We’ve had Marriott Platinum status for several years. Even with staying at Marriott hotels several times a year, they sure don’t make it easy to figure out what your check-in amenity should be. Each Marriott hotel chain has different options. To confuse things even more, the amenity varies depending on where in the world you are. If you’re interested, here’s a list of all of the options:
Marriott Platinum Check-In Amenity
We tend to stay at Courtyard by Marriott hotels in North America. There are two options for a welcome amenity:
- 500 points per stay
- $10 Food & Beverage credit per day (for member and one guest)
When we check in, I hope the front desk agent forgets to ask which amenity we want so I can get $50. But usually, after thanking us for our loyalty, they ask if we want points or the $10 F&B Credit. Which one should we choose?
Which one?
There are several things to consider when making your choice. If you choose the points, you only get 500 points, no matter how long you stay, one night or seven nights.
Even under the best circumstances, Marriott points aren’t worth that much. When we used points for an overpriced room over Thanksgiving weekend in New York, we received a value of 2.25 CPP (Cents Per Point), but it’s more common to get around 0.8 to 1 cent of value for each point. If you take the points, you’ll get between $5 and $11 of value when redeeming them.
If you choose the food and beverage credit, you’ll get $10 per person daily. For instance, say you’re two people staying for four nights. That’s a total possible value of $80. I say possible value because you’d have to eat at the hotel restaurant daily to use the full credit.
However, even if you only redeem the credit for 1 day, the $20 would be more valuable than taking the points. That’s what we did when staying at a Courtyard by Marriott in Manhattan.
It does stink that Marriott Platinums don’t get a complimentary breakfast when staying at Courtyard properties. You need to use your credit towards the bill for food every day, and when you’re staying in Manhattan, breakfast and coffee at the hotel restaurant costs more than $10, so you’re not getting a “free” breakfast.
Our bill for this breakfast ended up being $28. We figured we couldn’t eat breakfast for two people in New York for $8, so it wasn’t a horrible deal. But do you want to eat at your hotel every day?
When in NYC, we want to have a proper NYC bagel. My wife Sharon, the native New Yorker, got lox and schmear on an egg bagel. Being from N.J., I needed to order a bacon, egg and cheese on a garlic bagel. It’s a pity they didn’t have any Taylor Ham.
For this stay, since we had two people in the room and were staying for four nights, taking the food and beverage credit was a no-brainer. If you’re traveling solo for only one night and don’t plan on getting any food during your stay, you’d be better off taking the points. Figure out what’s best for you each time, and remember that Your Mileage May Vary.
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6 comments
Now, I stopped staying at Marriott properties after their support of Proposition 208 in California, but have run into this same dilemma back in the day when I had diamond status as a Hilton Honors member. We usually broke it out depending on the property – Hampton Inns, we’d take points because the amenity was 2 free bottles of water. Hilton Garden Inns – food credit. Doubletree – points, since our status got us the VIP access. Embassy Suites – food credit. Homewood – points. Hilton – free parking and wifi, since that saved $35 per day and the status level got us VIP floor room and happy hour. Basically, we broke it down by what the normal amenities were offered by which flavor of hotel. I used to love the folks at the Hampton Inn Knotts Berry Farm – as soon as my reservation went in, I knew they’d save us room 401; a two room suite with two bathrooms. They’d even make sure the in-room coffeemaker was upgraded to the 12 cup one I had bought on a past visit and triple the size of the coffee service in the suite.
So to add further confusion, I stayed for the first time at a Courtyard in Valencia CA. I’m an SPG/Bonvoy Ambassador level. The nice front desk agent asked me the same thing for my one-night stay: 500 points or $10 f&b credit. I chose the points. Then when he presented my room key – there were two vouchers for breakfast! I asked what that was for and he said now that we are one program, you get complimentary breakfast. So I understand that I’m addition to the welcome amenity…my level gets breakfast…
SMH. If I could be sure the website was correct, I’d go check but I doubt that would help clarify anything.
YMMV, I believe the property just went above the minimum and extended you breakfast on top of points. We stayed at a Tribute Portfolio in Chicago, and we went for the obvious option of bfast for both days as our Plat gift choice as it was worth more than 1k Marriott points. I was surprised after checking out and looking at my folio that the property attached the Plat gift of 1k points into my account as well. We are Plat Premier (Titanium) with Marriott.
I also read the T&C for Plat gifts, all plats receive the same gift amenity. No differentiation in levels..
Marriott initially promised free breakfast for elites during the merger, then Bonvoyed over the customers by backing out on the promise. I’m Titanium this year, but feel like Marriott is playing games to kill off value wherever possible, so my stays are pretty much going elsewhere.
I stayed at the Courtyard on 192 in Melbourne. They allowed us to use the F& B credit for items from the pantry. That was nice, as I usually don’t eat breakfast anyway.