Is this the most underwhelming promotion of the year so far?

Yesterday, Marriott announced details of its promotion for summer 2016. The promotion is valid for stays between 24 May and 5 September 2016, and earns 2,000 bonus points starting with the second stay, for a maximum possible 10,000 bonus points. Registration is required. Here's more.



Here's what the promotion requires:
  • Register by September 5, 2016
  • Stay at participating properties between May 24 and September 5, 2016
  • Earn 2,000 bonus points on every paid stay, starting with your second stay, up to 10,000 bonus points

You can register after you login to your Marriott Rewards account, in the Promotion Central section of your account. In addition, if you're a US resident, every stay earns you an entry into a sweepstakes that Marriott is currently running. More on this promotion here.

Here's what I think of the offer, though, when you consider that the promotion is for 2,000 points per stay, not per night, starts only from the second stay (Marriott seems to have an obsession with this!), and is capped at 10,000 bonus points: I'm definitely giving this one a pass. And I think this is kind of insulting to folks that stay more regularly with Marriott than I do.

We've valued Marriott Rewards points at Rs 0.53 apiece, so the 10,000 points you earn after six stays would typically have a value of around Rs 5,300. Put differently, award nights for category 1 and 2 rooms are 7,500 and 10,000 points a night, so you'll basically get to earn a free night after 6 nights' stay under this promotion.

JW Marriott Juhu, Mumbai

And while I'm not one to say no to points, I find the rewards under this promotion rather underwhelming...too much effort, too little returns. Especially when you compare this to other programs' summer promotions:

Oh, and before I forget, there seems to be some technical issue with the promotion getting updated on members' Promotion Central pages. So if this isn't yet reflecting in your account, you could try contacting Marriott's customer service team to get them to register you. I got it done on Twitter.

The only silver lining is that you can potentially stack this promotion with another ongoing promotion for double elite nights' credit, to try and upgrade / retain your MR elite status.

Readers: What's your take on this promotion? Is it something you're actively looking at benefiting from?

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