has 500,000+ Hilton points and this was after a week in Hawaii! So, we use the Hilton card a lot to get more points and usually stay Hilton when we travel for weekends and use points. When we do that, we look for lower level point properties.

 

[DebMcDonald]

My husband used to travel for business all the time. We've had three free vacations, one outside of Disney (Buena Vista Village) and two times at the Marriott Grand Dunes in Myrtle Beach. I find the key is to book out as far as you can, so maybe plan for 8-10 months out as you get more bang for you points. We're doing Myrtle Beach again next April our last vacation with his free points as he does't travel any longer.