Switching Between Marriott & Ritz-Carlton Rewards Accounts & Promotions

If Marriott Rewards & Ritz-Carlton Rewards accounts would be same (they actually really are) officially, it would be far easier to take advantage of the promotions that they have for Marriott family of hotels and for Ritz-Carlton ones.

You are not supposed to have an account for Marriott Rewards and another one for Ritz-Carlton Rewards, but you can freely switch between these two by just contacting the rewards customer service. Your membership number doesn’t change.

The problem lies on the Ritz-Carlton Rewards promotions that usually require your account to have been set as Ritz-Carlton one before they announce the promotion. Only new Ritz-Carlton Rewards accounts are eligible per T&C’s to sign up for the promotion even when the account didn’t exist before the start date of the promotion.

Members of The Ritz – Carlton Rewards program as of June 4, 2013, and new members who were not previously members of the Marriott Rewards® program are eligible to receive this offer.

So, I had already maxed out the Marriott’s Unexpected Bonus Promotion (read more about it here) for two cat 1-5 free night certs and decided that I would like to get the two Ritz-Carlton free night certs as well.

I contacted the Marriott Rewards customer service and requested that they switch my account to Ritz-Carlton one and sign me up for the promo and here’s their reply:

So, the reply was that we really don’t do this by the Terms and Conditions of the promotion, but because you are such a valued customer we will make an exception.

Conclusion

The Marriott’s three yearly promotions for free night certs and Ritz-Carlton’s yearly one are really the best promotions for free hotel nights currently. I do get it that you cannot earn both simultaneously, but I am glad that they can sign you up for the promotion manually after you have completed one.