Problems With Latest Marriott Bonvoy Global Promotion When Paid & Award Nights Are Mixed?

Several readers have been in touch with us regarding the latest global promotion from Marriott Bonvoy that began on February 16, 2021 (read more here).

Per the promo T&Cs stays that have at least one paid nights are eligible for double elite qualifying nights, but these apparently are not posting to member accounts while stays with only paid ones are.

You can access Marriott’s page for this promotion here.

READ MORE: Marriott Bonvoy Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions

Here are Marriott’s frequently asked questions about this promotion (access here):

Marriott Bonvoy T&Cs define stay as:

2.1.d. Qualifying Stay.  A “Stay” or “Qualifying Stay” means all consecutive nights a Member registers for, and personally pays and stays at any Participating Property, for which (i) the room is billed to the Member, or (ii) the guest room is direct billed to the company who has arranged payment for the Member’s stay that is not associated with a convention or group meeting.

i. A “Stay” is a stay of one or more consecutive nights at the same Participating Property by a Member who: (A) provides his/her Membership Number at the time of reservation or at check-in; (B) pays a Qualifying Rate or redeems a Points redemption Award or a promotional Award for the stay; and (C) stays in one of the reserved guest rooms. If a Member checks out of a guest room and then checks back in to a guest room at the same Participating Property within 24 hours, it will count as a single stay for purposes of calculating Stays and issuing Member benefits. A Member may only earn Points for up to three (3) guest rooms during any Stay if he/she stays in one of the reserved guest rooms and pays a Qualifying Rate or redeems a Points redemption Award or a promotional Award for all of the guest rooms.

It is clear from the Marriott Bonvoy T&Cs that you can have multiple reservations for a stay (one stay). The current promo doesn’t capture this correctly unless both the award reservation and paid night(s) are under the same reservation number.

This is usually impossible to achieve if you combine award certificates, travel packages, point awards, and paid nights. Marriott’s system is just incapable of handling them all.

Like, I have had to call and make the reservation for each and every legacy 7-night Travel Package certificate that I have had sitting in my account (now finally all gone – thank god).

Here are our previous articles about this offer:

Marriott Bonvoy Global Promotion February 16 – April 27, 2021

Marriott Bonvoy Double Points & Double Elite Qualifying Nights February 16 – April 26, 2021

Registration Issues With Marriott Bonvoy Double Points & Double Elite Nights-Promotion?

Reader Question: How Marriott Promo Works With A Stay That Begins Before?

REMINDER: Marriott Bonvoy Double Points & Double Elite Qualifying Nights February 16 – April 26, 2021 (BEGINS TOMORROW)

Conclusion

It appears that there is an issue getting double nights if your paid and award nights are under separate reservations.

The Marriott Bonvoy Terms and Conditions consider reservations such as this a SINGLE STAY, but this promotion for double points and nights not. I hope that Marriott fixes this issue that will also affect me next week on a stay on which  I combined paid night with a 7-night travel package component.

Marriott Bonvoy has traditionally not bonused award nights in any shape or firm, while Hilton has. This definitely is a change in Marriott Bonvoy policies when it comes to promotions.

Also note, that you earn double points for the ROOM RATE and F&B, and other expenses are not bonuses (I missed that one earlier).