Marriott is offering double elite qualifying nights

A few months back, Marriott announced their MegaBonus 2016 promotion. There hasn't been much word from Marriott since then - maybe they're busy with working out the details of the Starwood acquisition?

Anyway, here's a new offer from Marriott, for members residing outside the US, who were Marriott Rewards members as of 8 April 2016.


Very simply, each night between 3 June and 31 December 2016 that you stay at a Marriott hotel qualifies as 2 nights for the purpose of elite tier retention / upgrade. Marriott Rewards normally requires

With each night counting as 2 under this promotion, one needs to stay for only half the nights otherwise required to retain / upgrade tiers. 

You will need to login to your Marriott Rewards account and head to the Promotion Central section, to register for this promotion before 30 September 2016.

Here are the benefits at a glance.


Here are the full T&Cs:
  • Marriott Rewards members who register for this promotion between May 03, 2016 and September 30, 2016 will earn double Elite night credit for stays made between June 06, 2016 - December 31, 2016 at participating Marriott brand hotels. See list of participating Marriott brands below.
  • For each eligible night at a participating brand, a Marriott Rewards member will receive two Elite night credits.
  • A "stay" is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/checkout activity.
  • Nights spent while redeeming an award are not eligible for Elite night credit for this promotion.
  • Only nights personally stayed and individually billed at participating Marriott brand hotels are credited toward Elite membership achievement and renewal. Accounts may not be combined to achieve Elite membership.
  • Only one room per hotel stay is eligible for double Elite night credit
  • Member Eligibility:o Must be a Marriott Rewards member as of April 08, 2016
  • Must register for this promotion between May 03, 2016 – September 30, 2016
  • Must have a valid physical address located outside of the United States as the address on member’s Marriott Rewards account profile as of April 08, 2016
  • Ritz-Carlton Rewards® members are not eligible to participate
  • Participating Brands Include:o The Ritz-Carlton®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and Moxy Hotels®

JW Marriott Juhu Mumbai

Conclusion

Marriott Rewards isn't considered one of the best loyalty program in terms of benefits at each level, mainly because the number of stays needed to reach a given level is quite high. Similar number of nights at another program - say SPG - will help reach elite tiers faster (eg, it takes only 25 nights to SPG Gold, which gives more benefits than Marriott Gold). Given this perspective, the double elite qualifying nights promotion is probably useful.

In particular, this promotion will be useful if you are part-way towards the next MR tier, as it will now be easier and quicker to reach that next tier.

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