Disguised! Costco Selling Gift Cards For Marriott & Ritz Carlton For 20% Off (Likely Regional)
Those of you that know me best are well aware of my fixation with Costco. With the merchandise changing almost daily, each new walk down an aisle is an exercise in discovery. Some people don’t see the beauty in a 48-pack of rolls or a 3 lb. block of cheese. But, if you manage it well, Costco is a parallel to the world of leveraging miles and points. There’s a lot of value hidden in those aisles. Do I sound like a bit of a Costco nerd? Guilty as charged.
Today, I found hidden Marriott gift cards. They’re 20% off (at $79.99 for $100 worth of gift cards) and you can get an extra 2% off if you’re a Costco Executive card holder. That’s $78 and some change for $100 in gift cards. As I said in the title, this is likely regional, based on what I found on the gift card wall.
Gaylord Hotels is a brand of conference hotels that are part of the Marriott family. They currently have 4 hotels operating under that name in Nashville, Kissimmee, FL, Washington, DC, and just outside of Dallas. We live a solid hour from the DC property, but our Costco had a huge display of these cards, with the four Gaylord properties listed on the back.
So you don’t have to spend too much time zooming in, here are the T&C listed on the bottom of the card:
They seem to pretty clear state that they are usable anywhere Marriott gift cards can be redeemed, including at Ritz-Carlton properties. That’s the cheapest price I can recall seeing, even cheaper than the scrum that is the annual Daily Getaways. My local Costco in Northern Virginia has a big inventory of these gift cards on hand.
I’m not a Marriott fan and I won’t be testing this one out. No Marriott stays in my future. But, I’m guessing this will be especially useful for Costco members in the cities located near Gaylord properties. Happy hunting and let me know if you’re successful!
Wonder if those could be used to pay for activities at Gaylord properties ??
Kathy, what sort of activities? It does say spa and retail.
I was wondering about that as well. Gaylord hotel hosts ICE. Although I saw ICE tickets discount at Costco in Springfield, VA.
Angela, the last time I did ICE we bought our tickets online from the Marriott site. I think you could go to the ticket site and check if gift cards is a payment option.
Do you think these work internationally?
Zach, good question. Anyone have experience? I know other chains (Hyatt) where gift cards can be used overseas, but not universally. I’ll ask around.
Also available on Costco.com.
JetAway, awesome find!
Good point about the extra 2% savings, I did not think of that. I have also seen discount cards for BedandBreakfast.com, Southwest Airlines, and, I think, American Airlines.
Charles, good stuff. Where have you seen these?
Great find! Thanks for sharing. Just picked up some gift cards at Pentagon City Costco. I have a Marriott stay coming up this week! I’ve used Marriott e-gift cards in the past internationally – hope these will be the same.
Dan, glad it worked out! Let me know if they work for your stay.
Shoot! I was just at Gaylord Grand Ole Opry last week! Thanks for the heads up.
Jane, I’m in Costco at least once a week. I can assure you these weren’t or win my area last week, so you might not have missed out.
Great tip. I just bought 4 online and when I went back to order more it shows ‘out of stock’ now.
Rdover, they’re still in physical Costco locations. I went to try and buy some today.
Any suggestions on how/where to consolidate these card easily? I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ that checks out of the Ritz Carlton South Beach and pays my $6k bill using 120 gift cards, swiped one at a time @ 15 seconds each. Nor do I want to lug 120 gift cards on the plane with me.
Max, I used to be “that guy” at various Hyatt hotels when Costco carried their gift cards. I never found a way to consolidate them. My system was to stop by the front desk the night before or morning of check out and leave them with a supervisor to process prior to me leaving. Not ideal but it worked.
Thanks. For 20% off it’s worth the effort on my end. I like your idea of surrendering the cards early to allow the staff to process them at their convenience.
Max, it’s totally worth 20%, especially if you dine or use other services. And, if you don’t have a Costco black card, this can totally make the ROI worth it to score an extra 2% cash back.
I even found a way to still get points since I’m not longer using my Marriott Rewards card at the hotel. I use my Chase Ink card to buy gift cards from Office supply stores and use them at the Costco checkout. There’s a fee of ~3.5% which can often be offset by rebates. But worst case, considering the 20% savings and the 2% Costco executive rebate, I’m getting a ~18.5% discount on my Marriott stays. Plus I still effectively earn 4 points per dollar spent at Marriott. In fact, since the points can be used for other programs (United for example) they may be more valuable. Only thing missing are the bonus nights for each $3k spend on the M.R. card….
Interesting. What cards are you buying at OD to pay for Costco?
Staples – $200 Visa gift cards. You need to register them to get a PIN, but they accept them at Costco. You could also just buy Costco Cash cards online with a MR Visa, but then you only get 1 point/$. Better than nothing.
I like the potential 5X option, depending on how much of a PITA it is to register a pin.
OD is doing fee free AMEX right now. No pin required for Costco with AMEX.
rdover1, hadn’t heard that. Is that online or in the stores? You might have earned yourself a blog post! 😉
In store, maybe online too – check online you will see it in this week’s promotions.
Thanks to this post, I picked up 8 cards at the Plano, TX CostCo. Successfully used them today at the JW Marriott Hong Kong. Thanks for this tip!
JasonD, score! Glad it worked out for you!
Thanks for this tip Pizza! I picked up $40,000 worth of these to pay for my upcoming wedding at a Marriott hotel. Saved me ~$9,000. They were physical cards (not ‘e-cards’) FYI.
wwmsgrr, now THAT’S how you leverage a deal!
I wish I would’ve bought more. I called Costco in Arlington a few weeks ago and they said they no longer carry these Gaylord cards (they were a “seasonal item”). I did manage to buy a number of them at least. Hope they come back next holiday season!
Dan, me too, especially with SPG merging with Marriott. I would have hit this harder for that reason.