Email/questions re MR and SPG Points, MR Elite Nights, Marriott VISA and SPG Amex, etc.

[dioxide45]

So the T&Cs with the Starwood Amex I received says - receive 2 points with Marriott hotels, standalone Marriott branded online store or retail establishments that in each case are owned by Marriott Intl Inc and it's affiliates.

Still not sure if that includes maintenance fees. It's obviously an online store and i assume MVCI is an affiliate of Marriott Intl inc no?

I called Amex and Starwood and neither could answer the question.

No one will know if it works until they try to make a payment of Marriott MFs using the SPG card. You should be the guinea pig.

 

[jeepie]

No one will know if it works until they try to make a payment of Marriott MFs using the SPG card. You should be the guinea pig.

OK, I might take one for the team...I could pay one of my weeks' MFs with my SPG, knowing I might only get one point (worth 3 MR points)...but hope for 2x. If I got the 2x, I would pay the rest on the SPG; otherwise, use the R-C Visa.
Question: how long should it take to find out?

 

[dioxide45]

OK, I might take one for the team...I could pay one of my weeks' MFs with my SPG, knowing I might only get one point (worth 3 MR points)...but hope for 2x. If I got the 2x, I would pay the rest on the SPG; otherwise, use the R-C Visa.
Question: how long should it take to find out?

You don't even need to pay the whole fee. You can make a partial payment of $50 to test it out.

 

[GrayFal]

OK, I might take one for the team...I could pay one of my weeks' MFs with my SPG, knowing I might only get one point (worth 3 MR points)...but hope for 2x. If I got the 2x, I would pay the rest on the SPG; otherwise, use the R-C Visa.
Question: how long should it take to find out?

Most likely the next billing cycle.

You don't even need to pay the whole fee. You can make a partial payment of $50 to test it out.

Yup

 

[jeepie]

Most likely the next billing cycle.

Yup

Ok, I paid one of my weeks' MF on my SPG. I will try to circle back once I see the resultant points. Cheers.

 

[GrayFal]

I just did a stay at Westin St John. Used my Marriott Visa to pay the bill and gave my DH Starwood SPG Platinum number

Here are my results.


Nov 13, 2016
WESTIN ST JOHN RESORT
Sale $384.52

ST JOHN008310000VI

Rewards earned with this transaction
+ 5X Points on other Marriott purchases1,922.60


and in the SPG website it had the following. ( my original bill was $460 but was corrected to $384)

My Recent Activity

Starpoints Earned Awards
My Starpoints current balance: 69

Refine by: for 1 - 2
Type Starpoints Eligible Nights Post Date Description
Bonus +23 - 11/13/2016
The Westin St. John Villas
SPG ELITE 50% BONUS
Food & Beverage +46 - 11/13/2016
The Westin St. John Villas
Westin St John Villas

Somehow I don't feel this is correct. I do have $190 to Cruz Bay Watersports but that is still almost $200 spent at snorkels, Lemongrass and market place.

Wondering why I didn't get StarPoints for all the food and beverage???

 

[GrayFal]

Thanks for confirming this. I just put $100 on Marriott Reward Visa as I posted above.
Curious "how" the charge was listed....mine is below.
Nov 1, 2016
WSJ VIRGIN GRAND CONDO
$100.00

I do know that the VSE maint fees are classified as "travel" for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and earn 3 Ultimate Reward Points.

Yup, only a 1 point per dollar for MF, not +5x

WSJ VIRGIN GRAND CONDO
Sale $100
Nov 2, 2016

Rewards earned with this transactionHow we calculate rewards + Points earned on all other purchases100

 

[MOXJO7282]

Yup, only a 1 point per dollar for MF, not +5x

WSJ VIRGIN GRAND CONDO
Sale $100
Nov 2, 2016

Rewards earned with this transactionHow we calculate rewards + Points earned on all other purchases100

Has the 100 points been applied to your SPG points total?

I don't think we were expecting the 5x but the SPG points T&Cs does say an extra 1 point is awarded if card is used at Marriott hotels, standalone Marriott branded online store or retail establishments that in each case are owned by Marriott Intl Inc and it's affiliates.

Even the extra 1 point is meaningful to me. Seeing the points may take some time because i would think it needs to be paid and hit the next billing cycle.

 

[GrayFal]

Yup, only a 1 point per dollar for MF, not +5x

WSJ VIRGIN GRAND CONDO
Sale $100
Nov 2, 2016

Rewards earned with this transactionHow we calculate rewards + Points earned on all other purchases100

Has the 100 points been applied to your SPG points total?

I don't think we were expecting the 5x but the SPG points T&Cs does say an extra 1 point is awarded if card is used at Marriott hotels, standalone Marriott branded online store or retail establishments that in each case are owned by Marriott Intl Inc and it's affiliates.

Even the extra 1 point is meaningful to me. Seeing the points may take some time because i would think it needs to be paid and hit the next billing cycle.

Joe, this was a test to see if if paying Starwood/VSE maint fee would earn 5X MRPs by using the Marriott Visa. And both Dioxide and I have seen that it is not.
I do not have the SPG Amex that you just got.

Above this post, I did say that a stay at a Westin does earn 5 MRPs per dollar spent on the Marriott Visa.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Joe, this was a test to see if if paying Starwood/VSE maint fee would earn 5X MRPs by using the Marriott Visa. And both Dioxide and I have seen that it is not.
I do not have the SPG Amex that you just got.

Above this post, I did say that a stay at a Westin does earn 5 MRPs per dollar spent on the Marriott Visa.

Thanks for the clarification Pat.

So on the question will SPG Amex get the 2nd reward point for Marriott MFs things are looking promising.

I made a $100 payment using my SPG Amex. I then called Amex not once but 6x to see what they would say about how many points I would get for that transaction as it was coded. I was told each time it would classify for the bonus. I really went in detail about what the charge was for and each person was very certain in their assessment that it was coded as a Marriott and therefore would get the bonus point.

Also for Platinum members, each Amex CSR said elite members would also be getting an extra 3 starpoints for a total of 5 per dollar spent. I really challenged them on this and each and everyone were adamant that my $100 charge would get 5 points per $1.

Even though each one was consistent with their assessment I'm classifying this as "too good to be true" and "believe it when I see it" because if true we will earn 450,000 Marriott points by paying our Marriott MF with our SPG Amex.

I'll know for sure late December when points are applied.

 

[MOXJO7282]

So forget my last post about Marriott purchases getting the 3 extra points. I was talking to Amex CSRs about Starwood points and they apparently are all confused . I got on with Starwood and the extra 3 points would come from them and applies only to Starwood stays and not Marriott purchases.

I do believe the 2 points for paying Marriott Maintenance fees with your SPG Amex does apply because that is Amex who awards those points and they were consistent with the coding being entitled to the extra 1 point.

 

[dioxide45]

So forget my last post about Marriott purchases getting the 3 extra points. I was talking to Amex CSRs about Starwood points and they apparently are all confused . I got on with Starwood and the extra 3 points would come from them and applies only to Starwood stays and not Marriott purchases.

I do believe the 2 points for paying Marriott Maintenance fees with your SPG Amex does apply because that is Amex who awards those points and they were consistent with the coding being entitled to the extra 1 point.

Yes, the three points per dollar is what a Platinum SPG members gets when staying at a SPG property. It has nothing to do with the credit card. You would get an extra 2 points per dollar by putting that SPG hotel spend on the Amex SPG Card.

It will be interesting if the Marriott MF spend on the SPG Amex earns the multiplier points since the Marriott Chase card does not earn the same on Starwood/Vistana MF spending. I think a lot of it has to do with they payee on the transaction. For most Marriott MFs, I think the payee name includes the word 'Marriott', so Chase picks it up for the multiplier and likely now the SPG Amex picks it up too. Vistana MF payee does not contain the words 'Sheraton' or 'Westin', so that would explain why the Chase Marriott card doesn't pick it up for the multiplier.

 

[jeepie]

Good news...paid one Marriott MF with SPG. Got the 2x on my statement. Now I will pay the others that way. Hope that is helpful. Cheers.

 

[MOXJO7282]

That really is good news, especially for those that have big MF bills.

 

[dioxide45]

Good news...paid one Marriott MF with SPG. Got the 2x on my statement. Now I will pay the others that way. Hope that is helpful. Cheers.

That is great. I think it comes down to the payee. The Payee for Marriott MFs includes "Marriott" where the Payee for our Vistana weeks does not contain Sheraton. So I think that is why Vistana MFs are not getting the multiplier but why SPG Amex does.

 

[Robert D]

Do you still get 2X (3X if elite) SPG points when you pay a Vistana maintenance fee bill with an AMEX SPG credit card? I canceled my SPG credit card earlier this year and will get another one if this still works. It sounds like you get these bonuses for paying a Marriott maintenance fee with an SPG credit card.

 

[dioxide45]

Do you still get 2X (3X if elite) SPG points when you pay a Vistana maintenance fee bill with an AMEX SPG credit card? I canceled my SPG credit card earlier this year and will get another one if this still works. It sounds like you get these bonuses for paying a Marriott maintenance fee with an SPG credit card.

Others have reported getting the 2X multiplier paying Vistana MFs with the SPG Amex card. People have also reported getting the multiplier paying Marriott MFs with the SPG Amex too. The Marriott credit card from Chase does not earn the 5X multiplier when paying Vistana MFs though.

 

[MOXJO7282]

So I can confirm also the 2x points (total 6 points when converted to MAR points) for using SPG Amex to pay Marriott MFs instead of the 5 MAR points per dollar for using Marriott Visa

 

[Helios]

Has anyone tried to use the SPG Amex and did they get 2 SPG points per MF $?

 

[SueDonJ]

Has anyone tried to use the SPG Amex and did they get 2 SPG points per MF $?

Note your post has been moved to this ongoing thread. In the posts above it's reported that a couple people have tested it and received the multipliers when paying Marriott MF's with the SPG Amex.

 

[Helios]

Note your post has been moved to this ongoing thread. In the posts above it's reported that a couple people have tested it and received the multipliers when paying Marriott MF's with the SPG Amex.

Thanks.

 

[Art]

I recently parked at the Westin Swan lot in Orlando. I paid with my Marriott Visa and got the usual 5 points per dollar.

Art

 

[Werner Weiss]

Good news...paid one Marriott MF with SPG. Got the 2x on my statement. Now I will pay the others that way. Hope that is helpful. Cheers.

So I can confirm also the 2x points (total 6 points when converted to MAR points) for using SPG Amex to pay Marriott MFs instead of the 5 MAR points per dollar for using Marriott Visa

Thank you for testing this and letting everyone know.

There's a lot of confusion in this thread because various posts deal with both Marriott Chase Visa and SPG AmEx credit cards, used in various ways — including hotel bills, various timeshare brand bills, miscellaneous spending (parking), maintenance fees (for Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, and Vistana), and so on.

The two posts I just quoted indicate that if I pay my Marriott Vacation Club maintenance fees with an SPG AmEx credit card, I can expect two SPG points per maintenance fee dollar. If transferred to Rewards, each SPG point becomes three Rewards points. So, each maintenance fee dollar yields six Rewards points if paid by SPG AmEx, compared to five Rewards points if paid by Marriott Chase Visa.

The only downside is not getting the Marriott elite night that come with each $3000 of Marriott Chase Visa spending. That could be an issue for someone who needs to get another elite night added to the count.

 

[jimf41]

I don't see the value in this. My MFs are roughly $10,000 and I get 50k MRPs for paying the MFs with it. If I get an SPG card and pay with that I wind up with 60k MRPs after all the switching is complete. Total real value to me, about $90. That's for the first year only. After that you pay $95 for the card. That brings your value to $5 per year. I can get 10,000 MRPs just by calling Marriott and telling them I had a dirty towel in my room or the soap was missing on my last stay. This just seems like too much work for too little gain. Not to mention that the SPG card will probably disappear in 2-3 years when Marriott fully integrates with Starwood.

 

[SueDonJ]

I don't see the value in this. My MFs are roughly $10,000 and I get 50k MRPs for paying the MFs with it. If I get an SPG card and pay with that I wind up with 60k MRPs after all the switching is complete. Total real value to me, about $90. That's for the first year only. After that you pay $95 for the card. That brings your value to $5 per year. I can get 10,000 MRPs just by calling Marriott and telling them I had a dirty towel in my room or the soap was missing on my last stay. This just seems like too much work for too little gain. Not to mention that the SPG card will probably disappear in 2-3 years when Marriott fully integrates with Starwood.

I also think there's a very good chance that the 6-1 MRP when using the SPG card is going to disappear and maybe sooner than the few years it takes for Marriott to completely integrate SPG and MR. I'll be shocked if it survives as late as next year's round of MF's because I have no doubt that MVW is fielding complaints from owners who wonder why all of a sudden a competitor's card is more valuable for Marriott timeshare use than the one they offer us.