Is Marriott Rewards New MegaBonus Promotion Better Than The Competition?

Marriott Rewards has announced their newest promotion, using one of their common promo names (MegaBonus) for a better variation where customers can actually choose their offer.  Folks logging in to register should see two options:

The two options set up quite nicely for two different types of traveler:

• If you’re an infrequent traveler, sign up for 5,000 bonus points after two stays.  Remember that a stay is defined as any number of consecutive nights in one hotel, regardless of whether it’s one reservation or two.
• If you’re a frequent traveler, sign up for 10,000 bonus points after every 10 nights up to 50,000 points.

I really like that the promotion runs through mid-January.  The holiday season is generally one excluded from hotel promotions.  While I’ll mostly be sad when the Marriott/SPG merger wraps up, I’m hoping that the policy of all hotels being eligible for promotions survives.

IMPORTANT: You need to register for the promo before your first eligible stay.  It’ll take you 30 seconds, and it’s a good habit even if you don’t have any Marriott stays planned.  After all, 2 stays in 4 months isn’t a lot to achieve.

Where Does MegaBonus Rank Against The Competition?

SPG’s “More For You” was the first promo I covered from the current offerings.  It’s no secret that I like the SPG program better than Marriott, and I like their current promo better as well.

I guess if you were staying on really cheap rates, the double or triple Starpoints could be worth less than the Marriott Rewards promo.  Marriott will give you 10,000 points for 10 nights, or 1,000 points per night if you hit exactly 10 (or 20, 30, 40, 50) nights).  Any number other than that reduces your earnings per night.

Even though I don’t think we have the full T&C, I’ll assume SPG awards 2 points per dollar as the bonus for a double Starpoints stay during their promo.  Let’s say I value Marriott Rewards points at about .7 cents each, where I value SPG points closer to 2 cents each.  For easier math, we’ll call it a 3:1 ratio, though you could argue it’s a bit closer than that.

If I get 2 extra Starpoints per dollar on a $200 average rate, I’m earning 400 bonus Starpoints per night. At a ratio of 3:1, that blows away 1,000 Marriott Rewards points a night, which I only earn when I hit an exact 10-night threshold.  So, the breakeven on double points is somewhere around $175, and much lower for triple points stays.

What About IHG Accelerate?

IHG Accelerate is a much more variable promotion.  For example, I don’t think I can reasonably hit the largest portion of my bonus, 25,000 points.  That automatically eliminates my bonus for hitting all the categories as well.

Given the clear milestones of the Marriott Rewards promo (and that I think their points are worth just a bit more than IHG), I’d lean towards Marriott’s MegaBonus for infrequent and frequent travelers alike over IHG, unless you got a super easy Accelerate offer.

The Winner?

The best of the bunch (with the potential the Hyatt may still drop something into the mix) is still SPG, in my opinion.  Your individual Accelerate offer may be easier to achieve than mine, but I see the most value in SPG points, and the most value in their promo.  Fellow blogger McCool Travel just did an SPG/IHG comparison which is very relevant if you’re trying to choose between those two.

I do applaud Marriott for giving customers a choice.  I think that’s a huge plus for members.  I hope to see that pattern continue.

Oh, and if you want the T&C for the Marriott promo, see below:

The post Is Marriott Rewards New MegaBonus Promotion Better Than The Competition? was published first on Pizza in Motion

Registration is required. Marriott Rewards® members must choose a single offer and register by December 15, 2016. Earning for the chosen offer will occur for stays or nights (depending on which offer is selected) made between September 15, 2016 and January 15, 2017, at participating Marriott® properties. Members can select offer 1: earn 5,000 bonus points after two (2) paid stays – maximum 5,000 bonus points. Or, offer 2: earn 10,000 bonus points after ten (10) paid nights – maximum 50,000 bonus points. *A stay is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity. Bonus points will be awarded to the member’s account within 3-5 business days after the qualifying stay. Retroactive stays will not count towards this promotion. Nights spent while redeeming an award are not eligible for credit and Marriott Vacation Club® owner-occupied weeks are not eligible for credit. Only one room per hotel is counted toward a member’s nights or stay. Members electing to earn miles are not eligible for this promotion. For a list of current Marriott Rewards participating brands, visit http://www.marriott.com/marriott-rewards/earn/hotels.mi. Stays at our exclusive luxury hotel partner, The Ritz-Carlton®, will count toward achievement. Rooms booked through most third party online retailers and select travel agency bookings are ineligible to earn for this promotion. All Marriott Rewards program terms and conditions apply. See http://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/earning.mi for more information. © 2016 Marriott International, Inc.