# When and how do we get the Marriott Visa Black Card free hotel stay



## Cathyb (Apr 10, 2008)

Forgot how we know when we get our annual free hotel one night stay offered by Marriott Visa black card when we signed up.

1.  Do we have to look for the free day on our statement; or

2.  Are we notified when it is posted by another method.

Thank you for any insight


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## Andar (Apr 10, 2008)

I was told that you would recieve certificate in the mail on the anniversary date.  So if you signed up for the black card in April you would not receive it until next April.    We just got our black card


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## ajlm33 (Apr 10, 2008)

Andar said:


> I was told that you would recieve certificate in the mail on the anniversary date.  So if you signed up for the black card in April you would not receive it until next April.    We just got our black card




I was told the same thing by Marriott so I am looking forward to receiving my certificate sometime in September, one year after upgrading to the "black card".


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## Bill4728 (Apr 10, 2008)

For those of us who took this offer when it came out in 2006, we got the certificates in the mail when we got the card and again in 2007 about the anniversary date.  But, I believe that Marriott is going to use a e-cert for the 2008 free hotel stays. I think??


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## LUVourMarriotts (Apr 10, 2008)

I was recently told (and I think it says somewhere on the rewards site) that you could receive the cert anytime up to 6 weeks after your anniversary date.  It seems the technology exists to be able to send these out right away.


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## Steve A (Apr 10, 2008)

You no longer get the certificate in the mail. It shows up on your Marriott Rewards website.

I recently queried them on this and this is the e-mail I received back:
_
Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards.

Our records indicate that your 43J Visa Premier Signature Card Anniversary Reward was issued on your account on 03/05/08 as an electronic certificate.  Therefore, you will not be receiving a paper certificate of any kind via mail.

Please keep the following in mind regarding this award:

-43J is issued in member's name and is not transferrable
-award expires 6 months from the date of issuance
-we are not able to re-issue or extend award
-good for 1 night at a category 1-5 Marriott brand hotel, based upon availability

To redeem this award, simply contact our Reservations department at 1-800-228-9290 (1-800-228-2100 for Elite members) for assistance.  Be sure to let them know that you would like to redeem your 43J electronic certificate; which has already been issued on your account.

You can view your award online at www.marriottrewards.com and visiting the ?Upcoming Reservations? link.  All unused awards on your account will appear under the ?Unused Certificates? heading. 

If you have any further questions, I am happy to help.

Sincerely,

Megan Edward
Internet Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards
_


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## Dave M (Apr 10, 2008)

Marriott no longer sends these by mail. They apparently don't even send an e-mail notification. However, what you should find - in your Marriott Rewards account - is a "Requested Reward" for the e-certificate.

Mine showed up in my account on March 3, 2008, within a few days of my second anniversary date. To find it, log in to your Marriott Rewards account and click on "Marriott Rewards Activity". For the "Select a month" drop-down box, select (at the bottom) "Last 6 months", or some similar lengthy period and "Show" "All transactions".

What you are looking for is something that looks like the following:





> 03/03/08     PREMIER VISA ANNIV 1-5 HOTELS       0 pts


The electronic certificate is known to Marriott reps as a "43J" certificate. I just made a hotel reservation using mine this morning. You'll have to call to make the reservation. You can't do it online.

Be forewarned, that until Marriott fixes the problem, your online reservation made with this certificate will likely show that "You do not have e-certificate(s) for this reservation. blah, blah, blah" and that a Standard Hotel Reward for xx,000 points is applicable. Nowhere does the reservation state that it's a free night or that a free-night certificate (instead of a xx,000 points certificate) will be used.

Because I like to have proof of such free-night reservations in hand, I talked to 4 reservationists, one supervisor, a Marriott Rewards supervisor and one Customer Care supervisor this morning, trying to get the reservation fixed - at least what I could see online. All to no avail, except for verbal assurances that the reservation included the 43J certificate and that I wouldn't be charged any points, along with a suggestion that, if there is any problem at check-in, I should refer the desk clerk to the notes section of the reservation. 

The bottom line is that there is a glitch in Marriott's system. Thus, ensure that the reservationist adds to the "notes" section of your reservation that an electronic 43J certificate - not points- is associated with the reservation.


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## hhoope01 (Apr 10, 2008)

Dave M said:


> Be forewarned, that until Marriott fixes the problem, your online reservation made with this certificate will likely show that "You do not have e-certificate(s) for this reservation. blah, blah, blah" and that a Standard Hotel Reward for xx,000 points is applicable. Nowhere does the reservation state that it's a free night or that a free-night certificate (instead of a xx,000 points certificate) will be used.


I think Marriott has fixed at least some of the issue.  I have a one night award reservation for the MIA Marriott in a couple of weeks.  I am using my Credit Card e-cert to pay for the night and the reservation does correctly show that I have an e-cert attached  to the reservation.  (Note that I did call Marriott Rewards to get them to apply the e-certificate to the reservation.)


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## Steve A (Apr 10, 2008)

Thanks for pointing this out. It was showing up as points. I had the reservations clerk put in 43J. Hopefully we wouldn't have any problem.


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## Dave M (Apr 10, 2008)

hhoope01 said:


> I think Marriott has fixed at least some of the issue.


Apparently not for the Anniversary e-certs. That's why I posted. My experience and all of my phone calls occurred today. Several people, including the Customer Care specialist, confirmed that there is a glitch in how the website shows these particular reservation confirmations. They are "working on it."


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## hhoope01 (Apr 10, 2008)

Dave M said:


> Apparently not for the Anniversary e-certs.


Which is interesting as my reservation is using and correctly showing the use of an Anniversary e-cert.  Go figure.


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## Dave M (Apr 10, 2008)

Looks like this is a new problem, perhaps after you made your reservation. Response just now from my earlier e-mail to Marriott (after all of the phone calls):





> Dear Dave M,
> 
> Thank you for contacting Marriott.  We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with information.  Please accept our sincere apologies for any frustration this experience has caused you.
> 
> ...


I'm happy with the resolution.


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## Cathyb (Apr 10, 2008)

Thanks DaveM.  Working on it, huh -- hmmmm, or hoping we all forget about it in years to come?


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## Cathyb (Apr 10, 2008)

My 'credit' wasn't there -- emailed Customer Service and we'll see what is going on


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## taffy19 (Apr 10, 2008)

My SO received it in the mail but never told me about it.  When I found it in the drawer, it had expired already   and I was pretty upset with him because I could have used a night when we had to stay in Maui.  Is Hawaii included too or not?  It is water under the bridge now.


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## driftdiver (Apr 11, 2008)

*Maybe the cert credit is getting more efficient*

I signed up for the Marriott Premier Visa Signature Card and was surprised to find the initial Cat 1-4 cert has already electronically appeared in my MR account.

The card has not even arrived yet.....

Not necessarily indicitive as to when the anniversary cert will show up next year...


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## Cathyb (Apr 11, 2008)

driftdriver: yes, the first year they are right on it; but in following years it gets harder and harder to know when you are credited as DaveM explains.....


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## thinze3 (Apr 11, 2008)

I just now used my e-cert to book a Renaissance hotel in June. Because of what was written here I decided to call my VOA and let her handle it.

She (VOA) did tell me that when you book online the system will not automatically attach the e-cert from the Visa card and will consequently take the points out of your account to order one. She said it was better to call in to make sure that the e-cert from the Visa would be attached to the reservation. The actual e-cert should be automatically ordered and delivered 7 days prior to arrival. I will watch it to make sure.


_Added:
OK. I just checked and my new reservation is in my online account and NO Marriott Rewards points have been removed from my account._


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## Cathyb (Apr 12, 2008)

UPDATE:  Marriott Rewards Correspondence Specialist sent email stating to redeem my e-certificate, call the Silver Elite (for me) reservations line at 1/800 228-2100 and let the reservations agent know that I will be using an electronic Visa Free Night Certificate to pay for my upcoming stay.  At time of check-in, my e-cert will be removed from my account and applied to the cost of the hotel stay.  Here's hoping it works 

As DaveM stated earlier, the only notification you will get (after the first year) is the electronically issued note on your Statement and it WILL expire six months after the date shown on your statement.


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## Cathyb (Apr 13, 2008)

More complications    Followed explicit directions, called Silver Elite, was assured 43J Cert. was listed on my res. Went online, no indications on my reservation! Wrote Internet.customer.care@marriott.com--quick reply from them   My orig. reservation didn't mention 43J  but they changed it for me; but I needed to contact rewards.procedures@marriott.com to order my cert.  I am now awaiting a reply from them.  The Saga continues ....  this is ridiculous!


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## thinze3 (Apr 14, 2008)

Cathy, I am surprised at this. Obviously there is a certain way to book using these e-certs. In my account, the e-cert was removed and now states, "You have no unused Rewards certificates on file."

Here is what my reservation email looks like.



> Confirmation Number: 8******2
> Your hotel: Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel
> Check-in: Thursday, June 12, 2008 (03:00 PM)
> Check-out: Friday, June 13, 2008 (12:00 PM)
> ...


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## Dave M (Apr 14, 2008)

I'm guessing that Cathy's looks more like my free-night reservation. The following comes from a combination of my latest e-mail from Marriott and the reservation page for the reservation. This reservation is for the saga discussed in my posts above:





> Hotel name: Courtyard XXXXXX
> Guest name: Dave M
> Confirmation number: 8******7
> Check-in date: Friday, July 11, 2008
> ...


Note that everyone at Marriott assures me that my free-night e-cert - not the 15,000-point Reward shown - is associated with this reservation. Fortunately, as quoted above, everything is well documented. But it's still a glitch that shouldn't happen.


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## lovearuba (Apr 14, 2008)

*15 night stay promise and annual certificate*

Hi
I am starting to rethink if I really want this card.  You get 15 nights added to your account but not until your anniversary day.  Mine doesn't get posted until June, and the certificate is only good from the time its issued 6/7 until 12/7.  You really get beat if you signed up late in the year.  I couldnt use my hotel certificate last year so I let it expire.  Seems to be they should put the 15 nights in your account on January 1st and let you use the hotel certificate for a year from the issue date.


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## Cathyb (Apr 14, 2008)

DaveM: Originally mine did look like yours and I wrote with an inquiry and received a third email from Marriott informing my reservation now reflected the right 43J.  I looked and it now does have 43J on it.  I printed two copies to carry with me when we show up at the hotel.

Marriott has got to make this easier next year, this was a headache.


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## Dave M (Apr 14, 2008)

lovearuba said:


> Seems to be they should put the 15 nights in your account on January 1st and let you use the hotel certificate for a year from the issue date.


It shouldn't matter when they put the 15 nights into your account as long as they do it at the same time every year. Since the card automatically confers Silver status, the only value to those nights is if you pay for at least 35 other nights to acheive Gold status. Since Marriott determines qualification on a rolling 12 months, those nights should help you at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of any 12 month period.

The terms for the hotel cert are the same for everyone - six months to use it.


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## inishbofin (Apr 15, 2008)

*Stay after them*

It took me several phone calls but at last they have added the e-cert and the 15 nights.   It was late but they started the 6 months from the day they posted it so I did not lose any time, just aggravation.


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## Cathyb (Apr 16, 2008)

DaveM:  Is there any one Marriott office we all can channel our frustrations via email re this 43J subject to get them to have a simple procedure of transferring from our Statement to the hotel room reservation?


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## Dave M (Apr 16, 2008)

Not that I know of. As documented above, I had enough frustration to want such a powerful advocate for correcting the way this is often mishandled!


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