One important lesson to learn about miles and points is to always read through your junk mail, both the physical and electronic kind. You never know when there will be a targeted offer for extra miles or a special offer. One of these mailers to my business was how I was able to get a second sign up bonus for the Delta American Express Business Gold card even though you’re supposedly only allowed one bonus per lifetime per card.
When I was going through my email the other day, I was quite surprised to see a sidebar on my Frontier Airlines email saying I could earn Frontier Miles for my next Marriott stay. OK, they had my interest.
Offers to double dip on hotel stays aren’t new. I mean, Hilton allowed you to earn Hilton points and airline miles with stays for as long as I can remember until they did away with the option in the beginning of 2018. Delta Airlines also had a crossover rewards program with Starwood but that also ended in mid 2018. Was Marriott bringing it back, and with Frontier, of all airlines?
I clicked through to the offer and I landed at the Marriott Bonvoy landing page. No mention of a special offer or promotion. I did some clicking around and I found this.
I had totally forgot that instead of earning Marriott Bonvoy points, you can choose to credit your stays to a number of airline partners. This wasn’t an offer to earn both points on a single stay but an attempt to get me to credit my Marriott stays to my Frontier account. Um, no thanks.
As a reminder, here’s how many Marriott points you’ll earn if you credit your stay to the Bonvoy program.
You’ll earn 10 points per US$1 spent on eligible hotel charges, except at Element®, Residence Inn® and TownePlace Suites® hotels, where you’ll earn five points per eligible US$1.
Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador members earn an additional 10% – 75% base points for stays.
If you choose to credit a Marriott stay to Frontier Airlines, what will you earn?
2 airline miles per USD on all qualifying charges
- The Ritz-Carlton®
- JW Marriott®
- EDITION®
- Autograph Collection®
- Renaissance® Hotels
- Marriott Hotels®
- Marriott Vacation Club
- Gaylord Hotels®
- Delta Hotels by Marriott™
- Design Hotels™
- Le Meridien®
- The Luxury Collection®
- Sheraton®
- St. Regis®
- Tribute Portfolio®
- W® Hotels
- Westin®
1 airline mile per USD on all qualifying charges
- Courtyard by Marriott®
- Fairfield® by Marriott
- SpringHill Suites by Marriott®
- Residence Inn by Marriott®
- TownePlace Suites by Marriott®
- Marriott Executive Apartments®
- AC Hotels by Marriott®
- MOXY® Hotels
- Protea Hotels by Marriott®
- Aloft®
- Element by Westin®
- Four Points® by Sheraton
YOU’VE BEEN FRONTIERED!!!!!
(Note from Sharon:)
While there may be a very specific reason to credit Marriott stays to Frontier, I can’t think of one. However, here are the reasons I can think of to NOT credit to Frontier:
- Frontier Miles accounts go inactive with 6 months of inactivity
- You still need to pay all the fees associated with Frontier flights when redeeming an award ticket (seat assignment, luggage, hand baggage)
- When I looked, a 10,000 mile award ticket was selling for $69
- A $200 stay at a Courtyard by Marriott would earn 2000 Marriott points or 200 Frontier Miles. Which would you rather earn?
So for as much as Marriott has done wrong over the last year, I’m still going to credit my points to their program instead of Frontier.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love if you decided to hang around and clicked the button on the top (if you’re on your computer) or the bottom (if you’re on your phone/tablet) of this page to follow our blog and get emailed notifications of when we post (it’s usually just two or three times a day). Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group, where we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
