using marriotts rewards visa to purchase gift cards???

[laurac260]

ok, this would be awesome for me if it works. Marriott rewards is closed now, so I thought I'd ask fellow tuggers if they know the answer.

So, I know I get 5 pts for each dollar spent at Marriott, if I use my Marriott Visa Rewards card.

I am wondering, do I still get 5 pts per dollar if I purchase gift cards? The reason I am asking, my dd's swim organization requires a certain amount of fundraising to offset costs. One of our fundraisers is thru Scrips, which is a fund raising entity in which you purchase gift certificates at a dollar per dollar rate. The company (marriott, Kohl's, panera bread, etc), gives back a portion of the purchase amount to the organization.

Marriott gives 8% of each dollar purchased back to the organization.

So, if I used my Marriott Rewards Visa to purchase gift certificates for our upcoming trip, would I get 8% of my purchase amount toward our fundraing committment AND 5 rewards points per dollar spent (since I am using the visa for Marriott related travel expenses)?

And...if this turns out to be correct, can I also use gift cards perhaps, to pay my MF's? (or would this be a stretch?)

 

[jimf41]

They usually run a gift card promotion in December every year. One year it was 10 pp$ in addition to the 5 points on the visa card. Another year it was a 10% bonus on the value of the card. I'm waiting to see if they do anything this year.

As far as I know you cannot use them for MF's. One caution, they are the same as cash. If you buy $2000 in cards and lose them anybody can use them. They are numbered so you can try to cancel them but I'm sure that would turn out to be a major hassle while you are on vacation. They also do not print the value on the card. The desk clerk doesn't know what it's worth either. If you give a $100 card and tell them to use it as a $200 card it will simply be rejected. If you use a partial amount on the card you have to remember the balance. Marriott does have a number to call to retrieve the balance remaining on the card but I'm not sure if it is a 24/7 operation.

I don't know how the Marriott gift card relates to any other gift certificate purchased from another entity such as Scrips.

 

[laurac260]

the only snafoo I can forsee is that the purchase will be made thru scrips, and I am assuming that is how it will show up on my visa.

 

[aka Julie]

Are you sure your DD swim organization accepts credit cards? Our church does the scrips program and we can only pay in cash or check. If they do accept credit cards, I'm sure the transaction would show up on your statement under the organization's name, not Marriott, thus you would not earn the 5 points per $ spent on the actual gift card.

P.S. I'm another local gal -- west side of Cincinnati.

Kathy (aka Julie)

 

[laurac260]

Are you sure your DD swim organization accepts credit cards? Our church does the scrips program and we can only pay in cash or check. If they do accept credit cards, I'm sure the transaction would show up on your statement under the organization's name, not Marriott, thus you would not earn the 5 points per $ spent on the actual gift card.

P.S. I'm another local gal -- west side of Cincinnati.

Kathy (aka Julie)

hmmm...I've never used scrips before, I just assumed that if I placed my order online, I would also be paying for my order online, and would need to use a cc. If what you are saying is true, then that certainly makes my decision easier!